Other business
The Hall County Board of Commissioners has once again put off a vote on entering a trust indenture with Bell’s Landing LLC.
“This is an (Environmental Protection Division) mandate for these private systems to preferably have a government entity be the trustee,” Hall County Public Works Director Ken Rearden told The Times. “Another option is (for the developer) to post a bond.”
The trust indenture would make the county liable for operations and maintenance of the utility system at Bell’s Landing subdivision were the developer to default on the project.
But the latest proposal is to have the county operate the system upfront. Bell’s Landing would build the utility while the county receives tap fees and monthly service charges.
“(Bell’s Landing is) rethinking that and making sure the economics work,” Rearden said. “They may bring this trust indenture back.”
Joshua Silavent
County officials are considering building a new youth sports park in South Hall while selling off remaining land to pay down the debt on the Spout Springs Water Reclamation Facility.
The county owns close to 300 acres of property adjacent to the facility off Spout Springs Road. The land is on the county sewer line, officials said, making it all the more valuable.
The Board of Commissioners is expected to approve a $4,000 contract Thursday with Hayes James & Associates for a conceptual design of the park, including construction cost estimates. Funding for this contract will likely come from park fees.
Commissioner Craig Lutz, who serves on the county’s parks and leisure board, said he hoped baseball, softball, football and lacrosse fields could be built, along with ample parking, restrooms and other necessary facilities.
Lutz said the new park is needed to address growing demand in South Hall. Once the design is complete, he said the project could be shelved until financing is identified, perhaps from SPLOST revenues.
Once county officials have identified how much acreage is needed to build the park, the remainder of the land could then be sold to help repay debt on the sewer facility — debt which has not been paid off as quickly as county officials would like as supply has outweighed demand.