Hall County presented the preliminary plans for sewer in North Hall to an enthusiastic crowd of area property owners Thursday at the Georgia Mountains YMCA.
North Hall residents are anxious to get sewer service in their area to foster development. The city of Lula is the only area in North Hall that has sewer.
Property owner Alvin Hicks said he has been waiting for years for a supermarket in his area. He currently drives about 15 miles to Gainesville or Cornelia to get to the nearest store. But such a large development would be dependent on sewer.
“We’ve had Ingles come in three times,” Hicks said. “They wanted to locate but they never could.”
Hicks’ neighbor, Jimmy Cantrell, said he thinks the northern part of the county has been largely neglected in county spending.
“We’ve been promised for years it was a top priority,” Cantrell said. “It seems like the south end of the county gets everything first.
We’re asking for our fair share of the tax money.”
Assistant Hall County Administrator Phil Sutton said the input of the public, and especially large-parcel land owners, is important to sewer planning. Sewer plans have to be flexible because nobody knows where development will happen first.
Pamela Burnett, a consultant with AECOM working on the sewer plan, said the goal is to prioritize construction based on potential development and Hall County’s comprehensive land-use plan.
“Our output will be a list of projects over a period of 20 years,” Burnett said. “We’re gathering the intentions of the development community.”
Burnett said the final recommendations will be ready by spring.
Hall County will be working with Lula, which is building a new waste water treatment plan.
The county already has bought capacity at the future plant to serve the area south of Ga. 52.
“Our intentions are to continue working with the county,” said Lula City Manager Dennis Bergin. “We can accomplish more together.”
The sewer services provided by Hall County and Lula will drive commercial development in the otherwise rural area of the county.
Two huge planned communities — Hagen Creek and Cane Creek — have been approved by Hall County and will need sewer infrastructure before construction.
“With sewer, if you build it they will come,” Hall County Public Works Director Ken Rearden said.