MTO: 3rd MWA bill would help fund new Tubman

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3rd MWA bill would help fund new Tubman

By Nancy Badertscher
The Macon Telegraph

ATLANTA - The Macon Water Authority would throw its financial support behind the Tubman African American Museum and help the city close its aging landfill under the third and newest proposal before the General Assembly.

The latest legislation - like two pending bills - would give the water authority the power to expand into industrial development.

THREE MWA BILLS
LUCAS BILL
Highlights: Allows the water authority to enter into industrial development, contract with the city of Macon to close the city landfill and open a new one, and spend $3.85 million to construct a long-term drug-treatment center, which the state would operate.
Status: Lacks the four signatures of local legislators to pass the House as courtesy local legislation. Lucas is pushing a statewide bill that he says should alleviate concerns about the authority having the power to buy or condemn land anywhere in the state for a landfill.

REICHERT BILL
Highlights: Allows the water authority to enter into industrial development.
Status: Introduced in the House as courtesy local legislation with signatures of four of Bibb County's six House members. Could pass and go to the state Senate on Tuesday.

BROWN BILL
Highlights: Allows the water authority to enter into industrial development, to provide Macon with funds needed to close its landfill and open a new one, and to contribute $5 million toward a new building for the Tubman African American Museum in Macon. The bill gives the Tubman 18 months to raise $10 million in matching funds and requires the museum to devote at least $25,000 annually to drug-abuse-prevention programs and non-violent-conflict-resolution programs.
Status: To be introduced Monday in the state Senate.

It also would allow the authority to give a $5 million matching grant for a new building for the Tubman Museum in Macon and to spend money from its water and sewer operations to help shut down the city's unlined Walker Road Landfill and finance a new city-run landfill.

"I think it's a good compromise based on everything I've seen out there," said Sen. Robert Brown, D-Macon, the bill's sponsor.

Funding for the new museum building downtown dovetails with the water authority's other objective of enhancing economic development, Brown said.

"A project of this size and focus will provide diversity and strength to our expanding tourism industry," he said in a letter distributed late Thursday and early Friday to members of the Bibb County legislative delegation.

Rep. Robert Reichert, D-Macon, said Friday that Brown's bill could complicate the debate over how much power to give the water authority.

"If we're not careful, we're going to end up with so many different versions and so many different causes being championed that we're not going to be able to develop a consensus on even the core," he said.

Reichert has pending before the House a bill that would cap the water authority's new powers at industrial development. The bill is substantially narrower than the first water authority bill by Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon.

Lucas' bill would empower the water authority to expand into industrial development, close the city landfill and open a new one and fund the construction of a long-term drug-treatment center that the county would own and the state could operate.

That bill stalled after Rep. Robert Ray, D-Fort Valley, withdrew his crucial fourth signature because of concerns about the landfill provision.

Lucas said Friday that Brown's bill fails to address Ray's concerns about restricting the location of the landfill.

He also said he is not optimistic that the Tubman could meet the bill's requirement that it raise $10 million in 18 months to qualify for the $5 million from the water authority.

"And I'm on the board (of the Tubman)," Lucas said. "It seems like somebody's trying to say, 'I tried to do something ...' But if the senator can get it passed, I'll look at it."

Tubman executive director Carey Pickard said $5 million from the water authority would be a huge boost for the museum's $15 million building project.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for us to leverage public and private support," Pickard said. "Yes, it's an ambitious goal, but it is an attainable goal."

The Tubman has no objection to the caveat that it dedicate $25,000 annually to help young and lower-income residents of Bibb County, he said.

"So much of what we do is already aimed at drug-prevention and non-violent conflict resolution," Pickard said.

Brown's bill, which will be introduced Monday in the Senate, caught several key officials by surprise.

"It came on me all of the sudden. I really haven't had time to digest it," state Rep. Billy Randall, D-Macon, chairman of the Bibb County legislative delegation, said Friday.

"This is the first time I've heard about the Tubman," Macon Water Authority chairman Frank Amerson said Friday afternoon. "The way I see it, it is strictly a county situation - what they would prefer to do with their money."

The County Commission has voted to support the water authority's involvement with industrial development, the landfill and drug-treatment center, Amerson said.

Freshman state Sen. Susan Cable, R-Macon, said Friday she was still assessing the first two bills when Brown added his to the mix.

Reichert's bill had seemed more palatable than Lucas', Cable said. But she said she has reservations about allowing the water authority broader spending powers, particularly when some residents of south Bibb complain that they do not have sewage service.

Residents in south Bibb "are just scared to death about the landfill business," Cable said.

Some people also believe that the industrial authority's option to buy land on Sardis Church Road for industrial use is tied to the county road program's plans in that area, she said.

To be approved by the General Assembly, local legislation has to be supported by a majority of a county's House and Senate members. In Bibb, that requires approval from four out of six House members and two of three state senators.

Any member, however, can bring a local bill to the floor for debate.

In a letter dated Thursday, Brown told members of the Bibb delegation that passage of his bill would have "significant positive effects beyond ... the proposed projects.

"The critical mass of this package should enhance our community's efforts to attract a large, clean industry and manage growth in ways that enhance our quality of life," he said. "It will also be an aid in efforts to improve our image as a forward-moving, diverse and inclusive community."


	Here is some information and sites to help you keep track of the General Assembly: Session guide: Finding information by television, phone, in person and online. GeorgiaNet Authority: Keep track of all bills and resolutions as they move through the General Assembly. Georgia Senate. Georgia House of Representatives.