MTO: Narrower MWA bill introduced

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Narrower MWA bill introduced
Plan adds industrial development to water board's powers

By Nancy Badertscher
The Macon Telegraph

ATLANTA - A majority of Bibb County's legislators Wednesday backed off turning the Macon Water Authority into a super authority involved in industrial development, landfills and construction and signed onto legislation capping the authority's new duties at industrial development.

A new bill, drawn by Rep. Robert Reichert, D-Macon, and signed by four of the county's six House members, supersedes a broader local bill that would also empower the authority to close the Macon landfill, develop a new landfill and fund building a drug-treatment center.

"It pares it down to the core, which is what I understand is the water authority's No. 1 priority - what they really need and what they really want," Reichert said.

His bill was signed early Wednesday by Rep. David Graves, R-Macon; Rep. Robert Ray, D-Fort Valley, and Rep. Ken Birdsong, D-Gordon.

It is similar to legislation that died in the Georgia Senate in 1997.

But Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon, who drafted the bill giving the water authority broader power, said he still hasn't given up on getting his bill passed.

Ray and Birdsong initially supported Lucas' bill. But Ray withdrew his support for Lucas' bill the same day it was introduced because of controversy over expanding the water authority's roles to develop a new landfill, possibly in another county.

Birdsong said Wednesday he decided to throw his support behind Reichert's bill rather than jeopardize the chance for Bibb County to attract new industry.

"I think it will open a lot of doors to economic opportunity ..." he said.

Graves, who did not sign Lucas' bill, said his concern has been with the water authority going into the landfill business and building a drug-treatment center.

"They bothered me. They did not seem to me to be in the scope of the Macon Water Authority," he said. "Industrial development might not be in their scope as well, but at least on it, they should be at the table."

Macon Water Authority chairman Frank Amerson said Wednesday he had not seen Reichert's bill.

"I've always said the industrial park is our No. 1 priority. I do think a landfill is real necessary."
- Frank Amerson,
Macon Water Authority chairman

"I've always said the industrial park is our No. 1 priority," Amerson said. "I do think a landfill is real necessary."

Lucas was still trying Wednesday to garner House support for a statewide bill he introduced earlier this week that he said should allay fears by Ray and others that the water authority would be able to buy or condemn land outside of Bibb County for a landfill.

When told that Reichert had a new bill with the required signatures, Lucas said he had no plans to change course.

"We still need a landfill, and they (the water authority) are still the only ones that can come up with the money," he said.

Lucas said that, if his statewide bill passes, he will attempt to resurrect his original bill.

His water authority bill, introduced Jan. 27, has been in limbo since Ray pulled his support the same day.

Amerson has contended that the water authority is the only local agency that is in a position financially to undertake expensive projects, such as closing the city landfill or funding the construction of a drug-treatment center for the state to run. He also has said that these efforts would be repayment for the financial support that the city and county provided in the water authority's early years.

Rep. Billy Randall, D-Macon, chairman of the Bibb County legislative delegation, said Wednesday he had refused to sign Reichert's bill.

"I stand by the original bill," Randall said.

He was lobbying early Wednesday to try to amend Lucas' bill to say that the water authority would put up the money for the landfill improvements but not take charge of landfill operations, Randall said.

He said he might call a meeting of the Bibb County legislative delegation sometime next week to discuss the developments with Reichert's alternative legislation.

Sen. Robert Brown, D-Macon, who killed a similar bill two years ago expanding the water authority's power into industrial development, would not immediately take a position on Reichert's bill.

"If it's largely the same thing (as the 1997 bill), I'll have some of the same concerns," he said. "But I'm willing to look at it."

Brown's reasoning for killing the bill two years ago was that he thought the water authority needed to concentrate its efforts on serving its water and sewer customers.

While elected officials at the state level may have reservations about the landfill portions of the original bill, Macon and Bibb County's local officials said providing funds to close the current landfill and open a new one will someday be vital.

"Somewhere down the road, we're still going to need a new public landfill," said Larry Justice, chairman of the Bibb County Commission. "Every time you talk about landfills, it's a controversial subject. If this is all we can get, I'll support it. But I supported the original bill and still support it."

Reichert said the water authority, unlike the local industrial development authority, is financially able to set up a revolving fund to buy land for industrial development.

"We're crippled right now. We're not competing with other two-tier cities around the state and around the Southeast. They are eating our lunch," Reichert said. "There's consensus that good, high-paying and high-tech jobs in clean industry makes sense for everybody. And (Lucas's bill) was too much, too quickly, without adequate explanation."

If Reichert's bill passes the House as local legislation, it will have to be signed by two of Bibb County's three state senators - Brown, Sen. Susan Cable, R-Macon, and Sen. Sonny Perdue, R-Bonaire - before it can be acted on by the full Senate.

Typically, local legislation that is signed by a majority of a county's delegation will pass in the House and Senate without floor debate.

To pass this year, local legislation initiated in the House must reach the Senate by the 37th day of the 40-day legislative session. Wednesday was the 18th day.

Staff writer Johnathan Burns contributed to this report.


	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.