The plan is already before the General Assembly. Local legislators are scheduled to discuss the plan with Amerson Wednesday in Atlanta.

The industrial authority has signed a $4.9 million option to buy the tract by spring or early summer. The vacant parcel, located right off the interstate, is considered by state industry and trade officials to be a prime development site.

The land will be developed with high-tech industry - not a landfill, officials said.

The property is owned by William and Joseph Stokes, Gertrude Hudson and Copus Connecter LLC, according to Bibb County tax records.

Copus Connecter LLC was formed in 1996 for investment and development purposes and is owned by businessmen David Green and Frank Walthall and developer Oney Hudson. In 1996, the business associates bought up parcels of land in the northern portion of the Copus Connector, Hudson said. The northern portion is already zoned for industrial development.

The southern portion of the connector has been in the hands of two Bibb County families for years and is up to be rezoned in March from agricultural to industrial, records show. Gertrude Hudson is the mother of Oney Hudson. William Stokes said his family does not own the land, contrary to county tax records.

If the state Legislature passes the MWA bill, the authority would be able to expand its commercial water service - a move that is sorely needed, Amerson said. The companies that would locate on the Copus Connector would need to consume 10 to 15 million gallons of water a day, he said.

"We're not going to make money with people washing dishes and flushing toilets," Amerson said Monday to Bibb County Commissioners. "We've got to have big users. It's that simple."

Amerson began his lobbying efforts Monday morning with an appearance before the commission's Finance Committee. Committee Chairman Dennis Dorsey endorsed MWA's venture into industrial development, but expressed reservations about MWA getting into the landfill and drug treatment business.

Dorsey said it would be better if a new landfill were operated by private industry - not the government.

He questioned the wisdom of the commission supporting the construction of treatment center that's supposed to be operated by the state when the state hasn't agreed to operate it.

Amerson said the facility wouldn't be built unless the state agrees to operate it.

"That would be the prudent thing to do," Dorsey said. "But it doesn't always work that way."

Dorsey said he has concerns about the landfill proposal, "I don't buy into the package that we have to have a landfill."

The county Finance Committee voted 2-1 in favor of Amerson's proposal. Dorsey cast the dissenting vote. Later, during the regular commission meeting, the commissioners voted 3-1 to support Amerson's plan. Dorsey again cast the dissenting vote.

A new landfill would need to be approved by the Bibb County Commission if it were located in Bibb. If it were in another county, both Bibb commissioners and the respective county commissioners would have to sign off on the project.

Part of Amerson's proposal includes reimbursing the city and county for the approximate $33 million those governments provided to the water authority in the 1970s and 1980s for the expansion of sewer service and treatment facilities.

Under the proposal, the county would receive approximately $1 million annually for 25 years from the water authority, for a total of $25.3 million.

If the city were to agree to close its Walker Road landfill, the authority would pay the city about $300,000 every year for 25 years, for a total of $7.7 million.

The authority expects to pay that money from revenue generated by its expanded water, sewer and proposed landfill service.

Industrial authority members wanted to be sure the MWA bill didn't restrict the water authority to operating only a landfill and thereby prevent it from developing other waste ventures.

"There are new technologies that are being developed for waste disposal," said industrial authority member Ed Grant. "We just want to keep our options open."

Oney Hudson said the Copus Connector is named after a creek that runs along the western border of the 456-acre tract.

Hudson said his family has owned the land for decades, and members want to see the site developed for the benefit of the community - without a landfill.

"I feel confident for this thing to happen because city and county officials have to approve it," Hudson said. "There will be accountability."

Staff writer Rob Kitchel contributed to this story.

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