Call to Order – Chairman Marett called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Board members present were Eddie Roberts, Jr., JB White, Curtis Taylor, Eddie Ford, Rick Jeffares and Bill Jones. Also present were Project Lighthouse Representatives. Staff member present Alyssa Lackey, general manager.
Approval of Minutes from July 15, 2025 Meeting- Mr. Ford made a motion to dispense with the reading of, and to adopt the minutes from the July 15, 2025 meeting, with any necessary corrections being made. This was seconded by Mr. Taylor and approved unanimously.
Project Lighthouse Coordination Meeting –
a. AWS / Kimley-Horn presented the following information to the Authority:
• Findings from the Burford Water Treatment Plant (WTP) assessment
• Conceptual improvements/upgrades for the WTP. Improvements did not include consideration of a new raw water intake in Jackson Lake. BCWSA requested an opinion of construction cost be developed for relocation of the intake to Jackson Lake.
• Opinions of construction cost for upgrade of the existing Burford WTP to 6 MGD and for construction of a new, greenfield 6 MGD WTP. An additional opinion of cost was provided for installation of Granular Activated Carbon.
b. AWS / Kimley-Horn recommended the Authority to proceed with the following improvements:
• Upgrade of the existing raw water intake and pump station
• Rehabilitation and expansion of the Burford Water Treatment Plant to a firm capacity of 6 MGD
• Upgrade of the Hwy 36 Booster Pump Station
• Transmission main improvements required to convey water to the site
c. The Authority appears to agree with proceeding with the rehabilitation and expansion of the existing WTP instead of a new WTP. BCWSA would, however, like to expand the WTP to 8 MGD to capture economies of scale vs the cost of future expansion.
d. The Authority suggested AWS consider paying all of the design and construction costs associated with rehabilitation and expansion of the WTP (to 8 MGD). AWS will provide 100% of the design and construction costs for recommended improvements in the system that are the result of the AWS demands.
Action Items / Next Steps:
AWS to provide a summary of the proposed approach on cost. Options include: AWS pays 100% of the WTP cost.
• AWS pays a share of cost 60 – 70% of the WTP.
• AWS pays all and is allocated capacity beyond 2.5 MGD.
No action was taken.
Operations Statistics – Ms. Lackey went over the water production, water loss and customer statistics for August. The average daily finished water pumped to the Authority, Jackson, and Jenkinsburg from Burford and Stewart plant was 2.97 million gallons per day, with a maximum of 3.57 million gallons per day. The rolling twelve-month average loss of 6% with the current monthly average at 14%. The total amount of finished water pumped in August by each plant was: Burford 78 million gallons and Stewart 13 million gallons.
Water billing for August was $357,241 down 12% from the previous month, up 4% over a rolling 12-month total, and up 7% the same month for the previous year. Sewer billing for August was $64,383 down 9% from the previous month, up 1% over a rolling 12-month total, and down 23% from the previous year.
Total water accounts numbered 6,892 at the end of August with 5,753 of those being active customers. There were 11 new connections sold and 1 construction tap. There were 263 total sewer accounts at the end of August, with 210 of them being active customers and 1 new service connection.
Financial Report – Ms. Lackey reviewed the financial summary for Water & Sewer Operations and Capital Recovery Fees for August 2025 and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) through June 2, 2025.
Water Operations income for August was $435,522 with expenses of $438,370. Water capital recovery fee revenue for Fiscal Year 2026 thus far was $12,964 with $0 in expenses.
Sewer Operations income for August was $88,236 with expenses of $36,874. Sewer Capital Recovery Fee revenue for Fiscal Year 2026 thus far was $95 with $0 in expenses.
For the 2019-24 SPLOST, $4,686,516 has been collected. A SPLOST payment of $19,114.96 was received on March 2, 2025. Overages in the 2019-24 SPLOST are being covered by temporary transfers from the Water Operations fund.
For the 2025-30 SPLOST, $162,139 has been collected. A SPLOST payment of $162,125.95 was received on June 2, 2025.
Total cash on hand at the end of August was $16,318,487. Copies of the August 2025 financial summaries, the consolidated fund balance sheet and the consolidated fund income statement are attached and made a part of these minutes.
Adjourn – A motion was made by Mr. Ford to adjourn the meeting at 10:44 a.m. This was seconded by Mr. Taylor and approved unanimously.