By Ryan Lewis
Correspondent
SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. – Just when it seemed the towns of South Pittsburg, Kimball and Jasper, Tenn., had agreed to build a regional wastewater treatment plant in Marion County, the harmony quickly dissipated.
“The deal is in trouble,” South Pittsburg Mayor Mike Killian said. “There are a number of hurdles that have risen recently.”
Among those is the recent news that the four-acre construction site in Jasper has been deemed unusable because it is in a wetland.
Alternate sites greatly would increase the estimated $10 million cost of the overall project, officials said.
“That site is pretty much out,” Killian said. “There are two more possible sites near it. One of them belongs to the county, but it is a possible wetland, too. It looks to me like the cost is going to be too great to build a regional sewer system.”
Another major sticking point is a proposed agreement between South Pittsburg and Kimball concerning South Pittsburg’s current wastewater plant.
The plant was expanded when Walmart, McDonald’s and Shoney’s built in Kimball, Killian said, so Kimball should pay for the debt on that expansion.
“My opinion is that is theirs to pay,” Killian said.
But Kimball Alderman Mark Payne said he fears paying any of that debt would make Kimball liable for South Pittsburg’s old sewer plant.
“There’s no way I’d agree to do that for zero dollars,” he said.
Kimball Mayor David Jackson said he doesn’t want to be on the hook for South Pittsburg’s bill, in this case, about $350,000.
“South Pittsburg wants us to continue to help pay their debts once this new facility opens,” Jackson said. “We just do not agree we owe any debt. We don’t want anything to do with their old sewer system once this new one is under way.”
Beth Jones, the executive director of the Southeast Tennessee Development District, said the debt is a separate issue and doesn’t belong in an agreement concerning the regional facility plans.
“I don’t know what the justification for this is,” she said. “It’s kind of like buying a car, and it’s basically not worth the value that’s left to pay on it. You’re upside down in it. That’s not (Kimball’s) problem.”
Killian said the recent problems with the site and the debt disagreement have forced South Pittsburg officials to look into other options.
“If we build our own plant, the price would be about the same,” he said. “The financing would be the same, and the grant would be the same.”
He said he’s also had discussions with officials from Bridgeport, Ala., which is two miles closer than the possible sites in Jasper, about building a sewage treatment plant that could be used by both towns.
“The engineers from Bridgeport and our engineers are getting together to look that over,” he said. “I know already that the two miles alone is over $500,000 savings as far as running pipes and pumps. The same kind of deal could be made with them.”
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.