Forsyth County water authority schedules special called meeting Tuesday

Forsyth County’s Water and Sewerage Authority met Tuesday afternoon in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room, Suite 220, at 110 East Main Street in Cumming, with the session set to begin at 3 p.m. or immediately after the 2 p.m. Board of Commissioners work session adjourned.

The agenda included adoption of minutes from its April 28 special called meeting.

Forsyth County currently relies on a single Lake Lanier intake owned by the City of Cumming to serve both systems. A 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave the county the ability to build its own intake, and the new Water Intake Facility began in 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2031, with an estimated total cost of $188 million.

County project documents break that figure into $76 million for the intake and tunnel, $69 million for the pump station and $43 million for the transmission main. The intake is planned about 600 feet offshore from Tidwell Park, where construction was underway as of July 10 near 4900 Pilgrim Mill Road. The project also includes a 2,000-foot tunnel about 180 feet underground and a 3-mile transmission main along Pilgrim Mill Road to connect the intake, pump station and water treatment system.

Tidwell Park is scheduled to close Aug. 3 for about three years, with reopening estimated in 2029. Scott Adams, director of the Forsyth County Department of Water & Sewer, said the intake project is critical and will provide redundancy and resiliency for county citizens. Capital Projects Senior Project Manager Lynnette Ramirez said nearby residents should expect traffic delays, noise and vibrations during construction.

The standard residential water base rate is $15.80 a month for a 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch meter, with usage priced from $4.46 per 1,000 gallons in Tier 1 to $17.37 per 1,000 gallons in Tier 5. Residential sewer carries an $18.29 monthly base rate plus $8.84 per 1,000 gallons, while seniors 62 and older qualify for a reduced water base rate of $12.80 a month.