The Blairsville City Council met Tuesday, May 12, for its regular monthly meeting, where members approved an agreement with Engineering Management Inc. to serve as the engineering firm for the Georgia 515 sewer expansion project. The council also discussed wastewater system concerns and budget amendments.
According to City Clerk Kaye McCann, the sewer expansion will extend sewer service along Georgia 515 by roughly 2.5 miles from Merchants Avenue, where service currently ends, to Backyard Lane, near Galaxy Bowling.
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“The sewer expansion project will allow residents and businesses to have access to sewer service rather than having to be on septic system,” McCann said.
Because the project is still in its early stages, McCann said the council has not yet established a construction timeline. However, the city has already received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help fund the project and is pursuing additional support from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
The council also unanimously approved the replacement of the programmable logic controller system, or PLC, at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
The PLC is the computer system responsible for managing the plant’s automated wastewater treatment processes. Wastewater Treatment Plant Supervisor Jody Cook told council members that the current system is outdated.
While the actual replacement could be completed in one day, Cook said it could take up to 15 weeks to begin that process if the PLC system failed unexpectedly, which is why he encouraged the council to move forward with the replacement now.
“If it went down, it would be very difficult to operate the plant, because we would have to go out and open and close every valve by hand,” Cook said. “It would all be manual, which would mean around the clock, somebody would be in there seven days a week until they got it fixed.”
According to McCann, the estimated cost to replace the PLC system is around $92,000. She said the replacement will be funded entirely by SPLOST.
Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Rowe said SPLOST revenues increased by $42,000 since last year. He also said hotel-motel tax collections increased from $52,177 in April 2025 to $74,738 in April 2026.
Rod Carey, the city’s water and sewer maintenance supervisor, updated council members on some other ongoing issues within the city’s water system during Tuesday’s meeting. He said crews recently repaired two leaks and are making efforts to locate others.
“We’re working on a game plan now to see if we can find these other leaks,” Carey said.
In other business, the council held the first reading of the city’s budget amendment. No action was taken that Tuesday, but council members will revisit the ordinance next month to formally adopt the proposed budget.
McCann said the General Fund increased by approximately $180,000, largely because the city purchased new police vehicles. She said the water and sewer fund also increased by roughly $114,000 due to wastewater disposal and maintenance costs, and the airport fund increased by about $55,000 because of repairs, maintenance and fuel costs.
“All of these items were able to be covered by increases in revenues as well,” McCann said.
The City Council will hold its next public meeting on Tuesday, June 9, at 6 p.m. inside Blairsville City Hall.
