HIAWASSEE, Ga. – Hiawassee Mayor Liz Ordiales announced Aug. 26 that sewer expansion is in the process of advancement.

“The sewer plant expansion has finally begun. It’s only taken eight months, but look at us,” Mayor Ordiales said while displaying photographs of a construction site. “They’re tearing down trees, putting in walkways, but then of course there’s the inevitable surprise, the little spaghetti pipes we have going on. Nobody knew that pipe was there. It’s only one of the main ones. The lake is right here. It’s only one of the main ones that comes from one of these manhole and goes straight into the sewer plant. Oops. So we had to adjust a little and make changes, but the good thing is they’ve started and things are moving along nicely.”

Last year, the City of Hiawassee received an Appalachian Regional Commission Grant in the amount of $600,000 from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which administers the program on behalf of the Appalachian Regional Commission, for waste water expansion. SOL Construction, an Atlanta-based concrete contractor, was selected by bid to head the project.

Hiawassee Mayor Liz Ordiales

The mayor added that a lightning strike from a recent storm caused damage to the sewer plant. “It blew up the sewer plant bad. We had fried panels. We had all kinds of fuses that were out. It was a mess. So we had to start replacing things, and of course, our wonderful staff got on it and we didn’t miss a beat, but it was scary.”

FYN will continue to provide updates on the sewer expansion project.

Featured Image provided by City of Hiawassee.