Meeting Summary: Middle Ocmulgee Council June 4, 2025

Memorandum

To:                        Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Planning Council

From:                    Sarah Skinner, Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center

Date:                    June 4, 2025

Subject:                Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Planning Council Meeting Summary

This memorandum provides the meeting summary of the Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Planning Council Meeting, held at Super-Sod of Middle Georgia (158 Sod Farm Rd, Fort Valley, GA 31030) on June 4, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. 

Welcome and Introductions; Chairman’s Report; Approval of Minutes

Acting Chairman, Ben Copeland Jr., called the meeting to order. He welcomed the Council to Super-Sod of Middle Georgia and explained the unique design of the building, which promotes water conservation practices. Acting Chairman Copeland informed Council members that Chairman Elmo Richardson retired and thanked him for his service to the Council. He announced that elections for a new chairman and vice chairman would occur at a future meeting. Council members and stakeholders provided brief introductions.

Acting Chairman Copeland asked for a motion to approve the Middle Ocmulgee Council Meeting Minutes from the last meeting on May 24, 2023. Minutes were approved by a motion, second, and unanimous vote.

Acting Chairman Copeland called for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. The agenda was approved by approved by a motion, second, and unanimous vote. 

Council Business

Mr. Clete Barton, GA EPD, introduced himself and the Regional Water Planning Unit staff members including Unit Manager, Mr. Russell Nix, and his team, Mr. Tim Fields and Ms. Parris Maguire. Mr. Barton also provided an update on the contract with the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center, which will now be taking lead on working with the Regional Water Planning Councils through the next plan update in 2028. 

Mr. Barton also updated the Council on appointments. He encouraged current members to suggest new members and urged stakeholders in the room to consider being recommended for appointment. Mr. Nix added that GA EPD is working on the lists of individuals for appointment but does not make the appointments; appointments made by the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker. 

• Marcie Seleb: How many members are currently on the council and what is the term limit?
• Clete Barton: GA EPD is still working on the Council list. The term limit is three years, but members remain as such until reappointments are made. GA EPD has made it a top priority to submit lists for reappointments to fill Council seats.

Updates from Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center 

Ms. Sarah Skinner, Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC), provided a brief introduction of GWPPC. She explained that GWPPC has been working with the three water planning councils of Southwest Georgia since they were created and provided an overview of one of GWPPC’s hallmark programs, Georgia Flow Incentive Trust. Ms. Skinner asked Council members to provide feedback/suggestions on meeting agenda topics and coordination going forward. 

Ms. Skinner also provided a timeline moving forward to the plan update in 2028. She reminded Council members about the webinar series and encouraged them to participate in the next webinar, as well as joint Council meetings in the Fall. 

• Ben Copeland, Jr.: What is the Metro Water District’s timeline for their plan update.
• Russell Nix: They are currently aiming for late 2027.
• Marcie Seleb shared enthusiasm that GWPPC is will be working with the Council. She asked for a link to the previous webinars. 

Updates from Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Ms. Veronica Craw, GA EPD, updated the Council that former Watershed Protection Branch Chief, Anna Truszczynski, has been promoted to Deputy Director of GA EPD. There is currently a vacancy for Watershed Protection Branch Chief. 

Ms. Craw provided an update on 2025 Seed Grants. The Middle Ocmulgee Council Seed Grant submission was the highest scoring submission across the state. The project for the Lakeshore management plan is currently under negotiation for contract.

• Marcie Seleb: How much total money was available for this term of Seed Grants?
• Veronica Craw: Total available was $300,000, however GA EPD is currently trying to fund more with extra money in the budget. GA EPD is currently undertaking changes to the Seed Grant process, including a possible removal of the cash match requirement. Those changes will not be effective for the next funding cycle, which will be announced in July 2025. Applications will be due October 31, 2025 via a new portal submission system. 

Georgia Power Integrated Resources Plan – Plant Scherer Update

Mr. Dominic Weatherill, Georgia Power, provided an overview of how Georgia Power provides clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to customers throughout Georgia. He highlighted the company’s continued investments in existing nuclear, natural gas, coal, and hydropower plants under the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The IRP highlights that Plant Scherer will continue running unit 3; it will be reinstated in July 2025. Significant investments in water treatment for Plant Scherer include installation of ash pond dewatering treatment, low volume waste treatment, dry ash handling, and pursuit of advanced treatment of scrubber wastewater.

• Clete Barton: Is there wind power in Georgia?
• Dominic Weatherill: Not in Georgia, but it is included in the timeline portfolio.
• Marcie Seleb: Are you moving away from using ash ponds?
• Dominic Weatherill: Yes, they have been disconnected from the plan and are in the process of being closed.
• Veronica Craw: What drove the reversal of unit 3?
• Dominic Weatherill: An increase in load due to expansion of energy-intensive industries in the state.
• Barry Peters: How much of the increase is due to data centers?
• Dominic Weatherill: Not sure of an exact number, but it is significant.
• Marcie Seleb: Who are the owners of units 1 and 2?
• Dominic Weatherill: Oglethorpe Power and Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, as well as Georgia Power.
• Bryan Tolar shared that he was one of many who spoke to the Public Service Commission regarding public concern for energy efficiency.
• Sarah Skinner: What is your planning timeline for the Integrated Resource Plan?
• Dominic Weatherill: The IRP is updated every three years, but we’re planning all the time.

Planning Discussion

Ms. Skinner provided an overview of Section 3: Water Resources Assessment and Section 4: Water and Wastewater Forecasts from the 2023 Middle Ocmulgee Regional Water Plan to kick-off a discussion about the continuation of Plant Scherer unit 3.

• Marcie Seleb: Is this combined energy and municipal? Are the forecasts contributed to the retirement of Plant Scherer? Do we know what the projected volume of reduced municipal use was?
• Veronica Craw: Unit 3 coming offline was to balance out the anticipated population growth. Now that unit 3 is no longer being retired, the rebalancing may not be needed for this Council.
• Ben Copeland, Jr.: Are they to redo the population projections for the next plan?
• Sarah Skinner: Yes
• Tony Rojas: Population forecasting is a challenge for not only this council, but others as well; specifically coastal.   
• Ron Shipman: It would be nice to be able to run this information past economic developers to help better distinguish what type of industry is influencing different areas in the region
• Tony Rojas: It would be beneficial to look at mega sites in terms of economic development and water usage.
• Ron Shipman: This is not a resource issue, it is a delivery issue; without infrastructure and available finances, we need to plan for future increase from developers.
• Dominic Weatherill: Further planning for drought and other critical conditions should be considered.
• Ron Shipman: Important to note that news industries have drought contingency plans and will tell [utilities] what is needed/required for them. 

Public Comment

Ms. Sharon Cloud with the High Falls Towaliga Watershed Alliance provided an overview of the organization, which serves five counties in the region. Their biggest concern is industry and the requirements for warehouse space. Ms. Cloud expressed an interest in building relationships with members of the council and stakeholders, stating this was her first chance to come to a multi-county environment where these issues are discussed. The organization has approximately 10,000 petitioners against the warehouses to be built on 284 acres of the north shoreline to High Falls Lake. They have the capacity and are working toward financial ability to purchase the land (currently under contract) to turn it over to Georgia Department of Natural Resources to annex into High Falls State Park. 

Lunch with Special Presentation on Drought Tolerant TifTuf Bermudagrass

Mr. Bryan Tolar, Tolar Capitol Partners, Inc., provided the Council with a presentation about TifTuf Bermudagrass, a high-quality cultivar developed at UGA that exceeds drought tolerant standards and uses less water than other similar cultivars. TifTuf is grown at multiple turf farms in Georgia, including Super-Sod, and in other states in the southeast. The TifTuf market is primarily home lawns, but it was installed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2024.

• Tony Rojas: How does this grass do when it gets a lot of water?
• Ben Copeland, Jr.: It does comparatively better than Centipede. If you have good topsoil, this grass will do fine.
• Barry Peters: Does it have viable seeds?
• Ben Copeland, Jr.: No.
• Marcie Seleb: How does cost compare to competitors?
• Bryan Tolar: Largely, it’s very price competitive, slightly higher due to a royalty fee with UGA.

Panel: Challenges and Opportunities with Septic Management, Receiving, and Hauling

Ms. Skinner briefly introduced panelists: Ryan Bode, Macon Water Authority; Carla Coley, Georgia DPH North Central Health District; Chad McMurrian, City of Perry; and Lance Woods, Ocmulgee Septic and Sewer. The panelists were then asked to provide a more detailed introduction and discuss the following questions:

• How does customer and homeowner education about maintenance, regular pumping, and repair play a role in this issue? What are the biggest barriers to customer education?
• Carla Coley: The more routinely you pump your septic tank, the longer your drain field will last. We encourage customers to pump their systems every 3-5 years. The problem, however, is if everyone with a septic tank in the state pumped at this frequency, there would be too much waste and nowhere to take it.
• Tony Rojas: It’s interesting that a local government will not take their own septage, in reality it’s your own watershed that is being harmed, wastewater treatment plants are not designed to handle septage intake.
• Carla Coley: We don’t have the capacity within the city to expand and have other haulers come in.
• What are the major considerations a municipal system would face when deciding to accept septage at their treatment facilities? What are the factors that contribute to a facility no longer being able to accept septage?
• Chad McMurrian: Multiple liability concerns that the city would take on. Some of the treatment facility operators were being bribed by haulers to take septic waste.
• Ryan Bode: If a plant does not have proper screening, you are looking at potential, high-cost damage. Septic loads weigh on pumps which are also costly replacements.
• Lance Woods: The time when the septic tanks are backed up is when it’s raining a lot and the city can’t take the septic waste because their facilities are already backed up. A large problem is customers putting off pumping septic tanks until the issue has made its way into the home; at this point it is the property owners who are responsible.

• Do you think there is adequate coordination and planning in this region for septage hauling and receiving? What are the barriers? Is there room for improvement?
• Lance Woods: Technology is not being taken advantage of in respect to tracking the hauling and receiving of septic.
• Carla Coley: There needs to be a conversation (with legislators and others) because DPH could do better at tracking, but there isn’t the money or personnel available.
• Chad McMurrian: Forgiveness to the municipalities permit may help, consider having some kind of state program for prescreening and waste load limits.
• Ben Copeland, Jr.: How much new development is being done in this area for septic tanks?
• Carla Coley: More than you may think. There is a problem with regulation in the county, there are ways for people to go before the DPH and request a lesser amount to be allowed.
• Tony Rojas: There is not a requirement for local government to be involved with septage waste disposal. Nobody has a plan where the septage is going. How can the city put moratoriums on putting more people on septic when they don’t have a plan for those who already have nowhere to dump septage. We shouldn’t be building anymore treatment facilities without them having the capability to receive septage.
• Carla Coley: If you look at the info published by the DNR every year about the rivers and streams, you can see the locations of issues with nonpoint source dumping and specific areas with septic problems.
• Marcie Seleb and Carla Coley: There is no one entity with the responsibility and authority to handle these issues, so they are not being managed. 

Planning Discussion

Ms. Skinner provided an overview of how septic management is discussed in the plan and the action items that address it. 

• Tony Rojas: Question of terminology “waste loading” in the plan, realistically more than 19 percent wastewater as the graph illustrates.
• Tony Rojas: More recommendations to EPD that may need to be addressed statewide, maybe it’s a matter of requesting more of a role from EPD in forecasting septic flows to create a plan for regional septage disposal/receiving.
• Carla Coley: Proposed an additional requirement for septic systems on lakes to have some form of nitrogen reduction technology.
• Sarah Skinner: What would the additional cost be?
• Carla Coley: It would probably add ~$3,000 to the cost of the septic system, but would aid in the quality of water that is being dumped in these lakes.
• Veronica Craw: GA EPD can’t fund homeowners/ homeowner associations, but we can fund a local government to do septic pump-out rebates if there is documented proof of bacterial impairment in an area with known poor septic systems. We can help fund the interconnection of septic systems to mainline but cannot touch public entities.
• Russell Nix: GEFA may be able to aid in funding for treatment facilities being made to accept septage if the need is clearly stated in the regional water plans.

Adjourn

Acting Chair Copeland thanked the speakers and asked if there were any members of the public or elected officials present who wished to provide any comments. 

With no additional comments, Acting Chair Copeland adjourned at 1:45 pm and invited the group to tour the grounds.

Meeting Attendance

Council

• Ben Copeland, Jr
• Barry Peters
• Tony Rojas
• Marcie Seleb

GA EPD

• Veronica Craw, EPD liaison for MOC
• Clete Barton
• Timothy Fields
• Parris McGuire
• Russell Nix

GWPPC

• Sarah Skinner
• Megan Stanley

Public and Agency Partners

• Ryan Bode (Macon Water Authority)
• Ken Cloud (HFTWA)
• Sharon Cloud (HFTWA)
• Carla Coley (Georgia DPH North Central Health District)
• Cassandra Cox (GA Power) – possible, future council member, long-standing attendance
• Carol Flaute – virtual (Northeast Georgia Regional Commission – UGA)
• Morgan Grizzle (UGA Extension)
• Mike Hopkins (Newton County Water Authority)
• Alyssa Lackey (Butts County water authority)
• Chad McMurrian (City of Perry)
• Michael Melton (Eco-Tech)
• Ron Shipman (Macon Water Authority)
• Bryan Tolar (Tolar Capitol Partners, Inc)
• John Traylor (Georgia Forestry Commission)
• Dominic Weatherill (GA Power)
• Lance Woods (Ocmulgee Septic and Sewer)

Related to: 

• Middle Ocmulgee