Chase Azevedo, general manager of Georgetown Municipal Water & Sewer (GMWSS), gave the court a multi-topic update on water and wastewater projects that affect Scott County customers.

South sewer extension and package-plant decommissioning

Azevedo described the South Sewer Extension as one of the utility's largest projects, undertaken to retire two privately owned, failing package wastewater treatment plants that historically served mobile home communities (identified in the discussion as Spindletop/Ponderosa and Sawyer Point). He said those package plants were taken out of service in January 2024 and their flows were redirected to Georgetown Municipal's Plant 1 for treatment. Azevedo gave a current, broader project cost of roughly $23,000,000 for engineering, property and construction, up from an earlier estimate of about $7,000,000, and said the larger figure reflects additional system upgrades and work to take pump stations offline.

Azevedo explained funding came from multiple sources and low-interest KIA loan terms were used to add infrastructure upgrades that benefit existing customers. He said the project was sized to serve existing structures south of the greenbelt rather than ultimate corridor build-out, and that capacity exists for certain planned connections if parcel owners bring water to the line. He also noted coordination with Fayette County and capacity reservations for nearby properties: "If anybody ever wants to get, get energized about that 1, we've got capacity for it. But, they've got to bring the water to us," he said.

Utility and service-area governance tasks remain: revising the user agreement between city, utility and mobile-home-park ownership, and creating a service-area ordinance to clarify who may connect based on system sizing.

Southside water storage and distribution improvements

Azevedo detailed a proposed Southside Tank and Distribution System Improvements project to increase stored water volume and system pressure in the southern county. He presented a planning estimate of about $12.5 million, with roughly $7.4 million expected from rate revenue and a $5 million state line-item grant previously secured in the legislature. The project targets roughly 1,400 customers in the Pains Depot Road/Iron Works Road/Etter Lane corridor and would include new tank(s), a booster pump station and upgrades to distribution lines.

He said a design engineer has been retained and the project requires coordination with two concurrent efforts: a system-wide hydraulic model and a long-term water-supply study. "All 3 efforts, as I said, they have to all be done at the same time," Azevedo said; he added that the hydraulic model was near completion and that the long-term water-supply work could determine the final tank location and construction timeline.

Northern Scott County sewer improvements and funding

Azevedo also reviewed planning work for Northern Scott County sanitary sewer improvements along the Georgetown–Sadieville/Cincinnati Pike corridor. The court and the utility secured roughly $1,750,000 in Community Projects Fund grant money for planning. A task order for $495,000 covering alternatives analysis, hydraulic modeling, surveying, environmental assessment, geotechnical work and funding support has been executed, but Azevedo said the utility remains unable to draw on federal EPA-administered funds due to ongoing administrative processes and repeated requests from the EPA for additional documentation. He described that timeline as slow and unpredictable and said the full build cost for corridor improvements would likely be in the $25–$30 million range when projects advance to construction.

Plant capacity, treatment and other items

On treatment capacity, Azevedo said the new Plant 1 will double treatment capacity (designed to 9 million gallons per day compared with roughly 4 million current average-day demand), giving years of built-in capacity. He said Plant 2 (the plant that receives flows from the northern corridor) still had remaining capacity but could require planning for expansion in coming years.

Azevedo reported on other items the court asked about: the utility completed the inventory required under the Lead and Copper Rule revisions and, after targeted inspections and a statistical approach for remaining unknowns, "We have no lead in our system," he said. He also gave brief project status updates for the Farmers Market Pavilion water connection and Hall of Justice construction hookups, and said crews were addressing stormwater issues at the Justice Center site.

Next steps and court requests

Court members requested service-area maps for Plant 1 and Plant 2, a design and construction schedule for the Southside tank once long-term water-supply direction is set, and prioritization guidance for county water-line upgrades to improve pressure and fire protection. Azevedo said he would provide a schedule and maps and continue working with the court on long-term water-supply options and capital prioritization.