Jackson Progress-Argus

Jackson — Butts County officials are concerned about the fate of a development project -- and a sewer project that would serve it -- at Interstate 75 and Ga. Highway 16 that have stalled.

At one time a Great American Travel Center was expected to open in early 2011, and construction was under way in March 2011, but it has never been finished. The project was used as leverage for securing $1 million in grant money contingent on the creation of more than 50 jobs. The two grants, each for $500,000, are being used to fund a sewer line expansion that would serve the travel center and future development on the southeast corner of the interchange.

But one of the two grants requires the developer to back the job-creation commitment with a letter of credit or a bond in the amount of the grant, according to Butts County Water Authority General Manager Marcie Seleb. The bond would be used to pay back the grant if the jobs failed to materialize.

Work on the sewer expansion using the first $500,000 began last year, on the west side of I-75, but so far the developer has not posted the bond and the authority has been unable to pull down the second grant, Seleb told Butts County commissioners on Monday.

“We’ve had a contractor under contract since July 1, and actually we’ve given him 90 days to get finished so that the store could get open but we’re not able to actually get to work on the east side of [Interstate] 75 until we’re able to resolve that,” she said.

A meeting between the water authority board, the development authority board and the Board of Commissioners held on Monday was intended to be on the broad topic of promoting economic development, but water authority Chairman J.B. White sounded the alarm on the travel center project, saying his board could risk legal action by its sewer contractor because of prolonged delays.

“We’ve got to come up with a plan to do something,” White said.

The water authority board was growing concerned about the state of the project in November, and gave the developer of the travel center, Ataollah Masoodzadeghan, a Dec. 1 deadline to obtain the bond or letter of credit. According to a Nov. 21 letter, the authority threatened to reverse a decision to waive sewer connection fees if the deadline wasn’t met. The authority’s letter to Masoodzadeghan noted that the fees could be up to $160,000, based on usage at identical facilities.

Masoodzadeghan said Tuesday that he helped the county get the first $500,000 grant but it could be challenging to make the project work in these economic times.

In addition to the 55-job commitment, Butts County zoning code requires stores selling gasoline to be on a corner lot. And while the travel center only has access onto Ga. 16 currently, there are plans for a street on its eastern side that would provide access to adjacent property behind the travel center that is part of a larger planned development. It’s not clear, however, how the road is going to get built.

“We already helped the county the first time and we’re trying to resolve this so it’s beneficial for both parties,” Masoodzadeghan said.

“Now we’re in this bad economy, we’re negotiating how we can make this a viable business ... we’re not asking for anything unreasonable,” he said.

He said the travel center could be open in as soon as three to four weeks with no impediments.

Commissioners and Masoodzadeghan said a meeting was scheduled for Friday between the parties to discuss the issues involving the project.

Citing the potential for litigation, County Commission Chairman Roger McDaniel, at Monday’s meeting, consulted with the county’s attorney, Mike O’Quinn, and suggested members of the three boards discuss the development, and their stance at Friday’s meeting, in a closed-door executive session. The session was held after a quick special-called meeting on another matter.

“We’re clearly in an adversarial position with him,” O’Quinn said. “Either he’s going to sue us or we’re going to sue him if something doesn’t change.”

Seleb told commissioners that the water authority has already come out of pocket by about $35,000 that it is expecting to be reimbursed for through the second grant. The authority has also matched the grants with about $175,000 in engineering work, materials and labor, she said.

She said that the contractor on the sewer line project could have gotten started on both legs of the work -- on each side of the interstate -- simultaneously in July 2011, had the grants come through as expected.

On Tuesday, McDaniel declined to discuss the substance of the executive session, but said county officials expect commitments to be met. “We’re not going to allow anyone to hold anything over the county’s head,” he said.