The Euchee Creek Sewer Interceptor Project, Columbia County’s planned gravity sewer line running along Grovetown, has proven a contentious matter for some residents along Harlem Grovetown Road for nearly a year.
The project entails building a gravity flow sewer line some six miles following the creek, starting in Harlem, the county’s response to that city’s worn, overwhelmed sewer system.
In April of last year, the county held a public meeting to inform nearby residents who may be affected by the pipe installation. There they learned the county would require that some landowners provide an easement on their properties, to accommodate the pipeline’s construction along Euchee Creek.
One of those homeowners was Keith Finley, a resident who owns a parcel along Harlem Grovetown Road that abuts the creek.
MORE: Destination Augusta wins two state tourism awards
On the opposite side of the creek is some 270 acres owned by Dr. Barbara Utermark, a portion of whose property the county also requires an easement to construct the sewer line. However, a portion of the pipeline is to be built away from Utermark’s property to the other side of the creek and across that of Finley and three of his neighbors.
Finley’s question is — as it has been for the better part of a year—why has the county planned to move the sewer line across Euchee Creek to cut across his and his neighbors’ backyards, rather than continuing through the doctor’s property?
Finley states that, in that initial public meeting in April of 2023, the county let Harlem Grovetown Road homeowners know that it had negotiated with Utermark prior to build a portion of the line across the creek.
Utermark, who has a dentistry and orthodontics practice in Martinez, also raises horses. Finley says the county’s arrangement was to avoid installing manholes along her property’s horse trail, due to concerns about the horses’ ankles.
A back and forth would ensue between Finley and the county in the following months. In September, 2023, the county sent Finley a letter requesting he sign over an easement through his yard for compensation of $1,632, lest the county acquire the property rights through eminent domain.
A second letter followed, in November, this time offering $2,360. This was after Finley had found several trees on his property had been cut down. He said that a surveying company hired by the county had come to make drone targets to examine the property.
A trespass settlement ensued, which included input from Bartlett Tree Experts, hired by Finley, reporting that the trees cut down on his land were worth more than $2,500.
A third letter, postmarked on Dec. 21, reduced the offer to $1,547 and gave five days to reply. Finley’s response was to seek a meeting with the Columbia County Board of Commissioners.
“We’re not trying to stop progress,” said Finley, stating he and neighbor Brian Clayson are not opposed to the sewer line project, and understand the process of eminent domain. “It’s a necessary evil, but it should be done the right way.”
During the BOC’s meeting on Feb. 20, Finley spoke before the commissioners, alongside Clayson, a disabled combat veteran with PTSD, whose had also attended the first landowners’ meeting in April, and had also received letters from the county requesting an easement on his property.
“When asked about the change of the route, I was told that it was not going to change because we’re already at 90% design phase,” said Clayson to the commissioners, also stating that he and Finley had met with the county on three occasions to discuss why the sewer line was planned to course through their land rather than the opposite side of Euchee Creek. “No one gave us a chance to voice our opinion.”
The matter is now in litigation, as the county has begun the process of condemnation by eminent domain on Finley’s and Clayson’s properties. As such, Columbia County has stated it cannot offer comment. As of the publishing of this story, the office of Dr. Utermark has not responded to The Augusta Press for comment.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
