WALHALLA — The Oconee County Council has issues and many of them center on sewers … or a lack there of.

On Tuesday night, council members were given yet another option for developing sewer at the Golden Corner Commerce Park on S.C. Highway 59 near Fair Play. An engineering firm representative, who provided four options earlier this summer, put a fifth one on the table.

Everyone agreed it was good to have options, thanked Bob Froneberger of WK Dickson for his good work, concurred that a decision was necessary and then adjourned a work session with the County Sewer Commission without making a decision.

At one point, Councilman George Blanchard asked commission members if they had any further input to which one said, “We want to give you what you want.”

Council has options ranging in price from several million to build a three-phase treatment plant on the 400-acre parcel to Froneberger’s latest incarnation, a $1.2 million septic system.

Not only is council undecided about what to do with sewer in the park, the indecision extends to what the county should do to provide sewer services to businesses that may want to develop exits 1, 2 and 4 on Interstate 85. Froneberger didn’t help in that regard, telling council members that every acre of the Commerce Park they commit to accepting off-site sewage is less acreage they will have to market.

Tuesday’s discussion also ranged to the state’s plan to build a development on 350 acres south of Interstate 85, behind the exit 1 welcome center. Sewer Director Bob Winchester said the Sewer Commission is “playing a waiting game until December” when that project is expected to be revealed. The commission hopes to relocate a sewer treatment facility serving the welcome center and expand it to service the new development.

“We’re talking about building a new 100,000 gallon a day plant at a new site with discharge into Lake Hartwell,” Winchester said, acknowledging the county doesn’t even own the existing system, which is under the authority of the Department of Transportation.

Froneberger was also less than enthusiastic about the septic option he had been asked to provide for the Commerce Park.

“Septic would severely limit recruiting to the site,” he told council members, admitting that it would be the fastest alternative to implement.

As he has in recent meetings, Councilman Frank Ables was the most vocal about making a decision. “We’ve got to get this train in motion. We’ve been spinning our wheels for six years.”

There was no indication when council may vote on the options it has. Winchester indicated the Sewer Commission is ready to proceed as soon as a decision is made.

In yet another sewer related matter, council went into closed session to discuss the merits of a revised Sewer Water Action Group (SWAG) agreement. The document, which commits the county to annual payments for construction of the Coneross Treatment Plant until 2018, is being revised so the Sewer Commission can become an autonomous authority. Seneca, Walhalla and Westminster officials have signed the pact, but the county has balked. Prior to Tuesday, one issue appeared to be whether the document extended the contract period, something city officials said it does not do.

The council’s latest take on the document was not available as of press time.