JEKYLL ISLAND — No one can blame Tim Callanan for spending the bulk of the past month focusing on the present. After all, he has been trying to get established in a new job in new place.

Still, Effingham County’s county administrator was up to the task when charged with discussing Effingham County’s future during the Community Leadership Retreat at the Jekyll Island Club on Aug. 23.

“I think it’s important to look at where we stand nationally,” Callanan said at the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce event. “... Since the 2010 Census, Effingham County ranks as the 77th-fastest growing county (in the nation). In the last year alone, our growth rate ranks us 26th (out of 3,142 counties) so, obviously, we are doing something right, but that also clicks on some challenges for the county and the municipalities as well.”

Callanan said the county’s tax digest has finally recovered to the point that it was before the Great Recession.

“That happened just last year,” he said. “We are now collecting the same amount of property taxes that we were in 2008. That’s how long it has taken to recover.”

The recession forced the county to become more efficient, frugal and choosy about its projects.

“That does not mean that we’ve been ignoring some of the growth needs that the county has,” Callanan said.

The county administrator said that the county’s wastewater treatment facility can handle considerable growth.

“As it sits right now, it can grow up to a million gallons a day,” he said. “The challenge that we have has to do with the spray fields  — what to do with the effluent that is produced there. The previous board of commissioners was very smart in the way that it designed it so that when growth occurs it can simply be weird to double that capacity — assuming that we have the space to eliminate the effluent as well.”

Callanan said the county is starting to loop many of its waterlines.

“What that basically means is — when you have a dead-end waterline — you have to keep the water flowing so you end up flushing them out,” he said. “We buy our water mostly from Savannah so, not only is that a waste of money, it also affects things like water quality and pressure. By looping the waterlines, we know that we do not have to flush them.

“It’s better for our customers.”

Callanan said the goal is for Effingham County to control its water destiny. He said options in that regard include the addition of a well in the northern portion or the county or a reservoir in the Sand Hill area.

On the transportation front, Callanan said the county is moving “full steam ahead” on the Effingham Parkway. The new two-lane highway would give drivers an alternate route to Ga. Hwy 21 to get in and out of the county, as well as new access to industrial property. 

“I just sat through a right-of-way meeting on that,” Callanan said. “We are hoping to push that a little bit harder. We are not satisfied with the speed that we are going through on acquiring this right of  way.

“Hopefully, we will get most if not all of that wrapped up by the end of the year so that we can certify the right of way early next year.”

The parkway, set to run parallel to Ga. Hwy 21 from Blue Jay Road to Ga. Hwy 30 and into Chatham County — also has other hurdles.

“We are working with the state environmental offices with regard to some of the environmental and historical impacts that the road will have so that at some time in the first half of next year we can let the contract and get this road started,” Callanan said. “It is going to be the biggest project that the county has taken on growth-wise.”

The parkway is crucial to the county’s economic development and quality of life for residents, he added.

“A lot of  folks are still commuting into the Savannah area and that backed-up traffic is taking time away from their families,” Callanan said.

The county administrator expressed hope that voters will OK a T-SPLOST that would help fund the parkway. The General Assembly approved $44 million for the project but the cost is expected to exceed $60 million.

“We will also want to consider on that — simply because we couldn’t afford it in the first round — is start the discussion on four-laning Effingham Parkway,” Callanan said. “That is going to take some additional studies and we are trying to purchase enough right of way right now to accommodate those four lanes. The board is certainly cognizant of that fact that, as you continue to grow, you basically have to start planning way ahead to meet the capacity needs that you have in the county.”

Three-laning Hodgeville, Old Augusta and McCall roads are on the county’s radar screen. Finding a solution to the county’s 165 miles of ash roads is a priority, he said.