The first phase of Resaca’s sewerage project is underway and on schedule, with the first of the payments to the contractors being approved this week.

On Tuesday the Resaca Town Council approved a $76,496 payment from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds to C&S Construction for work on the first phase.

Developers have said the first phase of the project should only take about 90 days to complete.

“Progress has been good so far,” said councilman Mitch Reed. “Our consultant said they are somewhere around 50 percent completed on phase one, so they are moving right along.”

The first phase of the project will involve installation of a trunk sewer, a main pumping station and force main to connect to the City of Calhoun’s sewerage System, developers have said.

During this first phase, only 2,000 feet of line will be installed and the system will not be ready for private homes.

Developers said in June that the total cost of the first phase is roughly $500,000, all of which is taken from SPLOST funds.

The second phase will include the completion of the sewerage and its connection to the City of Calhoun, which will operate and maintain the services.

The town is still awaiting a decision from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be approved so the second phase can begin.

“We have been approved, but we don’t know the dollar amount yet,” Reed said. “We’re waiting to find out how much will be a grant and how much will be a loan. That has not been determined.”

In other business:

The council agreed to support any decision by Gordon County to keep an energy sales tax in place that is set to be eliminated by the state legislature.

The council planned to roll back property tax rates to make up for a shortfall in Local Option Sales Tax expenditures.

Due to confusion over Resaca’s animal control ordinance, enacted in 2006, officials from the Gordon County Sheriff’s office told council members to instruct residents to call 911 for animal control issues.