MOULTRIE — With the city’s wastewater woes hanging over their heads, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority is reluctant to commit the public’s money to constructing a speculative building that experts say is an essential component in attracting industry.

At present, the city is awaiting word from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division whether it will allow direct discharge from a wastewater treatment plant directly into the Okapilco River. Members of the Development Authority said they are optimistic the decision will be coming soon.

“At this moment in time, it might be really an inappropriate use of citizens’ funds with us sitting on the knowledge that we’re looking at 24 to 48 months before the city can handle wastewater treatment,” said authority member Clarence Lowe, adding that some on the authority have been bitten before by a spec building and are now twice shy.

Mary Douglas of the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Duane Dodson of Georgia Power were brought in to lend expert advice to the authority during a strategic planning session at Ashburn Hill Plantation Thursday. Both recommended that the authority invest in a spec building to help attract industry. Many companies approaching the state also are looking nationwide for an existing building, Douglas said, and they’ll find it.

Some authority members said they would rather build to suit a prospect. But by the time a corporation gets the go-ahead to build a facility, it typically wants to be up and running in six months, Douglas said. With that time element in mind, few are willing to wait a year for a building to go up.

“Part of this, unfortunately, is a numbers game. The more people you have come look at your community, the better chance you have of somebody locating. That’s the reality,” she said.

The problem the authority has, Dodson and Douglas agreed, is that prospects search the Web sites of the State of Georgia and other entities, such as Georgia Power and Georgia EMC, looking only for certain criteria.

“Now you aren’t even hitting the radar screen if you don’t have the basic components that they’re looking for,” Dodson said.

The most popular component is, they said, a spec building.

During discussion, authority member Broughton Williams suggested partnering with a private investor to lessen the risk to the public funds. Douglas offered that OneGeorgia Authority has up to $500,000 in assistance for spec buildings.

Despite their reluctance pursuing a spec building at this time, authority members are determined to put their best foot forward marketing existing buildings and sites, including their most recent purchase, a 108-acre tract along a railroad line just outside Moultrie city limits. That site already is being considered by an ethanol plant prospect, authority members said.