Without a new wastewater treatment plant, major industrial and even subdivision-style residential development likely won’t be able to occur in unincorporated Shelby County, the County’s public works director said Wednesday.

Tom Needham, Shelby County public works director, said April 24 that the county has been asked to investigate taking control of portions of the sewer system in unincorporated Shelby County, but that existing infrastructure is not able to accommodate new development. Beyond houses built with their own septic tanks, any new development would require a new wastewater treatment plant.

But, the decision of whether to build a wastewater treatment plant is something Needham described as a "policy decision" better left to the Shelby County Commission and Mayor Lee Harris' administration.