Bartlett Invests Over $4 Million in Infrastructure Upgrades to Unlock Future Growth

Bartlett is investing in long-overdue sewer and water system upgrades to unlock new development potential across its eastern industrial corridor. On Sept. 23, the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a $3.7 million sewer design contract and a $450,000 grant for water system improvements, moves aimed squarely at attracting new businesses and jobs.

The Fletcher Creek Sewer Basin has been at capacity for years, forcing developers to install costly on-site holding tanks before they could build — a major deterrent amid rising interest rates and construction costs. The new project, led by Barge Solutions, will add a 2.5-million-gallon underground holding tank and a new gravity sewer line, removing a critical barrier to growth.

Located near the city’s Fleet Maintenance Facility on Yale Road, the project will open hundreds of acres in the Bartlett Corporate Park to future commercial and industrial development, including 130 acres owned by the Fogelman family.

Aldermen say the move levels the playing field. “The fact that someone had to install a holding tank to build was obviously a drawback,” said Alderman Jack Young. “Eliminating that is a big plus.”

A separate $3–$4 million sewer line extension south into Memphis — expected to be finished by Thanksgiving — will further relieve the area’s “bottleneck” and support new growth.

On the city’s west side, Bartlett is also modernizing its aging A.G. Warner Water Treatment Plant, built in 1950. The $450,000 community development block grant will fund new pumps, updated electrical systems, automated transfer switches, a new lab, and a new office.

Mayor David Parsons said these infrastructure investments will “unlock” large tracts of developable land and position Bartlett for long-term industrial and commercial growth.

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