Newspaper Page Text
LOCAL
THURSDAY, MAY 31 - JUNE 6, 2018 • Page 2
WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
DeKalb employee warned county of federal violations
BY HORACE HOLLOMAN
horace@dekalbchamp.com
In February, DeKalb County officials
warned residents that a predicted 3
inches of rainfall would result in sewer
overflows and spills.
At the time, DeKalb County CEO
Michael Thurmond said the county
“continues to make progress in repairing
and updating our sewer system that has
been neglected for many years.”
Four days after Thurmond’s
comments, deputy director of the
Department of Watershed Management
Margaret Tanner warned officials that
the county's method of measuring sewer
capacity when it rains could “endanger
public health, public safety and the
environment.”
According to documents obtained by
The Champion, Tanner was referring to
the county’s Maximum Month Average
Daily Flow (MMADF) Wet Weather
model. The model is a tool that helps
the county determine sewer capacity
during rainy weather conditions.
A DeKalb County employee warned county officials they were in violation of the county’s consent decree.
Based on the consent decree with the county must develop a system to
the Environmental Protection Agency, measure sewer capacity for wet and dry
weather conditions.
According to a memo from Tanner
to then Watershed Management
Director Scott Towler, Tanner said
the county’s wet weather model is
inadequate.
The county’s sewer system has older
pipes with holes. When it rains, water
seeps into the holes flooding the sewer
system.
Tanner said the county’s wet weather
model does not make sense because the
model shows the county’s sewer system
has more sewer capacity when it rains
than when it doesn’t rain.
“Please note, that the MMADF Wet
Weather Model produces results that
have less flow in the system than the
Dry Weather Model. These results are
inconsistent with physical laws, sound
science, and standard engineering
practices and make the use of the
MMADF Wet Weather approach
invalid for use in any modeling scenario
for DeKalb County’s sanitary sewer
collection and treatment system,”
Tanner wrote.
Tanner said the county should stop
SEE SPILLS ON PAGE 19
CITY OF DORAVILLE
NOTICE OF FIVE YEAR HISTORY
Pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-32 does hereby publish the following presentation of the current year’s
tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years. All citizens of Doraville are invited to
attend.
CURRENT 2018 TAX DIGEST AND FIVE YEAR LEVY
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Real & Personal
395,990,311
416,515,498
582,014,025
586,820,583
675,554,262
766,035,610
Motor Vehicle
15,906,220
14,025,040
9,332,050
7,001,920
6,360,280
4,056,520
Mobile Homes
0
0
0
0
0
0
Timber 100%
0
0
0
0
0
0
Heavy Duty Equipment
4,530
0
0
2,222
0
4,496
Gross Tax Digest
411,901,061
430,540,538
591,346,075
593,824,725
681,914,542
770,096,626
Exemptions
35,478,708
37,551,588
64,281,530
62,253,978
76,694,898
67,597,072
Net Tax Digest
376,422,353
392,988,950
527,064,545
531,570,747
605,219,644
702,499,554
Net Millage
9.00
8.75
8.50
8.371
8.951
10.451
Net Tax Levy 100%
3,387,801
3,438,653
4,480,049
4,449,779
5,417,321
7,341,823
Net Increase/(Decrease)
309,313
50,852
1,041,395
30,270
967,542
1,924,502
Net Levy %
Increase/(Decrease)
10.05%
1.50%
30.28%
0.68%
21.74%
35.52%