LOCAL
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 • Page 6
SEWER SPILL Continued From Page 1A
source of the spill. Polite said if he tried to sell his
home, the incorrect information could make potential
home buyers apprehensive.
“If someone were to look up my address if I put
my house on the market, they’re going to see this big
sewer spill associated with [the home],” Polite said.
County officials said the incorrect address was due
to a clerical error. Polite said he wants the county to
correct the sewer spill issues in the neighborhood.
“I’m hoping at some point, other than just saying
they’ll come out and fix it, they’ll actually fix it,”
Polite said.
DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester
said she’s frustrated with the frequency of spills in
DeKalb.
“[Sewer spills] aren’t just a past problem, it’s a
current problem as well. It’s very frustrating and the
citizens of DeKalb have every right to be frustrated,”
Jester said.
Jester also said the county’s sewer system
infrastructure needs improvements and that the
system has not been maintained properly for decades.
“Obviously, the [sewer] system over the span
of 50 to 75 years has not been maintained well,”
Jester said. “It was so bad that several years back the
[United States Environmental Protection Agency]
said ‘y° u have t° fix this.’ We had a lot of violations
to the Clean Water Act. When the county entered
into that agreement with the EPA, DeKalb County
just never got their ducks in a row to fix the sewer
system.”
In 2011, DeKalb County entered into an
agreement—referred to as a consent decree—with
the Environmental Protection Agency and Georgia
Environmental Protection Division. The consent
decree requires the county to clean, repair, enlarge
and maintain its sanitary sewer pipes so sewer
overflows are reduced. The deadline to implement
changes under the guidelines of the consent decree is
mid-2020.
After a 6.4-million-gallon spill occurred at
Snapfinger Creek in 2017, DeKalb County CEO
Michael Thurmond said the county is committed to
improving the county’s sewer infrastructure.
Over the last two years, DeKalb County has
invested $855,000 to upgrade, install and increase the
number of flow monitors from approximately 100 to
239 units. Officials said the additional flow monitors
will help identify and locate defects that allow
stormwater to enter the sewer system.
The Champion asked county officials if
improvements other than the addition of flow
monitors have been made to the sewer system and
if DeKalb plans to meet the 2020 consent decree
deadline but did not receive a response by press time.
The Champion will update this story if a response
is received by DeKalb County.
CITYHOOD
Continued From Page 1A
1-285 and south of Memorial Drive to
the eastern border of DeKalb County,
excluding all incoiporated cities
within the proposed boundaries. The
population of Greenhaven is estimated
to be approximately 294,000.
Rice said the city could repair
potholes and attract commercial areas
with restaurants and businesses other
than dollar stores.
“We want to see restaurants, coffee
houses, different retail outlets that we
can go to in our neighborhood without
having to get in [a] car and drive far
away,” Rice said. “We’re interested
in getting our roads paved and our
potholes fixed. We are interested
in having a golf course where you
can play golf and [have] beautiful
commercial areas that bring jobs.”
Rice said some are opposed to
Greenhaven due to fear. She said she
came to the meeting to address the fear
and discuss the basics of Greenhaven.
Rice also said some believe
Greenhaven will fail because it would
be a predominantly Black city.
“I think one of the fears that people
have that we don’t like to talk about
is that there [are] a lot of Black folk
in south DeKalb,” Rice said. “People
are concerned, Black and White, that
maybe we can’t be successful because
we’ll be a ‘Black city.’”
According to a study on
predominantly Black cities created
between 1990 to 2010, 42 of 44
majority-minority cities’ profits exceed
expenses.
Vista Grove Initiative founder
Andrew Flake presented on behalf
of Vista Grove supporters during the
community meeting.
Flake said Vista Grove would take
control of services such as police;
parks and recreation; planning and
zoning; and road repaving. Vista Grove
would have 10,000 residents within its
boundaries south of Spaghetti Junction.
In 2015, a similar initiative with
the same proposed boundaries of Vista
Grove failed when a referendum to
form LaVista Hills fell short by 139
votes.
Flake said the leaders of the Vista
Grove Initiative are not associated
with the cityhood efforts of LaVista
Hills. He also noted the importance of
working together to find solutions.
“When we invest and utilize our
infrastructure and when we give large
communities a voice and empower
them, we can unlock economic
potential,” Flake said. “We have to
work together. The cities have to work
in partnership with the county and
reach across boundaries and work with
our legislator.”
Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary
said Stonecrest is an example of how
cityhood movements can be successful.
In November 2016, Stonecrest was
approved by voters in a referendum.
Stonecrest will also receive an
estimated $47.7 million in Special
Puipose Local Option Sales Tax
proceeds.
“We are doing just great,” Lary said.
“We have a fantastic relationship with
the county. This is not an adversarial
situation. We are working together.
We’re moving together in Stonecrest.
Everything is changing. The county
world is changing, the city world is
changing, and we need to be able to
adapt so we can all be happy.”
Lary also said when cities are
created, there is no double tax for city
and county fees.
“The next time someone tells you
there’s a double tax, you need to tell
them to go read something. There is
no double tax,” Lary said. “That is the
dumbest comment I have heard for the
past five years. You either pay your tax
to the city or to the county."
The DeKalb legislative delegation held a meeting Jan. 5 at Georgia Piedmont Technical College Conference Center to discuss cityhood movements.
