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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, December 26,2018
Forsyth County Commissioners back
off site for proposed wastewater plant
By Kelly Whitmire
FCN Regional Staff
Eight days after a contentious
town hall meeting between
Forsyth County officials and
neighbors living near a pro
posed wastewater facility, there
was a much different response
on Dec. 20 as attendees broke
out in applause as Forsyth
County Commissioners voted
to back off the current plans for
now.
At the Forsyth County
Commissioners’ final meeting
of the year, commissioners
unanimously approved termi
nating a contract worth $3 mil
lion with Andrew and Fisa
Tallant for 99.9 acres at the end
of Millwood Road that was
planned for a proposed waste-
water plant.
Chairman Todd Fevent said
the site is still in consideration
but wanted to let county staff
look at other options. He said
discussions about the plant had
been influenced by “scare tac
tics” and “things that just aren’t
true.”
“There’s a lot of things that
can be considered: another
location, shifting it to one area
that is away from [neighbors],
put a park between the two of
you guys,” Fevent said. “There
are lots of things that could be
considered, but please don’t let
people feed you stuff that’s just
not true, that scares you guys.”
Fevent said public input and
a citizens committee would be
a part of future decisions.
The motion was considerably
different than the agenda item,
which was to extend a due dili
gence period on the property by
120 days after the Jan. 7 clos
ing date.
Previously, county officials
said the facility would sit on
about 25 acres of the nearly
100-acre tract, and construction
is expected to start in 2020.
Officials said funds for the
plant will come from fees from
water department customers
and not taxpayers.
Treated water will be
returned to Chestatee Bay.
The Millwood Road site was
chosen by an engineering firm
hired by the county, which
decided it was the best of 82
sites originally considered,
which was whittled to six sites,
with two being preferred due to
parcel shape, nearby develop
ment, terrain, access and other
issues.
Tim Perkins, director of the
county’s water and sewer
department, said at a Dec. 12
meeting the county had been
told since 2002 that the water
needs to be returned to the lake
rather than building new septic
tanks, which he said are consid
ered a “consumptive use.”
Perkins said consumptive
uses are a factor in the “water
wars” between Georgia, Florida
and Alabama.
During the Dec. 12 meeting,
several neighbors spoke out
against the proposed facility,
citing concerns with health,
smell and being close to the
planned East Forsyth High
School.
Neighbors also said they
were not informed by the coun
ty about the plans until after the
purchase was approved and
they had no say in the process.
Neighbors said they only found
out after a resident saw survey
ors in their backyard.
Several of the evening’s
speakers also wanted to see the
facility in other large, industrial
uses including a rendering plant
and the Eagle Point Fandfill,
and many wanted to see the
county extend the closing of the
contract to allow time to
address community concerns.
FROM 1A
Growth
“We are very diverse in terms of socio
economics; we’re not always the most
diverse in terms of race and ethnicity,”
Moore said.
Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau
show Dawson County is 95.6 percent
white.
And Dawson County is one of the
wealthiest counties per capita in the state
of Georgia, Moore said, at least on paper.
The median income per household is
$57,891 in Dawson County. The state of
Georgia’s median income sits around
$56,000 while the nation’s is around
$60,000.
But the average household income is
higher, at around $80,000.
“That shows we have some extremes in
Dawson County,” Moore said. “There is
not as many people in the middle as there
are on the high end and the low end.”
Another way the county is more
diverse than expected is in age demo
graphics.
The median age of people in Dawson
County is 43, with 28.6 percent of people
falling between the ages of 45 and 64.
“People often refer to us a retiree com
munity,” Moore said. “We are not, we’re
actually pretty balanced when it comes to
age.”
Myth: Dawson County schools are at
or over capacity.
Truth: Dawson County schools are at
around 65 percent capacity.
The number of students in the Dawson
County School system grew by 4.5 per
cent from 2017 to 2018, which con
cerned some residents about a potential
for overcrowding at the schools.
But looking deeper at that number and
taking into account the recent realign
ment that spread the student population
out among the county’s schools, the
school system is well equipped to handle
population growth for several years.
There are around 3,600 students in the
Dawson County school system, with cur
rent capacity for 5,500.
“When you hear an argument that we
cannot handle any more growth because
our school system is just going to be over
run with students, look at the numbers,”
Moore said. “Our school system, our
school board, really had a great vision for
our community. Before the economy
sunk, we were expected today to be at
50,000 population wise. So our school
board was good because they went ahead
and built out for a good amount and it is
serving us very well right now.”
The school system is also building a
College and Career Academy next to the
high school to prepare Dawson County
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Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
Homes in the Mansie Park subdivision off Dawson Forest Road are under construction.
'Our school system, our
school board, really had a
great vision for our commu
nity. Before the economy
sunk, we were expected
today to be at 50,000 popu
lation wise. So our school
board was good because
they went ahead and built
out for a good amount and
it is serving us very well
right now.'
Christie Moore
Dawson County Chamber of
Commerce President
students for the future. The $8 million
ESPFOST project will be a 35,000
square feet building opening in August
2019.
“Our school system is my favorite
thing to talk about as the chamber presi
dent,” Moore said. “We knock it out of
the park for being a small community.”
Public Notice
201 9 Meetings of the City of Dawsonville
The City of Dawsonville City Council, DDA, Planning Commission
and HPC shall conduct regular meetings on the dates and times below:
2019 City Council Regular Meetings at 5:30 pm
JAN 7 FEB 4 MAR 4 APR 8 MAY 6 JUN 3
JUL 1 AUG 5 SEP 9 OCT 7 NOV 4 DEC 2
2019 City Council Work Sessions and Regular Meetings at 5:30 pm
JAN 22 FEB 18 MAR 18 APR 22 MAY 20 JUN17
JUL 1 5 AUG 19 SEP 23 OCT21 NOV18 DEC 16
2019 Planning Commission Meetings at 5:30 pm
JAN 14 FEB 11 MAR 11 APR 15 MAY 13 JUN 10
JUL 8 AUG 12 SEP 16 OCT14 NOV12 DEC 9
2019 Historic Preservation Commission Meetings at 5:30 pm
FEB 25 APR 29 JUN 24 AUG 26 OCT 28 DEC 23
2019 Downtown Development Authority Meetings at 5:30 pm
JAN 28 MAR 25 MAY28 JUL22 SEP 30 NOV25
All meetings according to the dates set forth above will be upstairs in the
G.L. “Pete” GiUeland Chambers at City Hall located at 415 Huy. 53 E,
Dawsonville, GA. The public is invited to attend all of these meetings.
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