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WATER
Continued from page 1
outerloop which branches up Jot’em
Down Road and Ga. 53 to the Dawson
County border and west on Nicholson
and Heardville roads to Cherokee
County. Stretching to the Forsyth/
Fulton border are trunk lines along
Old Atlanta Road and Ga. 141.
Cumming water customers will
benefit from $7.6 million in water sys
tem improvements, not all of which
would be new lines. Some city lines
are still two-inch galvanized pipe that
has been underground for about 40
years, according to City Manager
Gerald Blackburn. Those lines and
others that aren’t large enough to
meet increased city water demands
will see a size increase.
But the city’s money will also pay
for installing an intake in Lake La
nier, the source of water for the sys
tem, 10-feet deeper than the current
intake to make sure that water can be
withdrawn even when lake levels fall.
A city project already under way
but not a part of the sales tax package
will increase city pumping capacity
from 3.2 million gallons a day to 5 mil
lion gallons. With monies generated
by the sales tax, that capacity would
be increased again to 9 million gallons
per day to supply both city and county
customers, according to Blackburn.
Under the proposed water system,
Forsyth County will purchase water
from the city of Cumming, which al
ready has intake and storage capaci
ty, and use the total county portion of
the revenues to finance distribution
systems.
The first phase of the county system
would install lines around the city/
county border so water purchased
from the city can be pumped into
county lines, according to officials.
However, a line stretching down Ga.
306 will be a part of *his phase to pro
vide service to ChesUiee Elementary
School, which has had problems with
wells in the past.
Construction of a 12-inch main down
Bethelview Road will also begin in the
early stages of the water project, offi
cials said, since a $200,000 grant from
the Appalachian Regional Commis
sion was awarded for the line.
Tap-on fees generated by water cus
tomers will pay for the installation of
feeder lines that will make water
available to more homes, officials
said.
Local officials stressed that accord
ing to figures compiled by the state
Department of Community Affairs, 40
percent of the sales tax revenue will
be paid by people who don’t iive in
Forsyth County but make purchases
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OFFICIAL
BALLOT
STATE OF GEORGIA
FORSYTH COUNTY
ELECTIOSI DISTRICT
SPECIAL ELECTION £()R
SPECIAL
M«k I hU ballot by ki|rifcr«opp<wlleth« wnr<r'YES" Ifyouda.lrMo volt
for th* question propoundN pi in the «Aukrs the Word “NO” if you desire to vote against the question
propounded. (nil ask lor a new ballot. Use only pan or pencil.
“Shall a special 1 percent sales and use tax be imposed In Forsyth
□ yes County for a ‘period of time not to exceed five (5) years and for the
□ no raising of not more than $22,000,000.00 for the purpose of develop
ment and construction of water and sewer resources?”
Wording of ballot for Dec. 15 sales tax referendum
in local stores and restaurants.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is
that every year, 16 million people visit
Lake Lanier, and an awfully lot of
them come to our stores and buy gas
and soft drinks and eat dinner in our
restaurants,” Blackburn said.
If the state-calculated estimates
prove correct, local residents could
expect to pay about $13.2 million over
the five-year period. Approximations
from those figures indicate that the
average three-person family might
pay around S2OO in sales tax each year
due to the tax increase.
Each household which chooses to
hook on to the water system would be
required to pay a tap-on fee. The aver
age tap-on fee is $450, including depos
it, but for tap-ons that require the line
to cross under a road to reach the me
ter, fees are $550, officials said. Tap
on fees assessed developers will be
SSOO per acre.
County water bills would be based
ji a minimum $7.50 per month charge
■>p to 3,000 gallons. Every addition
al 1,000 gallons would be $2.75, accord
ing to County Administrator Ralph
Roberts.
Customers living in the Cumming
city limits and purchasing water from
the city water system would pay $5
per month, an amount lower than the
county’s basic rate because city resi
dents financed construction of the wa
ter system through tax dollars, ac
cording to the city’s Blackburn. The
charge per 1,000 gallons above the ba
sic rate would be the same as paid by
customers in the county service area.
City and county officials hired an
Atlanta-based public relations firm to
coordinate advertising and promo
tions for the sales tax campaign. Pri
vate donations, now at the $18,400
mark, are being used to pay Saggese-
Hicks for the $20,000 promotional
package, including maps and bro
chures that outline where water lines
will go and what roads will be imme
diately affected.
Because state law prohibits use of
tax dollars for campaigns, donations
must also be collected to defray an
additional SIO,OOO in printing and post
age costs, officials said. Roberts and
Blackburn say they have both taken
three-week leaves of absence from
their local government posts to pro
mote the tax.
Staffers at the county’s voter regis
trar’s office are expecting a low turn
out for the election. Usually about 35
percent of the county’s 13,340 regis
tered voters mark the ballot for a spe
cial election, said tabulation manager
Donna Parrish.
“If we have bad weather, and with
it being this close to Christmas, we’ll
be lucky if we get that percentage,”
Parrish said.
The 11 polling places will be open
from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on the day of
the referendum.
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1987-
Driving in Atlanta
can cause headache
It happened after I’d been in Atlan
ta several years. My vision began to
blur. Spots appeared in front of my
eyes, blinding me to the road ahead.
“Oh, my gosh,” I muttered to myself,
“I’m having a stroke.” It felt like Atti
la the Hun was hammering a stake
between my eyes... The car swerved
as I felt faint. Funny thing, all I could
think was: “Is this is the way it’s
gonna end? Cashing it in on the Atlan
ta expressway? What an awful place
to buy the farm. ”... Well, I’m happy to
report it wasn’t terminal or I wouldn’t
by typing this. Turns out it was a mi
graine headache. Which is kinda odd.
I never have migraine headaches. I
called my doctor and told him what
had happeded. “Were you driving?”
he asked. “How did you know that?” I
said, puzzled. “In Atlanta?” he asked,
ignoring my question. “Well, yes,” I
replied, “where else?” “Now think
hard,” he said. “Moments before you
had the attack were you generally
ranting, raving and talking to your
self like an idiot?” “Well, yes,” I had
to admit. “Just what I thought,” he
said. “You’re suffering from Atlanta
Driver’s Disease.”
GRIM NEWS ON AUTO SCENE:
Atlanta Driver’s Disease, huh? Never
heard of it. “It is a rare disease only
encountered in the general Atlanta
area,” explained my doctor. “Nor
mal, nice people put behind the steer
ing wheel suddenly become raging lu
natics ready to kill. It’s even worse
during the holidays. I hate to tell you
this. It’s like the common cold.
There’s no known cure.”... I gulped.
“You mean absolutely none?” I man
aged. “Well,” he explained, “there is
one. Purchase an acetylene torch,
melt down your car and start walk
ing.”... Good luck, right? No one
walks in Atlanta. Everyone rides. At
rush hour, you’d swear everyone in
metro Atlanta had two cars and at
least one of them is out of control. The
other is stuck in a traffic jam. We are
a beautiful city with a great lifestyle,
but when it comes to automobiles At
lanta is a loser... There are many rea
sons for this. There is no rhyme or
reason to Atlanta’s twisting streets
Read Ron Hudspeth
in the Forsyth County News
■Jf *
)
Ron
Hudspeth
Guest Columnist
and, after 18 yars of exhaustive re
search, I am still searching for my
first synchronized traffic light... Once
I knew a newcomer to Atlanta who ar
rived in our city bright-eyed and opti
mistic. After a couple of traffic jams
on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Gwin
nett and 1-75 and 1-285 at the river, he
had to be committed. A neighbor
found the poor guy attempting to beat
an Atlanta road map to death with a
tire tool.
THE WILD ATLANTA DRIVER:
The primary suspect causing the At
lanta Driver’s Disease virus is ru
mored to be the Atlanta driver. Some
of the main carriers include Debra
Dun woody. Debra always drives a
brown station wagon filled with kids
and proudly sports a bumper sticker,
“Have You Hugged Your Kids To
day?” Debra waits until you motor
along and then pulls out directly in
front of you. She then accelerates to a
top speed of 22 miles per hour while
straddling the yellow line. At the
same time, she attempts to punch out
the brats fighting in the back seat...
Then there is Granny Goodness. Once
a week, granny drives to the comer
grocery in her one-owner vintagf
Chevy. Granny’s eyesight isn’t what it
used to be. But then it never was.
Once, she nearly ran over a Union sol
dier... Then there is Eighteen-wheel
Eddie, who hallucinates and thinks
he’s Jerry Reed running contraband.
Look in your rearview mirror next
time you’re on the downtown connec
tor. He’ll be on your bumper at 75
miles per hour, blowing his air horn...
I’m gonna quit here. I feel a headache
coming on. And I gotta drive home.
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