Newspaper Page Text
Page 2— Wednesday, September 22, 2021, The True Citizen
Gough: Coming into its own
Emilee LaClair and Cory Carr purchased these parcels of land from the county but were
unable to install a septic system, rendering it useless for the family of five.
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Editor’s note: This is part
2 of a 3-part series analyzing
the challenges the Gough com
munity must tackle in order to
overcome its stagnated state.
Tackling Gough’s issues
requires more than just the
willingness to change and
grow. There is a complacency
attached to the area where
decades ago land was platted
into parcels less than an acre.
“It hasn’t just started like
that,” Burke County Envi
ronmental Health Specialist
Stephen Murray said. “It’s
been like that for a long time.”
Even so, the county has the
same obligation to property
owners in Gough as it does
to any other property owner,
according to County Manager
Merv Waldrop.
Commissioner Lucious
Abrams said the main ob
stacle to the County assisting
in addressing problems in
the small community is that
county workers do not have
the authority to go onto private
property.
Abrams indicated that the
biggest challenge Gough faces
is the failure of property own
ers to keep their lawns mowed.
“A lot of people that own the
properties are not keeping the
grass mowed, not keeping it
up,” he said.
Tall grass may be a symptom
of a larger issue. The platting
problem prevents new con
struction since more recent
regulations demand that in or
der to have a septic system and
a well, there must be at least an
acre of land. Many people are
living on property that does not
meet the updated ordinance,
but their wells and septic sys
tems are grandfathered.
However, being grandfa
thered in does not pertain to
the landowners when either the
septic or well fails. The current
regulation applies when they
need to replace the septic or
water source and often times,
there is not enough land to
do it.
“In case it fails, then you
have a place to fix it,” Murray
said of the premise behind the
one-acre requirement “Some
of those lots out there are so
small that you can’t properly
do that.”
The Gough Improvement
Association is in the process
of obtaining a 501 (c) (3) status
so that its members have better
access to funds that will assist
in restoring and rebuilding the
community.
“We want to advocate for
the people who don’t have a
voice or are scared to speak
up or don’t know,” Secretary
Manessa Stokes said during an
interview last month.
While the association seeks
to bring former Gough resi
dents back home and enable
the community to bring in more
businesses, Stokes and Abrams
seemed to have a short-sighted
vision of how to fix things.
They feel an organization that
could purchase peoples’ lots
and sell them to others would
remedy the problem.
“Obviously, that is focused
on helping individuals they
know and does little to open the
door for residential growth or
economic development,” said
Emilee LaClair who intended
to build a home on three lots
she purchased with Cory Carr
from the county. They had to
relocate their three children
when the health department
would not approve a new septic
tank because there wasn’t 100
feet of available space. The old
septic system had been running
into the church’s well next
door, Cory said of the informa
tion that the health department
gave him.
“It would do little for a prop
erty owner who didn’t want to
sell but can’t obtain any lots
close to them,” Emilee said of
the Improvement Association’s
motive. “I wanted to make that
place a home for my children.
What will they do, force me to
sell or take it because I am not
there now to mow my grass?”
One of the things the as
sociation is also looking at is
establishing Gough as a munic
ipality. However, some of the
unincorporated community’s
residents may not welcome the
transformation it would take
for Gough to begin down a path
of growth and prosperity.
“Another challenge is that
this place has been so ungov
erned by any rules and regula
tions other than property taxes
that there might be some who
are not happy about the chang
es or bringing in a municipal
ity,” Stokes said. “Because that
means there will be some rules
and regulations that you have
to follow.”
Establishing Gough as a
municipality requires a lot of
ambition.
“A lot of areas in Georgia
have incorporated,” Waldrop
said. “The state requires that
cities provide a minimum of at
least six services to their citi
zens to qualify as a city. These
can be contracted but must be
paid for by the city. Small cit
ies have a difficult time staying
afloat. It is a possibility, and
would require action by the
General Assembly.”
The Georgia Municipal As
sociation lists the requirements
of seeking a city charter from
the state: “The geographic area
proposing incorporation must
have a total residential popula
tion of at least 200 persons and
an average residential popula
tion of at least 200 persons per
square mile for the total area.
It would take some research
to figure out if Gough even
meets the requirement. How
ever, Waldrop suspects Gough
can’t meet the 200 people per
square mile prerequisite.
“There are no census num
bers specifically for Gough. It
can be derived from block data
once it is released,” he said.
“The first step is to identify
how many census blocks it
takes to get up to at least 200
people.”
The GMA states that at least
60% of the area proposed for
incorporation must be devel
oped for residential, commer
cial, industrial, institutional,
governmental or recreational
purposes. The area must be
subdivided into lots and tracts
so that a minimum of 60% of
the total acreage consists of lots
and tracts that are five acres
or less in size .The author of
the bill granting a municipal
charter must certify that the
minimum statutory require
ments have been met.
Additionally, since July
1995, state law requires that
municipal corporations must
meet certain minimum stan
dards or risk becoming "inac
tive.” Fulfilling that obligation
requires that Gough would be
mandated to provide at least
three public services either
directly or by contract.
The GMA lists eligible ser
vices as law enforcement, fire
protection, road and street con
struction, solid waste, water
supply, wastewater treatment,
stormwater collection, electric
or gas utility service, code en
forcement, planning and zon
ing or recreational facilities.
Officials must hold at least
six regular, monthly or bi
monthly public meetings with
in a 12- month period. Gough
would also have to qualify and
hold regular municipal elec
tions as provided by law.
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