Deal Struck on City, Forsyth Water Contract

A sigh of relief for many now that the City of Cumming and Forsyth County have finally agreed upon water rates both sides can accept.

The deal was done Thursday afternoon with the current contract expiring on Saturday.

Following the city's annual Memorial Day ceremonies Friday, Mayor H. Ford Gravitt told Cumming Patch that while the city and county did not get everything they wanted in the final contract, both sides made concessions. The mayor credited two commissioners for bringing the water saga to a close.

"I contribute the coming together and I'll give credit to Commissioner [Brian] Tam and Commissioner [Patrick] Bell who were the main two players that really worked hard on it," Gravitt said.

The mayor said the next steps would be ratifying the contract at the next city council meeting on Tuesday, June 19.

Bell, , said the final [May 22] proposal that was presented to the city earlier this week was a good one, even though he was unsure the city would accept it.

"I knew it was a good proposal for the county and it saves us over $50 million dollars during the course of the contract," Bell said. "I've put that [contract] together and having it validated by our CFO, our director of water and sewer, our deputy county manager, and the county attorney to ensure that all facets be captured so we can show the citizens where we saved $50 million."

Commission Chair Jim Boff said now that an agreement has been reached it's better than going to court over it and having to deal with all the uncertainties that could present itself from that process.

"I'm not saying it is the case, but it is conceivable that if we did not have an active water contract that we could lose our status as a qualified government," he said. "And that has some unpleasant implications to it."

But now that there is an agreement, Boff said this will allow the commissioners to focus on "the right split with the city on the LOST (local option sales tax) negotiations."

, said that the deal is "OK" and that some of his constituents will think the county paid too much. But he also believes, "Some will think it's great that we got it settled."

Agreed upon contract:

$11.44 Million Outstanding Invoice

• Forsyth County will pay Cumming $11.44 million for construction of the water intake facility, which is 65 percent of its cost. That entitles the county to 65 percent of the water withdrawals now, and also 65 percent of any increased in water allocations permitted by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

• When the water intake facility reaches its maximum capacity, the county is entitled to at least 68 million gallon of water per day.

Treated Water

• $2.25 per 1,000 gallons, adjusted to the consumer price index;

• 5-year term, with a 5-year option in the discretion of Forsyth County.

Raw Water

• 10.8 cents per 1,000 gallons, adjusted to the consumer price index;

• 15-year term, with a 15-year option in the discretion of Forsyth County;

• City shall make available to Forsyth County an additional 4.5 million gallons a day of raw water (based on a 30-day average), from the City’s allocation – to be purchased at the County’s discretion.

Current Contract (expires May 26)

• 10 cents per 1,000 gallons of raw water.

• $2.43 per 1,000 gallons of treated water.