Politics & Government
Cumming-Forsyth County Water War Continues
During Thursday's Board of Commissioners meeting, Chairman Jim Boff and Commissioner Todd Levent blocked an attempt to extend the water contract until October. The delay would have pushed the negotiations past the July 31 primary election.
A decisive moment in the Cumming-Forsyth County water war is fast approaching.
In three weeks, the decades-old water contract that dictates the terms by which the city supplies the county's water will expire. Recently, the city received the county's proposal for a new contract and Thursday, commissioners were deadlocked on whether or not to seek an extension.
Dist. 2 Commissioner Brain Tam urged commissioners to ask for the extension and he was joined by Dist. 4 Commissioner Patrick Bell. But Chairman Jim Boff and Dist. 3 Commissioner Todd Levent indicated they had had enough of kicking the can down the road and voted no. That left the board deadlocked at 2-2 with Dist. 1 Commissioner Pete Amos having recused himself due to a potential conflict of interest.
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The proposed extension to October 31, would push the negotiations past the July 31 primary election when Tam, Boff and Bell are all up for re-election.
An extension is still a possibility, even if a remote one. Amos, who owns a company that buys water from the city for resale, has asked for an advisory opinion from the Forsyth County Board of Ethics. If the board decides no conflict exists, Amos is likely to join Tam and Bell in seeking an extension.
Find out what's happening in Cummingwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
For now, the city can accept the county's proposal, reject it or make a counter proposal.
If the contract expires, Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt has vowed to raise the rate the city charges the county drastically.
Levent said he has heard the mayor plans to reject the proposal.
When Tam said the council could still approve the agreement even if the mayor opposed it, Levent evoked laughter from those in attendance by asking if Tam had ever been to a city council meeting, pointing out the council virtually never votes against the mayor's wishes.
In other business, the board approved a Third Party Inspection Ordinance and modifications to the Unified Development Code that establishes the Atlanta Highway/McFarland Parkway/Mullinax Road and Post/Castlberry/Shiloh/Pittman/Kelly Mill Road overlay districts.
