Cumming-Forsyth County Water War Rages

There is still no end in sight to the Cumming-Forsyth County water war following an hour-long called meeting of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Thursday that ended without a vote on the issue.

A 25-year contract that governed the price and amount of water the city sells to the county expired in May and the city has threatened to cut off the county's raw water supply if a new contract isn't signed by Oct. 1. Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt said the city will continue to sell the county treated water at a rate of $2.50 per 1,000 gallons, but will not sell raw water at the old rate of 10 cents per 1,000 gallons without a signed contract.

Chairman Jim Boff and Commissioner Todd Levent say the city signed a "bullet point" agreement in May that would have resolved the matter but the city reneged on the deal.

"If they had just simply followed the bullet points that we’d agreed to, we’d have an agreement today," Levent said during Thursday's meeting.

At the last city council meeting, Gravitt said the one-page bullet point agreement "turned into a 14-page document from the county attorney."

Levent challenged that statement Thursday, saying it was city officials who turned the initial agreement into a 14-page draft that did not adhere to the terms on which both sides agreed. He specifically called into question a service delivery method the city included that, he says, was not a part of the negotiations.

Boff and Levent want to wait until the state Environmental Protection Division responds to a county request for an increase in its permitted withdrawals from 16 million gallons a day (MGD) to 26 (MGD).

Commissioners Patrick Bell and Levent engaged in a sometimes heated 45-minute debate, during which Bell said, "You’re going to end up in court is what’s going to happen."

Meanwhile, Boff said after the meeting he has written to Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens and the county's state delegation asking them to get involved.

"I believe Forsyth County is urgently in need of your assistance and intervention to help avoid not only a legal crisis, but possibly even a health and public safety crisis," Boff wrote.

Commissioners did approve payment of the city's water invoices from July and August, but at the urging of Attorney Ken Jarrard, agreed to pay them "under protest" since no agreement is in place. Jarrard also recommended that payment of the bill doesn’t change the county’s rights to challenge any future invoice.