EPD places hold on wastewater plant
By Carolyn Mathews
carolynmathews@ledgernews.com
After a review of the comments made at a local public hearing March 18, state officials on April 24 put the permit for a new Northeast Cherokee wastewater treatment facility that would be built by the Cherokee County Water and Sewer Authority (CCWSA) on hold until at least this summer. At the same time, the Cherokee County January 2008 Grand Jury has issued a recommendation saying that the way CCWSA board members are chosen needs to be changed.
According to the draft permit for the proposed plant, which would be located off Coker’s Chapel Road south of Ball Ground on the Etowah River, the initial load would be 2 million gallons a day of treated wastewater, with the potential to increase to between 4 million and 8 million gallons per day. “We’re delaying a decision on whether to issue or modify it,” said Jane Hendricks, the program manager for permitting for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
 Hendricks said the EPD is following the recommendations of some of the comments received at the March hearing – to wait until a separate EPD study on Lake Allatoona is done this summer. The study, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) evaluation, will determine if the lake is receiving more chlorophyll, which is related to phosphorus, than it can handle. David Bullard, an EPD program manager who is working on the permit, said Lake Allatoona is on a list of “impaired waters” because of the amount of chlorophyll.
Linda Flory, spokesperson for the Cherokee Coalition for Responsible Growth (CCRG), said putting the permit on hold is a “stunning victory” for Cherokee County.
She says another wastewater treatment plant is not needed for Northeast Cherokee, in an area where the new draft county comprehensive plan calls for country estates. She said a wastewater treatment plan will bring sewerage and high-density subdivisions.
“People don’t realize this is serious,” Flory said. “An adequate and safe water supply is a quality of life issue and that makes it a growth issue.”
Flory said 75 percent of the lake is in violation of the Clean Water Act, and the lake is dying.
Bullard said the EPD limits phosphorus, because it is a nutrient, which is healthy in a lake because it serves as a nutrient, but if there is too much, it causes algae blooms, which depletes the oxygen level in the lake and can cause fish kills and odors.
Flory said her data shows the lake could get so polluted that swimming would be prohibited and chemicals would have to be used to clean municipal water that was drawn from it.
“The lake represents $93 million annually in Cobb, Cherokee and Bartow for recreation purposes,” she said. “Where would we replace that revenue? Where is Cobb County going to get their water?”
Bullard said once the TMDL comes back, the state could make phosphorus discharge requirements on the permit more stringent. He said the draft permit, as it stands now, doesn’t allow for added discharges, compared to what was being discharged into the lake before phosphorus caps were initiated.
Bullard said that EPD figures indicate that more than 90 percent of the phosphorus in the lake comes from non-point-source runoff sources such as agriculture and fertilizers rather than from point-source discharges, such as wastewater plants.
David Kubala, environmental affairs manager for the CCWSA, said the authority decided to build the plant because zonings for residential developments in the area it would serve are increasing, and a public plant that would enable sewer would be more environmentally-friendly than septic systems and land application systems for wastewater. He said developers of a large area off Ga. 372 zoned during the 1980s for residential were gearing up to build 1,500 homes that would be supported by the plant. Kubala said that originally, the specifications for that property called for a future developer to build a private plant and deed it to the CCWSA, but the CCWSA decided a public plant would better serve conditions now.
Kubala said the process to apply for the permit has taken more than a year, and the CCWSA has used figures the EPD has given it as a waste load allocation for planning purposes.
“That allocation tells essentially what limits the receiving waters can tolerate in terms of absorbing pollutant load and still keep a healthy ecosystem,” Kubala said. “We believe the numbers the EPD came up with are valid.”
Kubala said if and when the permit is issued, the EPD would have to approve design plans, which would take several months, before the project could be bid out. He said the new plant would take about 18 months to build.
County Commission Chairman and CCWSA board member Buzz Ahrens (Above Left) said May 2 that he feels the same way he has always felt: that the new Northeast Cherokee plant is “absolutely essential.”
“We’re never going to be able to develop the commercial in the Bluffs and through the whole airport district without it,” he said. “We’re already spending $35 million to expand the airport.”
The Cherokee County Grand Jury, in presentments made April 22, made a recommendation to the county Board of Commissioners that it begin discussions with the CCWSA and the Cherokee state legislative delegation regarding the process by which CCWSA board members are appointed, so that the members would be appointed by an elected body, thereby making them accountable to Cherokee County citizens.
Ahrens, as county commission chairman, serves on the seven-member CCWSA board. Other than the seat held by the county commissioner, board members are chosen by the Cherokee County Grand Jury after interviewing applicants, said Dwight Turner, spokesman for CCWSA. Don Stevens is presently board chairman. Other members represent the county commission districts and local municipalities.
Those opposing the new wastewater plant have raised the concern that board members of the CCWSA are appointed by a body that does not have oversight by elected officials.
“I have a real problem with that; no authority should have complete control and citizens have no control,” Flory said. “There should be input and oversight from elected officials.”
Bruce Purvis, a former grand jury chairman and former planning commission chairman, said he’s surprised but pleased that the grand jury has recommended appointments to the CCWSA board by elected officials rather than by the grand jury.
“There must have been somebody on the grand jury that picked up on this issue,” Purvis said. “The real issue is, where is the accountability? The situation should have been addressed years ago.”
The CCWSA already is operating two wastewater treatment plants, one at Rose Creek and one at Fitzgerald Creek in the southeastern part of the county. Woodstock and Canton also operate water treatment plants. There are preliminary plans for a fourth CCWSA plant in Northwest Cherokee.
Ahrens said May 2 that the commission has not met since the presentments were released, and has not discussed the issue of how CCWSA board members are chosen.
“That’s a subject we’ve never discussed. I’m surprised to see that in the presentments,” Ahrens said. “That topic should go directly to the state delegation; it’s not appropriate for the BOC to do it.”
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Local cities send letters to governor over gun bill
By Erika Neldner
erikaneldner@ledgernews.com
 Two Cherokee cities have sent letters to Gov. Sonny Perdue urging opposite courses of action regarding a piece of legislation that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons into restaurants, on mass transit and in state parks.
Woodstock officials sent a letter to Perdue last week asking him to revisit the legislation, while Holly Springs’ elected officials sent correspondence asking the governor to sign the bill into law.
Woodstock officials say they are not asking for the governor to veto HB 89, the “Business Security and Employee Privacy Act.”
Sen. Chip Rogers (Right), R-Woodstock, is a co-sponsor of the bill.
“The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to self protection,” Rogers said. “This bill simply allows the very small number of people in Georgia that go through all the trouble of getting a firearms license and go through the three different background checks to exercise their right.
“For the life of me, I don’t understand any of the controversy.”
He said the bill pertains to 3 percent of the state population that have secured Georgia Firearms Licenses.
 Holly Springs Mayor Tim Downing (Left) said the elected officials for the city support the legislation, and, after hearing of the letter sent to the governor by Woodstock, he felt it was timely to send their support of the House bill.
“This is an important enough issue that we, as a city, had to respond to it,” Downing said. “HB 89 does nothing but increase the safety of residents in Georgia and increase our freedoms.”
Referencing the letter Woodstock sent asking that the governor seek to revisit the topic and not sign it into law, Downing said, “The act of not supporting it, vetoing it, is an act to kill it. There is no way I can support that avenue.
The only way to do it (revisit the bill) is to veto it and send it through the process again.”
Woodstock Mayor Donnie Henriques (Below Right) said the city government isn’t opposing gun ownership or the Second Amendment. They just wanted to ensure their opinions are heard.
“We didn’t say veto because words mean something. Veto is nowhere in that letter,” he said. “We’re not ruling against guns. That’s not our point. We wanted to make sure our views were known.”
Many Woodstock City Council members said they were in favor of gun ownership, but said there will be an added risk to the public and especially officers, if the legislation is passed.
“It will expose officers and citizens to an undue risk,” Councilman Bud Leonard said.
Other council members agreed that the added places where people could carry guns would pose a risk to the city’s police officers.
Henriques said the issue lies with gun possession and alcohol, and no one has a problem with guns being allowed in a state park. He said the guns on the mass transit part of the bill doesn’t even apply to Woodstock.
“We don’t want to be held as the poster child for either side,” Henriques said. “It is the opinion of the council that we don’t need more guns in alcoholic pouring situations. That’s the bottom line. It’s mixing alcohol and firearms.”
 Woodstock Police Chief Ric Moss, who drafted the city’s letter, also said he’s concerned about part of the bill that would make it legal for people with permits to carry firearms into a restaurant that serves alcohol. As currently written, HB 89 makes it illegal to consume alcohol while carrying a firearm, as well as taking a firearm into a restaurant or bar that serves more alcohol than food.
“Whose responsibility is it, before they serve the drink, to say to the individual who has ordered the drink, ‘Excuse me, sir, do you have a firearm on your person?’” Moss said. “We’re relying on the individual carrying that gun to make a conscientious and conscious decision that because he is carrying a gun, he is not going to drink.”
Rogers said the responsibility doesn’t change from what it is now, and any restaurant or property owner has the right to ban firearms from their establishment.
“It would be the same person who checks right now whether someone has a firearm on them,” Rogers said, adding the bill designates no one in particular.
Downing, in the letter to the governor, said cars are deadlier than guns in the state, and the issue with drunk driving and people mixing firearms and alcohol will be the same.
“A vast majority of drivers abide by our laws and don’t drink and drive,” Downing said in the letter. “Those that violate the law are caught and prosecuted. The same will be true of those in possession of a firearm.”
Moss said that’s difficult to do, because even law-abiding, permit-carrying individuals can have changes in their lives that no longer make them stable.
“There is a presumption that just because an individual applied and was granted the authorization to carry a firearm that the individual will be of sound judgment,” Moss said. “If (someone is) authorized to carry a gun in 2008, we won’t know if sometime in 2008 that person has financial difficulty, domestic problems, substance abuse problems.… Just because the individual is credentialed, it doesn’t mean that at some point that individual does not change and becomes hostile or unstable in some way.
“It’s the same reason we monitor officers and look to see if their behavior or performance changes over time. It happens to police officers too.”
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Eight local seats contested for primary
By Tom Brooks
tombrooks@ledgernews.com
The field of candidates for the Cherokee County July 15 general primary election was set last week for local public offices that will be on 2008 ballots. Eight county seats are contested.
 The contested races include the two Cherokee County Commission and three Board of Education seats up for 2008 elections.
Only Republican candidates entered the contests during the qualifying week that ended at noon May 2. No Democratic candidates are running for local offices.
With some contests each drawing fields of three candidates, a primary runoff election on Aug. 5 is a possibility for the county, officials said.
Post 2 Commissioner Jim Hubbard, of Hickory Flat, is to face challengers Quentin Thomas, of Woodstock, and William Grizzle, of Hickory Flat.
(Right: Moments after the candidate-qualifying period ended for the July 15 general primary election on May 2, Chief Probate Judge Kip McVay, far left, greeted three of the Republican candidates who learned they had no opposition. From left are McVay, Coroner Earl Darby, Clerk of Courts Patty Baker and Associate Probate Court Judge-Chief Clerk Keith Wood, who is the only candidate seeking the Probate Court chief judgeship. TOM BROOKS | LEDGER-NEWS)
Post 3 Commissioner Karen Mahurin, of BridgeMill, is to face hopeful Joel Calhoun, of southwestern Cherokee.
At the close of qualifying week, the School Board Post 4 contest included three candidates: incumbent Janet Read, of Woodstock; David Farrow, of Canton; and Robert Strozier, of southwestern Cherokee.
Two candidates are seeking to succeed Post 7 School Board Member Janet Flint, of Waleska, who isn’t seeking re-election. The Post 7 candidates are Kim Cochran, of Free Home and Wes Frye, of Sutallee.
Post 2 School Board Member Mike Chapman, of Canton, is to face challenger Danny Dukes, of eastern Cherokee.
Also contested is the Cherokee County Sheriff’s race between incumbent Roger Garrison and hopeful former Cpl. Nicole Ebbeskotte.
Chief Magistrate Judge Benjamin Abney, of Canton, signed up for a re-election campaign. Challenging Abney are former Chief Magistrate Judge Charles Robertson and James Drane, an associate magistrate judge.
County Surveyor Ron Wikle is to face challenger Michael Martin.
In addition to the Republican candidates who signed up in Canton, Cherokee County District Attorney Garry Moss is also unopposed for re-election. District attorneys sign up for elections through the Georgia Secretary of State Office in Atlanta.
Associate Probate Court Judge-Chief Clerk Keith Wood is running without opposition to succeed incumbent Probate Court Judge Kipling “Kip” McVay, who plans to seek senior judge status when she leaves office at the end of the year.
Incumbents without opposition also include County Tax Commissioner David Fields, County Clerk of Courts Patty Baker and County Coroner Earl Darby.
With races slated for both county commission seats, all county voters can choose one candidate for their respective county commission district. Eastern District (Posts 1 and 2) pick the Post 2 commissioner and voters in the Western District (Posts 3 and 4) choose the Post 3 commissioner.
All voters, regardless of where they live, may vote on each of the three School Board seats.
Cherokee County Republican Party Chairwoman Shelia Auffrey said after the qualifying period ended that she was pleased that an extensive field of candidates had formed.
“I’m glad that this is the largest qualifying field that we’ve had in Cherokee County,” Auffrey said of the Republican Party, which has been the dominant political party since the county turned from Democratic to Republican majority two decades ago.
Auffrey said she is hopeful the 2008 campaigns will “push issue-driven races instead of personality-driven races.”
Janet Munda, Cherokee County supervisor of elections and voter registration, said key dates are ahead on the primary calendar, including the start of absentee voting on June 2 and the deadline to register to vote in the primary on June 16. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
“I anticipate a good turnout, a very good turnout,” said Munda, who predicted about 35 to 40 percent of voters would cast ballots in the primary election.
The county elections and registration’s Web site is voter.cherokeega.com.
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