County threatens court action to stop up Tyrone sewer deal

By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayette County is threatening court action to stop the town of Tyrone from buying sewer service from the city of Fairburn.

Strong words are contained in a series of letters between Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn and the mayors of Fairburn and Tyrone. Correspondence also has included Fulton County Commission Chairman Mike Kenn.

Agreements are in place whereby Fairburn will provide sewer service to Tyrone, and in turn Fulton County has agreed to cooperate in treating sewage from Fairburn. Fairburn will build its own treatment plant, but in the meantime Fairburn's, and through Fairburn Tyrone's, sewage would be treated at Fulton's Camp Creek treatment facility.

In a Feb. 22 letter to Kenn, Dunn characterized that series of agreements as Fulton County extending sewer service into Fayette County in violation of the state Constitution, which forbids extension of services from one county into another without permission.

The same day, Dunn wrote to Fairburn Mayor Betty Hannah, asking "that you take the necessary steps to cease and desist any action which will cause the extension of sewer lines into Fayette County."

Kenn and Hannah responded that their governments will not be extending service into Fayette. Rather, Tyrone will be extending its own sewer lines to Fairburn to hook into the city's system, they said.

Hannah's reply also was strongly worded with regard to Dunn's raising the sewerage issue with Fulton County. "Please be advised that any attempts by Fayette County to impair the city's contractual obligations with Fulton County or the town of Tyrone will not be looked upon favorably," she wrote.

Tyrone Mayor Sheryl Lee was copied on the letters to Hannah and Kenn, but Mayor Pro Tempore Lisa Richardson replied to the letters, saying the town has no plans to extend the sewer service to Fayette County outside the town limits. Town sewage will be transported to Fairburn, she wrote, "via sewer lines owned and operated by the town."

But Richardson also makes it clear she believes Tyrone can, if it desires, extend sewer service into unincorporated areas without the county's permission. "The Supreme Court recognized the Revenue Bond Law ... empowers municipal corporations to own and operate sewer systems outside their municipal boundaries without first securing a contract from the county," she said.

Dunn's response to the responses, addressed to Hannah, states the county's intent to go to court if necessary. "Fayette County intends to respond to any efforts by the city of Fairburn to provide sewer service in Fayette County with whatever means necessary, up to and including seeking an injunction to prevent construction of this contemplated sewer line," he wrote April 13.

He told The Citizen this week that he agrees Tyrone would be allowed to build its own sewer plant and extend service outside its borders. "We wouldn't be saying a word if ... Tyrone were building their own sewer system," he said.

As for the town's stated intention of serving only its own citizens, Dunn said subdivision developers won't be bound by those intentions, and will likely offer other developers a chance to tie on, for a fee, and some of those hooking on will likely be in unincorporated areas.

"If there's pipe in the ground and capacity in the pipe, you can't deny anybody the right to hook on," he said.

Dunn said county leaders decided to raise legal issues now, even though negotiations between Fairburn and Tyrone are only in the early stages, in hopes of preventing a halt to the process after a lot of money has been spent.

"If we go to court [later in the process] and they get beat, somebody's out a lot of money," Dunn said.

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