Wednesday, June 20, 2001
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Wednesday, June 20, 2001 |
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Dunn: New water agency leadership favors metro big 5 By DAVE HAMRICK
Metro Atlanta's new water superagency had its first meeting last week, and Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn said the group is already growing into a huge bureaucracy. "It's incredibly complex already, and we didn't even get started yet," Dunn told fellow commissioners last week following the organizational meeting of the Metro North Georgia Water Planning District. Dunn is the county's representative on the board. The agency, created by the state Legislature this past spring, is tasked with developing regional plans for dealing with water quality and quantity in a 16-county region that includes Fayette. Originally, 18 counties were included, but it looks like Barrow and Carroll counties will be dropped from the group, Dunn said. "They met the technical requirements, but are not really in the areas affected," said Dunn. During the first meeting, Dunn said, an organizational chart unfolded that includes 29 members, headed by an executive committee of about seven or eight people. The executive committee will appoint a finance committee to deal with funding of the agency, Dunn told The Citizen. He warned commissioners last week that financing the group's mission will mean that counties will have to pay dues, similar to those charged by the Atlanta Regional Commission. "You can anticipate at least $90,000," he told the group during its budget work session, repeating a phrase used often during the budget discussions: "It's just one more unfunded mandate." Two technical coordinating committees will serve the water agency, probably composed of people in the various water and sewer departments, Dunn said, adding that he will try to make sure representatives from Fayette's government, plus those of Fayetteville and Peachtree City, are on those committees. Then there will be six advisory committees, tied to the six major rivers in the region, with about 20 members on each. Fayette will be involved in the advisory committee concerned with the Flint River basin, and as the only county completely contained within the river basin, will take an active role, he predicted. In addition to members from the affected counties, the advisory committees also will have members from upstream and down stream, Dunn said. "They could have another 40 people," he said. "How they're
going to cull out information that they're going to get to us in usable
fashion I don't know," One concern for counties like Fayette, Dunn said, is that the executive committee will include representatives from only the five largest counties in the region Clayton, Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett. "It's looking like the rest of us would be like the supporting cast," he said. "I'm concerned about that makeup. They'll be able to sort of have their way." Fayette will work hard to influence the executive committee through the advisory panels, Dunn said. Chairman of the group, Joel Cowan, is a Fayette resident, a point in Fayette's favor, Dunn said, adding that Cowan has mentioned the need for more multi-jurisdictional water projects, aiming to solve water problems as a region instead of locally. "We approach the table with the best water system ... the most modern water system, and we will help our neighbors, certainly," said Dunn. "But we will have to protect the investment of our taxpayers here as well," he said. The board will meet again June 29, July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 21, Dunn said, adding he hopes to get a better feel for the group's mission at future meetings.
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