Fayetteville wants grant to study Southside water quality

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The city of Fayetteville is seeking a grant to determine if future development on the Southside has an affect on the water quality of Perry Creek.

If the grant is approved, the city would sample the watershed for the next five years after getting a "baseline" that established current water quality, City Engineer Don Easterbrook told the City Council at its meeting last week.

The project would also help the city evaluate the benefit of the stormwater plan for the southside and meet other environmental requirements, Easterbrook indicated.

The grant would come from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs which has been very receptive to the idea, Easterbrook said. DCA doesn't typically receive many grant requests for environmental programs, he added.

The city would have to match the grant 50-50 and it's expected the DCA will provide about $25,000, Easterbrook said.

The goal of the program will be to monitor the water quality and habitat as the 250-acre southside commercial and residential plan is developed.

Councilman Al Hovey-King said he wanted to make sure the city got a "good baseline" on the current status of the creek.

Mayor Ken Steele commended Easterbrook and Integrated Science and Engineering for putting the grant proposal together.