Fayette officials and residents opposed to the county's plan for a new water tank in the New Hope community got together for an informational meeting last week, but not much changed.

Officials still plan to build a 2 million-gallon water tank on Lee's Mill Road that will serve two-thirds of the county, and the residents are still opposed.

"I personally do not care how expensive it is to build," said one resident, responding to information presented by officials showing five alternative sites they had considered.

Using an alternative site will add anywhere from $72,000 to $394,000 to the $1.6 million cost of the tank, compared to the site that has been chosen at Ga. Highway 92 and Lee's Mill Road, officials said. But the resident, who asked not to be named because she does business with county contractors, said the tank will be funded with water revenues, not taxes, and the additional cost is justified if it will prevent damage to quality of life in the area.

Bona Gray agreed. "That's really a drop in the bucket when you consider the whole county," she said.

Residents oppose the Lee's Mill Road site, they say, because it is in a mostly residential area and would be next to an existing tank. The impact of two tanks will make the area "look like an industrial park," said one resident.

Consensus among residents, who wore stickers showing a water tank with a circle/slash, was that the tank should be built at alternative site one, at the northeast corner of Westbridge Road and Hwy. 92. That site is surrounded by commercial development, they say, including a shopping center, convenience stores, a propane gas company and lumber yard.

Additional cost for that alternative would be $146,000, officials said

It would actually cost $194,000 less to build the tank, because the Westbridge site is on a higher hill, so the tank wouldn't have to be built as tall. But the lines that currently feed the Lee's Mill tank from the city of Atlanta would have to be extended to the Westbridge site, costing $240,000, and other costs would add $100,000 more, officials said.

Jamie Wyatt, another resident of the area, suggested looking along Ga. Highway 74 for a site. Most of that area is commercial and industrial, and it is closer to a county pumping station that will feed water into the proposed tank, she said.

Jim Mallett, the county consultant who identified the tank sites, said he had not looked in the Hwy. 74 area, but he would consider the suggestion.

"I said I would look into it, and I will," he said, but he expressed doubts.

The tank will be fed from Fayette pump stations, but it also will sometimes receive water from the city of Atlanta, and the Lee's Mill location is in a better position to receive Atlanta water, he said.