David Williams will ask the Georgia Supreme Court to reconsider his dispute with Fayette County over a seven tenths-acre tract in the New Hope area.

In a three-page decision, justices last week ruled that Williams' claim that he is the owner of the property is without merit.

"I was so disappointed that the issues were really never addressed," said Geoffrey Slade, Williams' attorney. "I'm still shocked by the whole thing."

The dispute erupted last June after county workers began preparing to build a new water tank on the site, right next to an older county water tank at Ga. Highway 92 and Lee's Mill Road.

Williams held title to the land, and the county earlier had filed papers in an attempt to condemn the property after Williams rejected offers to buy it outright.

But in researching the matter, county officials discovered a deed dated 1894 conveying title to the county. A later deed conveying acreage next door to Williams' family in the 1930s apparently included the county-owned parcel in error, according to county attorney Bill McNally.

Williams claims the deed conveying the land to the county is the one that is in error, and says the county effectively abandoned the property, since his family has paid taxes on it for decades and the county has accepted those taxes.

Williams filed an injunction asking that the county halt work on the property, and filed suit asking that the title question be cleared up in his favor.

But Superior Court Judge Johnnie Caldwell granted judgment in favor of the county, saying the case didn't warrant a jury trial.

The Supreme Court last week affirmed Caldwell's decision. "We hold that the trial court was correct in its ruling that the property deeded to Fayette County in 1894 was not subject to a claim of ownership by Williams..." the court decided.

Slade said he has filed a request to have the court reconsider the case.

In arguing the dispute in Superior Court, Slade raised numerous questions that he said have virtually been ignored by both the local and the Supreme Court. "It seems to me you have a unique problem here. Out of the blue, a title is lost. I've never seen it happen in my lifetime.

"You would think that something like this would fascinate the legal system," Slade added.

"It just frustrates me. I've certainly lost cases before, but the enormity of the issue and the trivial treatment of it has left me at a loss for words," he said.

If the court refuses to reconsider, Slade said, Williams may have recourse against previous title holders who conveyed the property to his family in error.