Plans to meet future water needs in south Fayette are moving forward, but plans for a new water tank on the north side are on hold.

Consultants Jim Mallett and Associates are still studying alternative sites for a two-million-gallon water tank in the wake of neighborhood protest of plans to build the tank at Ga. Highway 92 and Lee's Mill Road, water system director Tony Parrott said.

Meanwhile, county commissioners have approved purchase of a site on the back side of Horseman's Run, a planned subdivision on Goza Road, with plans to put another two-million-gallon tank there.

Payment of $110,688 to Parklane Communities Inc. will cover purchase of the 5.7-acre tank site and upgrade of water lines in the subdivision from eight inches to 20 inches to feed the tank, said Parrott.

"We'll buffer the site," said Parrott, "and we'll place signs at the entrance to the subdivision that it will be the future home of a water tank. The developer is also working with us and will disclose to home buyers that a water tank is planned there," he added.

The water system's capital improvement plan calls for construction of the tank in 2003, following construction of the water lines in Horseman's Run as well as upgrade of lines on Goza Road to handle the additional water.

Plans call for construction of the north Fayette tank in 2000, said Parrott, but he couldn't guess when the consultants will finish their evaluation and recommend a site to the County Commission.

The Lee's Mill Road site came under fire from about 200 residents of the New Hope area last year after a dispute erupted over ownership of the proposed site. Conflicting records showed both the county and Dave Williams, who owns property next door, as owners.

Courts ruled in favor of the county, but residents protested, saying the tank should be built in a more commercial area, even though the Lee's Mill site is next to an existing 500,000-gallon tank.

Adding the impact of a second tank would make the area look like an industrial park, said one resident.

In response to the pressure, commissioners directed further study.