I found something today while researching at the Fayette County Historical Society. Personally I find it to be historical, but some may not. Ever eaten a Yates apple?? Well, Matthew Yates took cuttings from trees growing near a creek in Fayette Co. Soon he had hundreds of acres in Yates apple trees. According to the story submitted by State Rep. John Yates the only known tree left of the original ones is in a pasture near Coleman's Corner at West Bridge Road and Hwy 92 South. (You know, where the Bypass is going) Matthew Yates died in 1880 and is buried in the cemetery of the Primative Baptist Church just off GA Hwy 92, South of Coleman's Corner. The subdivision at the end of my street is called Yates Crossing...probably part of the original farm.

Already because of the economy, we have a paradox, on one hand we have the county administration, bent on vengence and destruction, to see this project through, despite being told that no one wants it. Then because of the foreclosure situation, and housing market collapse, now we have the government standing by to help people move into the community that should not be able to afford to do so, here come the flop houses. IE: Single family homes with 15 unrelated people living in them each paying $50 a week. Then you have the former apartment dwellers, who let their kids run amok in everyones yard. Living in the house that the flippers bought to turn a quick buck, only to have to rent it out... Welcome to Clayette County. When the bypass is complete MARTA will be able to make a complete loop from Old National Hwy down the bypass to 85 hwy then over to 54 on to 1941 where it will feed into C-tran.. Congratulations County Commision Mission Accomplished.........PEACE

I have an idea. Let's solve 2 problems with one solution. Leave the infrastructure alone. Let people drive 54 to 85 like we have been doing for 20+ years and live with it. Save the millions of dollars it would cost and instead put it in a trust fund for the FCBOE. Limit the amount that the board can withdraw yearly and we have a solution.

We have built more houses, cut down more trees, paved over where there used to be cow pasture, that the beauty that was once Fayette County and been forgotten and we have instead followed the path of the rest of Metro Atlanta, a tarnish on the Souther Cresent.

Aptly said, Mr. Chase. I have yet to read a single article describing how building the West Fayetteville Bypass would be in the best interest of the Fayette County taxpayers. Normally,there are two sides to every argument. But in this case, the positive side being silent in the face of enormous public criticism for such an extended period of time leads one to believe that the negative side is the only side when it comes to supporting this project. It's plain to see that creating an expensive road over wetlands in a sparsely populated area serves an ulterior motive. The only conclusion this reader can come to is that no one can or will attach his or her name to any published defense of the Bypass. That just goes to show that when the county really wants to get something done, whether or not the project is justified, it can find a way to thwart public opinion and do what it wants to do. But it's not a "done deal" yet. It will be interesting indeed to see how the battle goes when droves of angry citizens demand that the regulatory agencies put the ecology and logic behind this project under a microscope. The result may not be "politics as usual".

Pips

People downstream on Whitewater Creek should also be worried about this. Remember back in July of 1994, it rained for almost a month. The water was in Bennet's Mill and right up to the bottom of the Hwy 54 bridge. Well, picture years ahead, the bypass somehow gets built. The ones who bought up the large tracts of land have built houses all over it. Another hurricane parks itself over Georgia and dumps massive amounts of rain. With all the new construction there's more concrete, less grass. More runoff from the new construction and the new paved roadway. Where does all that water go...into the creek and it's headed your way! The same thing happened to me when I lived in Oklahoma. We lived on land with a creek behind it. For years, no problem. Then houses got built all over the hillsides upstream and guess what. It started flooding every time it rained hard. We're talking lots of water. My Dad raised our house up to about 4 feet off the ground. The water still got in the house. So, they'll probably go ahead and do whatever they want to do, but it won't just be those of us who will loose land that will be affected. Thank goodness we are above the flood plain.