Community express concerns about new sewage treatment plant
CUMMING, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A group of Forsyth County residents are literally saying 'not in my backyard' when it comes to a proposed new sewage treatment plant.
Wednesday night, hundreds crowded an overflow town hall meeting held by the County to try to quell fears.
“We're not opposed to a sewage treatment plant in Forsyth County we just don't believe this is the best place for it,” said concerned resident Bo Slaughter.
His property includes a stretch of Fourmile Creek. Across the street bordering a neighbor’s home is a red flag on a stake.
The proposed sewage treatment plant could be built on the 99 acres at that location.
It’s adjacent to Slaughter’s subdivision and several others.
“You can see where all the homes are that are contiguous to this site, hundreds and hundreds of homeowners live right next door to where you are going to put this,” said one of the concerned residents who spoke at the overflow town hall meeting.
Other residents voiced concerns of stink, potential spills, noise and traffic to county commissioners on hand.
Some worried that the land for the proposed plant was purchased in secret.
“If your concerned about being a good neighbor disclosure would have included us,” said another resident.
Commissioner Cindy Mills told FOX 5 News the county followed proper procedure.
“It wasn't a secret it's just like every land purchase made in county government. You can’t disclose a land sale until the county attorney tells you that you can,” Mills said.
The proposed sewage plant would be in Commissioner Cindy Mills district.
She said the plant is needed to address Forsyth County’s explosive population growth.
Mills said the discharge from the plant would be piped deep into Lake Lanier after being treated under strict federal and state guidelines.
“The county has to go by all the rules no one’s going to put raw sewage anywhere,” said Mills.
The town hall was meant to quell fears about the proposed sewage treatment plant, but it's unclear if it did.
“I would just ask that you think about that [be]cause these are your constituents and there’s a good number of them,” said another concerned resident.
The county offered to take people with concerns on tours of an existing sewage treatment plant to give them a better idea of how the plants work.
Unclear what is next for the proposal which Mills describes as in its early stages.
She said the land being considered for the proposed plant is still under due diligence, the process involved in the purchase of any real estate.