Tension over a new water contract between Cumming and Forsyth County eased this week when the city voted to delay a major rate increase one more month while the two sides enter formal mediation.
Forsyth County commissioners responded Thursday evening by voting to delay a scheduled discussion of legal action against the city until after mediation begins Oct. 16 before former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Norman Fletcher.
The city, one of the few jurisdictions allowed to draw from Lake Lanier, has been Forsyth County’s chief water supplier for more than 25 years.
Mayor H. Ford Gravitt said last month that, beginning Oct. 1, the city would only provide the county with treated water, for which it would charge $2.50 per thousand gallons. That would more than triple the charge currently paid by the county’s 170,000 customers.
Under the old contract, which expired in May, Forsyth received both treated water at about $2.43 per thousand gallons and cheaper raw water at 10 cents per thousand gallons, which the county treated at its own facility.
County Commission Chairman Jim Boff said Thursday he voted to delay discussion of legal action against the city until both sides gave supervised mediation a chance.
“They extended their (deadline) by 30 days, and we wanted to respond as optimistically as possible,” Boff said.
County officials say they thought they had struck a new deal to buy water from the city. But after both sides had approved terms, the city backed out, saying there were no specifics about the rate for water supplied over the standard allocation.
Attempts to reach Gravitt for comment were unsuccessful, but he has argued that Forsyth County has enjoyed some of the lowest water rates in the region for years, and the city has invested millions in infrastructure to build its water system. He has also said the city has never failed to deliver on its part of the contract.
Forsyth County resident Hal Schneider said he was disappointed the county backed out of its hard-line stance against the city.
He said the city’s threat to supply only treated water leaves the county vulnerable to any breakdowns in the city’s delivery system.
“This is a risky, risky plan,” he said.
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