Forsyth County returned serve late Thursday by approving a binding offer to buy water from the City of Cumming. The offer, approved unanimously by the county commission, seeks to reduce the amount and cost of treated water it buys from the city. It also agrees to pay triple the current charge for untreated water for 15 years.
The new offer stipulates that the county is not responsible for the cost of any upgrades made to the city's intake facility at Lake Lanier. The city had sought $11.4 million from the county for a share of the costs.
The Cumming City Council has rejected five other offers from the county in the past month, the latest on Tuesday.
Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt has said that if May passes without a new water contract, the county's 47,000 customers could face a dramatic increases in the cost of water.
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