Within a week, Forsyth County's 47,000 water customers could be paying "dramatically higher" rates if a deal is not struck for a new water contract with the City of Cumming.
Two days after the city rejected the county's fifth offer, county commissioners put together a binding proposal late Thursday they hope Cumming officials will accept.
At stake is the water future of some 170,000 county residents and the economic development of what has been Georgia's fastest-growing county in recent years.
Cumming, one of only four jurisdictions with permits to draw water from Lake Lanier, is in a strong bargaining position. It's 25-year contract with Forsyth County is set to expire May 26. The county has nowhere else to turn. All other options, including running a supply pipe to Gwinnett County, would run into the tens of millions of dollars.
Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt has said if the deadline passes with no agreement, county customers could face "dramatically higher" rates for water.
The county's latest offer seeks reduced rates for treated water and triple the rate for raw water. If accepted by the city, it could save county customers about $28 million over the next 15 years compared with the current contract, county officials said.
The plan is identical to an offer submitted last week and rejected by Cumming this week, with two exceptions.
First, the new offer is binding, endorsed by all four voting members of the county commission. The last offer passed 3-1 and could have been withdrawn at any time.
The new proposal also stipulates the county is not responsible for an $11.4 million invoice the city has charged the county for upgrades to the intake facility at Lake Lanier.
As of late Friday, Cumming's City Council had not scheduled a meeting to consider the proposal.
County resident Jack Gleason, who attended Thursday's meeting said he wishes both sides would get along better and share the utility.
"We're a great, powerful, strong community, and we will only stay so if we have a sustainable water supply," he said. "[It would be] better still if we can get along with our brothers, sisters, neighbors, cousins and family at the heart of Forsyth County -- that is the city of Cumming."
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