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Mayor Peter Banks

Water trade favors Lamar County taxpayers

Posted by
Walter Geiger
in Opinion
Tuesday, July 12. 2011
Comments (10)
By Peter L. Banks, Mayor of Barnesville

In the past several weeks columns appeared in The Herald Gazette by Kent Kingsley which presumably tried to give the history of the Lamar County Water Authority according to Kingsley’s recollection. He also gave his “solutions” to the financial crisis facing the authority and county while making untrue statements about Barnesville.

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#1 Hmmmmmm on 07/12/11 at 07:09 AM
I believe the authority and county exhausted every option available prior to entering discussions with the city. In May the authority proposed an agreement to commissioners that would require the county to pay to the authority some $470,000 a year as fire hydrant fees.

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ga/lamarwater.htm

The Lamar County Water and Sewer Authority was created in 1989 and activated in 2000. In 1999, voters approved a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST)issue for the initial water system improvements in the unincorporated areas of Lamar County.

The new project will include approximately 75,700 linear feet (l.f.) of 6" PVC, 98,800 l.f. of 8" PVC, 4,000 l.f. of 6" ductile iron pipe, 5,200 l.f. of 8" ductile iron pipe, 184 fire hydrants provided at 1,000 foot intervals and erosion and sedimentation control materials and devices as required to meet regulations.
#1.1 H B on 07/12/11 at 11:20 AM
You alledged that SPLOST Money was the motivation for installing Pipes and Hydrants. What happened to the accounting of the SPLOST? Why isnt the SPLOST the Motivation of paying for expansion of the system, instead of todays method of borrowing and betting on the come? I feel Mr Kingsly is motivated by realestate commissions and arbitrary development, and nothing else. I think he is hoping to make his million that way, and could care less who has to bear the financial burden.
#2 Richard Hungwell on 07/12/11 at 12:23 PM
Thank you Mayor Banks for this letter and some of the clarifications. From the sound of some of Mr. Kingsleys ideas I understand better now why he is no longer in office.
#3 Anonymous on 07/13/11 at 05:15 AM
mr hungwell i guess all your blood is misused. you need to read between the lines and then study the past. you are getting a dog and pony show from banks and kingsley. this amounts to nothing more than finger pointing and abuse and mismanagement of money and hiding those people responsible for it.
#3.1 Anonymous on 07/13/11 at 01:46 PM
Regardless of wether there was abuse and mismanagement of money on the part of the water authority ( and I don't doubt that there was), a solution has to be found for the future. As a Lamar County property tax payer and paying customer of the Lamar County Water and Sewer Authority, I don't see any other viable option at this time other than to go with the current proposal.

You do have an option though, if you want to expose the people responsible for this mess by using the open records act and researching the water authority records. May I suggest that you do that and report back to the citizens on your findings?
#4 rankin fyle on 07/13/11 at 05:45 AM
Who needs fire hydrants and potable water anyway?
Well water and wooden buckets will put out any fire-eventually.
#5 lulz on 07/13/11 at 04:12 PM
So let me see if i got this straight... The powers that be decided to build/create a distrabution network and authority that they KNEW didnt have enough customers to make it profitable or break even. They started a business KNOWING that they would be in the red long after the loan payments were due...HRRMM(makes perfect sence). I'm pretty sure my dog could make better decissions than this.
#6 Anonymous on 07/14/11 at 05:42 AM
Hey Hey Hey! This is just like the federal government. Spend 5 million dollars and expect 200 people to pay for it. What a great idea!
#7 Anonymous on 07/15/11 at 12:52 PM
Peter sure hammered Kent...
#8 Don kING on 07/18/11 at 03:10 PM
Sounds like we may have a main event for Buggy Days 2011! Peter "Pan Peanut Butter" Banks v/s Kent "Krazy Killer" Kingsley!
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