The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission met Tuesday and heard a presentation on a reservoir project that may cost the county a quarter of a billion dollars.
At Tuesday’s meeting, discussion of plans to store water in the eastside Rock Hill Quarry led to a broader examination of the site’s effects on its neighbors. District 3 Commissioner Tiffany Taylor said that while she supports efforts to increase the county’s water supply, her constituents have already been harmed by the quarry’s blasting operations.
“In my district there have been several community meetings about the rock quarry and the damage that has already been done to predominantly Black communities. As a local government discussing future plans that has a dollar tag as big as this one, how do we help my district that has already been harmed by the quarry?”
The county purchased the quarry in 2020 with plans to use it to increase water resiliency after droughts in 2007, 2012, and 2016. Much of the project’s $250 million price tag will go towards constructing a new water pump at the existing J G Beacham Water Treatment Plant. According to current plans, the county will need to purchase 3 new easements to transport water between the two sites. The quarry is currently used to mine stone.
Mayor Kelly Girtz and City Manager Nikki Jones said that a state agency will investigate the alleged effects of the Rock Hill Quarry on its neighbors.
The Mayor and Commission also heard from an outside consultant about the Leisure Services Department’s master plan, a document that will guide parks and recreation in the county for the next ten years. The outside firm, BerryDunn, reported that it has completed the public input process. Data from over 600 surveys reveals that residents of West Athens are the least satisfied by parks and recreation opportunities, while residents in Northeast Athens reported being the most satisfied.
The consultants identified planning special events and maintaining and constructing multi-use trails as likely areas of focus for the master plan. BerryDunn will present a detailed analysis of survey results in 2025.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with WUGA News
