Marilyn Hall, who spearheaded an inventory of water service lines in Oconee County, had a clear message for those who attended the Board of Commissioners Town Hall Meeting earlier this month.
Oconee County does not have a problem resulting from lead water service lines, she said. She repeated that statement several times in her 15-minute-long presentation at the beginning of the Town Hall meeting.
Hall, who served as a consultant to the county in completing the federally mandated service line inventory, said she can say with certainty that there are no lead lines on the county's side of the meters and it very unlikely that there are any lead lines leading from the meters to individual homes and businesses in the county.
Hall said the county invested extra effort to determine if any lines leading to schools and daycare facilities in the county contained lead pipes, and the answer once again was negative.
The first three speakers at the Town Hall Meeting on Oct. 8 asked questions of Hall about her report.
In total, only eight different citizens came to the microphone to speak at the Town Hall Meeting, the last the Board of Commissioners will hold this calendar year.
Victoria Cruz and Stephen Aleshire, who have challenged the registration of voters in the county following legislation passed earlier this year by the General Assembly in Atlanta, used the opportunity of the Town Hall Meeting to explain to the commissioners the reasons they have made the challenges and the procedures they used.
Early voting on Friday was the highest last week and the second highest since early in person voting started on Oct. 15. So far, 47.9 percent of the county’s registered voters have voted in person or returned an accepted paper ballot. Final voter turnout in November of 2020 was 84.5 percent.
Water Service Line Inventory
Hall told the 25 citizens who attended the Oct. 8 Town Hall Meeting that the county, through is Water Resources Department, is providing almost 3 million gallons per day of drinking water to 12,000 customers representing about 33,000 people in the county. The county’s projected population at present is 44,740.
Hall 10/8/2024 |
That water comes from the Bear Creek Reservoir in Jackson County, which provides water to Jackson, Barrow and Athens-Clarke counties as well. The treatment plant currently is being upgraded to double its capacity to 42 million gallons per day, with 9 million of that allocated to Oconee County.
In August of 2022, the federal Environmental Protection Agency required water systems to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024.
On Oct. 8, the Biden Administration issued a final rule requiring drinking water systems across the country to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years.
“As you know, lead is very important to monitor because it can be toxic to children,” Hall said. “The first step is to know where your lead service lines are.”
“I'm going to jump out right now and tell you that the results of the inventory are that there are no lead service lines in Oconee County,” Hall said. “I'm probably going to say that a few times so y'all hear it.”
The county owns and maintains the main water lines and that part of the service line from the main line to and including the meter.
The second part of the service line that runs “from the meter to the building is owned and maintained by the customer. It's considered part of your household plumbing system,” Hall said.
Determining what materials are in place for the second part of the service line in the county is more difficult than determining what is used on the county side, Hall said.
Methods Used
Hall said that “Installing lead pipes became illegal in the state of Georgia and throughout the country in about 1987, so we looked at buildings built before 1990. We picked1990 because plumbers have things in their inventories and even though it might not be legal to install them they have inventory,” she said, “So 1990 is what we looked at.”
“And then we reviewed regulations,” Hall said, “and then finally we reviewed and analyzed all that data, and we went as far as to interview old-time plumbers that have been around a long time as well as developers who install service lines.”
“We looked at development specs and things like that to make sure that there was never any lead even proposed anywhere,” she continued.
In the end, she said, there were some “customer-owned service lines where we didn't know the material of the service line...They're focused around the city of Watkinsville and the older neighborhoods along Mars Hill Road.”
“That's because they're older neighborhoods,” she said. “If anything was built before 1990 and especially before like 1970, they have a higher percentage likelihood of having a lead service line.”
Hall said the county then contracted with consulting engineers who verified the service line material on both the customer side and the utility side buildings that were older than 1990.
“There's still some unknowns,” Hall said. “There's not a lot. It's a small, small percentage...They're unknowns because you got to get to the service line and the meter box, and sometimes there's fences with scary dogs. Sometimes cars are parked on top of things.”
“Sometimes you just can't access them, so they're going to go back and revisit these properties to verify the service line materials,” she said.
Schools And Daycares
Hall said the county should have the complete service line inventory completed “with no more unknowns within a couple months and certainly by the end of the year.”
Hall 10/8/2024 |
“So I've said this probably six times already,” she said, “but there were no lead service lines found in the system, and for that reason there's no reason to believe that any of those unknowns that are still out there are lead.”
Hall said “kids are the most vulnerable to the effects of lead exposure, and the amount of time they spend in school makes it really important that we check the schools--double check those schools.”
“The first thing that we did was identify where all the schools are,” Hall said. “That seems like an easy job, and it kind of is, but also where the day cares are.”
“So we got a list of all where the daycares are too,” she said, “and we identified the service line material at all the schools and daycares.”
No lead service lines were found at any of the public schools, private schools, or daycare facilities, Hall said, but the Water Resources Department will be taking water samples from the schools and checking for lead as another precaution.
First Three Questions
Hall said one remaining source of lead in water lines is from lead used in solder used with copper lines.
Hall And Hendrix 10/8/2024 |
Stephen Aleshire asked Hall “when was lead solder outlawed, because we got a ton of copper?”
“I don't have the exact date in front of me,” Hall said. “But what it was in 1990s.”
According to the EPA web site, in 1986 Congress Amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, prohibiting the use of pipes, solder or flux that were not “lead free” in public water systems or plumbing in facilities providing water for human consumption.
In 1996 Congress further amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, requiring plumbing fittings and fixtures (endpoint devices) to be in compliance with voluntary lead leaching standards.
Wanda Stitt-Gohdes, who lives in Canyon Creek on Mars Hill Road, said that she was served by Piedmont Water, not the county.
Hall said Piedmont also is required to do a Service Line Inventory.
Adam Layfield, director of the Oconee County Water Resources Department, told me in an email on Oct. 16 that two private water systems operate in the county, providing water from wells.
Piedmont serves just more than 1,000 customers, he said, and North Georgia Water Systems has between 200 and 300 customers. Local governments must approve private water systems operating within their jurisdiction.
Pam Hendrix, the third speaker, who said “the last three months, my water bill has $12.29. It's never been that low. And I came in the first month. I didn't know. I thought that's strange. The second month I noticed it said zero usage. Well I'm living there, so I brought it up here and I showed them...I got a water bill yesterday. It's same thing. Zero usage.”
“Pam, we'll get somebody to come by there tomorrow and check,” Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell said.
Construction Summary
Before turning the microphone over to citizens with general questions, Daniell gave a summary of construction projects in the county.
Daniell 10/8/2024 |
Construction of the Hog Mountain Road Trail from Butler’s Crossing to U.S. 441 is underway, Daniell said, and work is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2025.
Engineering is complete for roundabouts at Lane Creek and Snows Mill Road and at Union Church Road and New High Shells Road, he said, and “we hope to take those to bid the first part of November so you should see some construction starting in the spring of 2025.”
Grubbing and clearing has begun for the bridge over Barber Creek at Clotfelter Road, he said, and the road is expected to be closed in the spring of 2025.
Daniell said he expects that construction on the widening of Experiment Station will not be completed until the third quarter of 2025.
Construction on the roundabout at Snows Mill Road, Rocky Branch Road, and U.S. 53 should start sometime in early 2025, and construction on the roundabout at Malcom Bridge Road, Ray’s Church Road, and U.S. 53 should begin in 2026.
The let date for construction of a new bridge for SR 186 over the Apalachee River at North High Shoals is scheduled March 15, 2025, Daniell said.
Construction for the widening of U.S. 441 from the county line to Bishop is scheduled for August of 2027, and engineering is expected to start in 2026 on a SR 15 bypass of Watkinsville, Daniell said.
Engineering for the addition of tennis courts at Oconee Veterans Park is underway, Daniell said, as is engineering for improvements at Heritage Park.
Planning also is underway for the planned Dawson Park on Rocky Branch Road, he said.
Questions On Sports Facilities
Travis Stephens, the first speaker after Daniell gave his construction update, said he is “a little bit concerned about four basketball courts being enough space” at Dawson Park.
“It's going to be a phased approach,” Daniell responded. “We hope to get eight courts there at that location, but it's just about timing and money. We're trying to be a phase approach where our number one goal is to take care of Rec programs.”
Robin Stevens followed Stephens to the microphone, thanking the commission for “your long range planning for two very popular sports in terms of tennis and pickleball.”
Stevens said the demand for new tennis courts is great, and she asked that the county not convert any more tennis courts to pickleball courts until new tennis courts are added at Oconee Veterans Park.
Cruz
Cruz came to the microphone following Stevens, and she stayed there for just less than 20 minutes.
Cruz 10/8/2024 |
“What I want to talk to you about is something that happened yesterday and I'm sure you're going to hear about it somewhere,” she said. “I'm sure our illustrious videographer (she pointed to me) will be putting out his video of what happened as well as his interpretation of the proceedings.”
“I just wanted to get out in front of that to put some background to it so you know what the real story is,” she said.
Cruz and her husband, Aleshire, have submitted challenges to the registration of 303 Oconee County voters and challenges to the right to vote of another 75 voters under two different challenge procedures defined by a law passed by the General Assembly this year.
Cruz told the Commissioners she was motivated to take these actions because Oconee County consistently has a larger number of registered voters than voter age population, based on projections from Census Bureau data.
Cruz said she had wanted to be able to explain in Oconee County Superior Court the day before, in a lawsuit filed by Suzanne Heimel related to the challenges by Cruz and Aleshire, the specifics of those challenges, but Oconee County Superior Court Chief Judge Lisa Lott dismissed that case without allowing Heimel to call witnesses.
“There was no chance yesterday for my husband or I, the actual challengers, to get up and say what we had done,” Cruz told the commissioners. “Instead, we had to hear the hyperbole and the disinformation that was being handled handed out by the attorney and the non-governmental organizations that flew in from around the country to Oconee County to be on record for this.”
“I thought it was overkill,” Cruz said, “but anyway that's that's the story. If you want me to take it under oath at some point, I will do it. I didn't get my chance in the courtroom but that's what's happening, and I hope that Mr. Becker can review this tape and also get the facts straight.”
Heimel, acting as her own attorney, had said she wanted to call two witnesses, but she never identified who they were. Cruz told me after the end of the Town Hall meeting that her complaint was that I did not include an interview with her in my story on the hearing before Judge Lott.
Aleshire
Aleshire spoke for a little more than seven minutes, focusing first on the methods he and Cruz use in identifying the voters they challenge.
Aleshire 10/8/2024 |
“The data is gathered from governmental sources,” he said. “It's not from hearsay. It's not non-governmental sources that happen to be aggregators, although you can use those to point you toward governmental sources. We realize that governmental sources are the sine qua non to establish registration accuracy.”
“We're not looking for individual voters because we don't like their last name or something,” Aleshire said. “The purpose of voter registration maintenance is to assure that our Oconee County voters are themselves not disenfranchised by voter dilution and by that means if you have a person who votes twice.”
“Despite what both sides of the political aisle might wish to believe,” Aleshire said in closing, “remote electronic access to polling place hardware to manipulate data has been extensively documented by cyber security experts.”
“I'm saying the quiet part out loud that no one wants to talk about,” he added. “It is possible and it's been proven to occur also in Oconee County. You may not want to hear that but it does occur.”
Final Speakers
Chuck Williams, who lives in the southern part of the county, followed Aleshire and said he “wanted to give a shout out to your staff and the volunteers” at Oconee County Animal Control.
Williams Before Board 10/8/2024 |
He said “students that are headed back home at the end of semester down highway 15 to wherever they're going” dump dogs and cats on the dirt roads in the area as they leave, and the people at Animal Control responds to that as well as calls about rabid animals.
“They have a tough, thankless job for the most part,” Williams said, “but I think they do a do a real good job and I just want to public go on record and say that.”
Williams also advocated increased communication between the Board of Commissioners and the Mayor and Council of Watkinville to help “them understand better than just the average citizen what things that are happening in Watkinsville how they impact the county.”
Daniell said conversations between the county and city are frequent, but he urged citizens to communicate directly with Watkinsville elected officials about their concerns.
Jimmy Blose spoke in favor of increased tennis courts at Oconee Veterans park.
Cruz returned to the microphone to ask if the county had plans in place in the event that a hurricane hit the county during the election season.
Daniell said the county is exploring the possibility “to contract somebody to come in if that storm had hit over here and done what it had in Augusta we want to have somebody lined up that we can call and say get over here they'll come in and start helping us do the cleanup.”
Video
The video below is on the Oconee County YouTube Channel.
The Town Hall meeting begins at 5:39 in the video.
Hall began speaking at 6:02 in the video.
Aleshire asked the first question at 22:08.
Daniell began his summary of construction in the county at 26:08.
Cruz came to the podium at 38:48.
Aleshire began his comments at 57:58 in the video.
Chuck Williams and subsequent speakers followed Aleshire at 1:05:05.
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