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Managing
Growth
We need to balance the rights of property owners who wish to sell their land with the rights of homeowners
who moved here because they were attracted to a specific way of life in Forsyth County. That way of life
was NOT congested roads, water restrictions and overburdened recreational facilities.
I've been universally hailed as being tough but fair to developers, with the smallest number of conditions that have to
be adhered to. I've taken developers like John Wieland Homes to task, and negotiated tough concessions that they county
and they can live with. I've supported homeowners associations when they are right, and have voted against their wishes
when I felt they were wrong. I am not beholden to any group or special interest except for the U.S. Constitution.
Growing a county unchecked at 15% per year or faster is a formula for disaster, and I am proud to be one of the architects
of a plan to manage that growth over the past 2 years. By sticking to the Future Land Use Map when considering
re-zonings, and only deviating when it makes good planning sense, I’ve helped to slow the county’s growth to something
we can begin to manage. But the work isn’t done yet. We have a great deal of infrastructure
to improve over the next 10-15 years in order to recover from the sins of past county commissioners; so I helped push through
the county’s first-ever Infrastructure Study, which tells us exactly where we are starting from. This
way, we know where we have to go, and how far. The key to managing growth is to understand three major
issues facing Forsyth County in the future, and each are outlined below. Roads
Many people can’t get from Point A to Point B in Forsyth County without experiencing some sort of traffic nightmare.
Our roads are a mess right now, but they can be fixed relatively quickly if we do things a bit smarter than past county
commissions. Rather than making expensive requests for tens of millions of dollars to four-lane every backed-up
state road in the county, we need to focus our energies on simply improving major intersections on all of our state roads,
and some of our major county roads. Longer (500’ – 800’) left and right turn lanes with
unimpeded straight through lanes at each major intersection will move traffic through this county much better than waiting
dozens of years for funding new four-lane roads, and the job will get done quicker and cheaper, too! We call them "Mega-sections",
and they are the best bang for our buck in moving people through Forsyth County.
Most people don't realize that the original title for a county commissioner was county ROADS commissioner. Any commissioner
that doesn't put emphasis on roads is not doing the job you elected them to do. I helped to get a 50% increase in the
percentage of SPLOST dollars for roads in SPLOST 6, and was a big proponent of bonding out a large amount of projects so that
transportation could be improved quicker, without jeopardizing our finances.
Water
Water restrictions will be in our future for a very long time, and will only be eased by a larger scale state project
to find us another source of water, so we have to use what we have more wisely. The county also has to
be better prepared to handle the water we are allocated. I’ve pushed for water independence from
the City of Cumming in order to save county water users $23 - $35 million in extra water fees over the next 15 years by holding
firm and not extending a contract that would not have created a single extra drop of water than we already get today.
As a member of the Water and Sewer commission committee, I have pushed to find other sources of water from under the
ground, from rivers, and have moved to increase water storage in the county to handle emergency supply problems. The key to
water independence is to diversify our sources of water. We should never be in a position to be held hostage by another entity
just to get water for our citizens.
The work isn’t done yet, however. We still need to better conserve our water resources, and
I have had to make some tough votes to increase water rates for high users. I have also been pushing the
county to get a newer, larger intake in Lake Lanier from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and hope that someday we will be
able to withdraw all the water our county is allowed. Sewer
Our Infrastructure Study shows that we have largely oversold sewer capacity in a couple of areas in the county, and
don’t have enough to handle the expected build-out of homes that have already been re-zoned. Since
we can’t just stop people from building homes already re-zoned unless there is a public health emergency, we simply
have to build or acquire more sewer capacity. I have, with my fellow commissioners, brought on board three
private sewer plants that will eventually add much needed capacity to our system, and will make them more efficient and safer
by being under one controlling authority.
We have plans in place to add capacity to existing sewer plants, and to build new ones that will handle the growth that has
already occurred. In addition, we are looking at running re-use lines to specific areas in the county to
allow residents to water lawns without having to use drinking-quality water.
But sewer doesn't mean you get higher density than is allowed on our county's land use map. It just allows you
to get the maximum yield of homes allowed. Keeping Government
Small
Back in April of 2005, I was proud to have an initiative of mine passed
unanimously by the Board of Commissioners. It is called FLIP, which stands for Forsyth Loves Improved Processes.
The program is a way to encourage county employees to find cheaper ways to get things done, without reducing services
to county residents, by paying them a percentage of savings they find. In two year’s time, FLIP has
saved Forsyth County taxpayers nearly $500,000 by improving the way we do things.
Many times, an elected official will tout all the laws he or she has passed during their term. I’m
the opposite. I’ll tell you the laws I have fought to keep off the books to minimize the intrusion
into your daily lives.
I made sure a very bad Sign Kiosk program that would have put the county in the business of directing people to new subdivisions
didn’t get passed. I also made sure that an ordinance governing taxicabs didn’t pass.
If you don’t like what they look like or perform, don’t use them next time. I also stopped
the Board of Commissioners from contemplating a new fireworks ordinance that is already covered in state law, and didn’t
need to be duplicated or enhanced.
Earlier Campaign Platforms (largely enacted)
I support an infrastructure means
test for rezonings - If roads, schools, water or sewer cannot support the rezoning, I will vote against it until the infrastructure
is improved. Managed Growth I will not accept campaign contributions from any developer, or their legal representative. This will remove the
conflict of interest now pervasive on this Board. No Developer Money I support a top to bottom review of county personnel and positions. Taxpayers deserve a small efficient
county government. Ineffective, wasteful positions will be replaced, or eliminated. Personnel Review I support a review of local ordinances that govern business. Any ordinance that hinders business, or
does not provide a value for the cost, will be subject to change or deletion. Business Ordinances I promise that any SPLOST tax vote will have a prioritized list of improvements published before any vote occurs.
SPLOST Prioritizations I will move to open the commissioner's meeting room again to non-profit groups and to political debate. Commissioners Meeting Room
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