Officials in Johns Creek, Ga., continue to insist that either Atlanta's Watershed Management Department or Fulton County or both should pay to protect a 48-in. water pipe that provides waters to Sandy Springs.
Mayor Mike Bodker said city staff and engineers are investigating the cause of under-pipe erosion and that their findings may determine who takes the blame and the $85,000 repair bill. Crews fixed the problem this week.
"We don't have concrete proof, so we're not leveling any accusations... yet," he said. "Atlanta isn't off the hook, but they're not as much on the hook as Fulton County may be."
The city of Atlanta may have to help fund the repairs because it did not take any precautions to protect the water pipe when it was installed, according to Bodker. The erosion under the pipe threatened the pipe's integrity and required immediate action, said Johns Creek officials.
Watershed Management Commissioner Robert Hunter wrote in a letter to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it is inaccurate to characterize the water pipe in question as damanaged or to suggest that the city of Atlanta bear any responsibility. He said the key issue is that Johns Creek is repairing its own broken storm water lines, as it should.
"Is that the right thing to do?" he wrote. "You bet. Johns Creek should have repaired its broken storm water line a month ago when it failed."
The water pipe carries millions of gallons of water daily and runs perpendicular above two Johns Creek-owned storm water drainage pipes under Old Alabama Road. The drainage pipes came apart, and some sections were buried in silt; this caused storm water to churn and erode the earth supporting the pipe.
Officials in Johns Creek worried the steel pipe could shift and break, leaving 90,000 residents in Sandy Springs without water and Old Alabama Road underwater. They have suggested that the city of Atlanta should have built a support structure at the juncture of the water and drainage pipes, but Atlanta officials disagree. Johns Creek leaders ordered staff workers and contractors to fix the problem, as the parties have been unable to resolve the issue of responsibility. City Manager John Kachmar said the pipes probably were installed in the 1980s.
"We stepped up to the plate and did it instead of having an argument with bureaucrats," Kachmar said."
The city inherited tthe pipe problems from Fulton County when Johns Creek became a city, Bodker said. City Public Works Director Ken Hildebrandt said the problem seems to be a preexisting condition that has been going on for some time, and he points to the fact that several 6-ft sections of pipe were buried in silt as evidence.
"I don't think there will be any [desire] by the majority of the board commissioners to pay for any undiscovered or defects at the time of title transfer," said County Commissioner Lynne Riley. "The city totok it as is."
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
