By

the beginning of next year, the town of Tyrone

could be hooked up with a sewer line from the

city of Fairburn.

Last

week at the Fayette County Development Authority

meeting, member John Woody said the city was

about 45 days from formalizing an agreement with

Fairburn to provide sewerage to the town.

Woody

emphasized the sewer lines would be used

exclusively for the John Wieland development

north of Tyrone and the proposed Richard Bowers'

office park on Ga. Highway 74.

Town

manager Barry Amos confirmed earlier this week

that talks with Fairburn are progressing and said

the deal could be finalized in 45 to 60 days. If

a deal is struck, Amos said it would take another

two to three months to build the line that would

connect the two municipalities.

Fairburn

has petitioned the state Environmental Protection

Division for a permit to build a wastewater

facility, which could provide excess capacity for

Tyrone if the town ever wanted to connect other

parts of the town to sewerage.

Tyrone's

dealings with Fairburn have come under fire from

the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, who

are vehemently against the town going out of the

county for sewerage.

At

a meeting between Tyrone and county officials in

April, some of the commissioners expressed alarm

over Tyrone trying to bring in sewer from outside

the county. But Tyrone Councilman Ronnie Cannon

spoke up.

"We don't like

going outside of the county, but the people of

Tyrone don't want Tyrone with a giant spray

field," he said.

Commission Chairman

Harold Bost said he worried about the future

impact of having sewer on Hwy. 74.

"My concern is

that once sewer crosses the county line, there

will be enormous pressure to keep extending

it," he said.

The Tyrone leaders

were adamant that the sewer would be used only

for the large projects currently under

consideration by the town and that residential

development on the busy state highway is not an

option.

Still, the

commissioners were reluctant in giving a thumbs

up to the proposal. In fact, Commissioner Linda

Wells said a workable community septic system is

available, but Tyrone officials refused to

discuss it when it was first mentioned five years

ago.

Councilman Ray

Bogenschutz bristled at the notion that Tyrone

officials were jeopardizing the fate of the

highway corridor and said the town's regulations

for development on the highway are actually more

restrictive than the county's.