Even though

Senoia's municipal sewer system is not up and running,

it's already coming under scrutiny from one group of

concerned citizens.

During

Monday night's City Council meeting, Ken Gordon asked the

council to reconsider the planned placement of a force

main down the south side of Couch Street.

If the city

continues with its original design, Gordon said, at least

nine large hickory and oak trees would have to be removed

to lay the line.

He

estimated it would cost the city at least $15,000 to

remove the trees and said the problem could be fixed by

relocating the line to the north side of Couch Street.

He said the

north side contains only one large pecan tree, which

could be spared depending upon how the line was run.

Mayor Joan

Trammell said she was all in favor of saving trees and

said she would forward Gordon's comments to the engineer

of the sewer system, Turnipseed Engineering.

"The

last thing we want to do is take down any of our

trees," she said.

Trammell

encouraged residents to make the trek to City Hall and

examine the routing of the sewer system. She said Couch

Street would be one of the last streets in the historic

part of town to run pipes, but said she didn't know about

the possible uprooting of the trees until Gordon brought

it to her attention.

In other

sewer news, the council voted to borrow up to $500,000

from Farmers and Merchants Bank at 6 percent interest to

help in the initial costs of the system.

The city

already has a $500,000 grant from the state Department of

Community Affairs to provide sewerage to the town's low

income residents, but won't receive news on any other

potential grants or low-interest loans until next year.

"I

like to refer to it as a construction loan,"

Trammell said.

The city is

looking at $632,000 to construct the first phase of the

system, along with paying Southern Mills $500,000 by the

end of the year for its wastewater treatment facility.