Despite an

impassioned plea by Senoia's Methodists, it appears the

fate of the town's historic wooden bridge on Bridge

Street is sealed.

Native

Senoian Hal Sewell made his second plea in weeks to try

and get the council to reconsider its decision to close

the bridge to vehicular traffic March 1.

Sewell said

he can recall growing up and playing all around that

bridge and wondered why the current bridge couldn't be

repaired by Norfolk Southern Railroad, who owns the

property.

When the

bridge is closed, Sewell said, the closest route for

people to get to the Methodist church from Ga. Highway 16

will be lost to them.

"We

try to think of ways to get people to church, and now

we're closing down the route," he said.

Sewell

could not understand why the railroad would not pay for

the repairs since it is the company's property.

He also

added that he had gotten a copy of a recent Georgia

Department of Transportation report that said the bridge

was not in critical condition.

Mayor Joan

Trammell said she has learned quite a lot about dealing

with railroads during her tenure in office and the offer

that Norfolk Southern made was too good to pass up.

The

railroad will deed the property to the city with the

understanding that if the railroad line is ever opened

again, the city will give the property back to the

railroad.

If the city

does relinquish the property back to the railroad, the

railroad has pledged to build a new wooden bridge over

the tracks.

Trammell's

main concern is that a wooden bridge remain in the town

and the deal with the railroad ensures that.

The bridge

will still remain open to pedestrian, bike and cart

traffic, but by not allowing vehicles, the city is given

time to either rebuild the bridge or let the railroad do

it.

The mayor

added that the council had voted on the measure with all

the available information and said if the church or some

other group could come up with the money to fix the

bridge, she would welcome it.