ministry that works to put homeless people back

on their feet is not giving up in its struggle to

keep from joining the ranks of its clients.

Chariots

of Fire Ministries will try to convince at least

one Fayette County commissioner to change his or

her vote on the organization's request to hook

onto Clayton County sewerage, said John Ford, a

local Realtor who is on the group's board of

directors.

"I

hope to get some cooler heads together, sit down

and draw up documents that will satisfy the

commissioners that they won't be setting a

precedent," said Ford.

Somewhat

hotter supporters of the ministry and its

director, Bishop Luther Graham, want to launch a

full-scale protest with civil rights-style

demonstrations, said Ford. "We're trying to

head off demonstrations," he said,

"because that would be creating a situation

that would worsen our chances of getting a

satisfactory conclusion to this."

Graham

recently bought a home on Ga. Highway 138 on the

Fayette side of the Clayton/Fayette border to

house his family and provide office space for the

ministry. He knew there were problems with the

home's septic system, he said, but added that

when he made the purchase he thought those

problems could be solved.

Even

when a new septic system failed to stop raw

sewage from seeping out of the ground, he said,

Graham thought he would be able to hook onto

Clayton County's sewer system, because a sewer

line is directly across the street, and an

easement runs right by his 2.5-acre property.

But

Clayton can't extend a tap-on across the county

line onto Graham's property without Fayette

County's permission, and county commissioners

voted 3-2 to refuse that permission.

Fayette

has a decades-old policy of encouraging

low-density residential development, and having

sewerage widely available in unincorporated areas

of the county would have the opposite effect,

commissioners say. If Clayton serves Graham's

property, he can then allow others to tap on and

sewerage will proliferate in north Fayette,

commissioners said.

Graham

pointed out that the County Commission broke that

policy recently when it allowed Clayton County to

provide sewerage for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic

High School, just down the street from Graham's

home. He added he is willing to sign an ironclad

contract promising not to allow any future sewer

tap-ons, just as the Catholic school did.

According

to county health officials, building yet another

septic system won't solve Graham's problem,

because there is too much rock on the property.

Buying adjacent land might be an option, but

Graham said he has not been able to negotiate a

purchase.

Meanwhile,

Chariots of Fire supporters are paying to have

the current septic system pumped out weekly, to

prevent anymore outbreaks of leaking sewage.

Another outbreak could bring a Health Department

order to stop using the home's plumbing

altogether.

Ministry

supporters were outraged last week when they

received a Health Department missive saying that

the septic system should no longer be pumped out.

But in an interview with The Citizen, health

inspector Robert Kerbis said the letter wasn't

intended as an order to stop pumping out the

system, but simply as a warning that a permanent

solution needs to be found soon.

"That

option is closed and we need to come to a

long-term solution," said Kerbis.

In

order for the County Commission to reconsider the

matter, at least one of the commissioners who

voted to deny Graham's request must agree to put

the issue back on a future agenda.

Ford

said he is lobbying commissioners in hopes that

will happen.

For

information or to make tax-deductible

conributions to Chariots of Fire Ministries,

phone 770-996-0076.

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