Chariots

of Fire Ministries has sued Fayette County for

the right to buy sewer service from Clayton

County, according to its attorney.

"We

will seek an order of Superior Court providing

for allowance of the hookup that's at

issue," said Brian Spears, attorney for the

ministry.

Spears

said he filed the suit Friday after county

officials declined to put the ministry's request

on its agenda for last week's County Commission

meeting.

Commissioners

already had denied the group's request, presented

extension of Clayton's sewer lines across county

lines to serve its property on Ga. Highway 138,

but the ministry asked to be placed on the agenda

again after additional information came to light.

That

information was that, following the commission's

rejection of its request, the ministry hired soil

scientists to search for a suitable site for a

septic system on its 2.5-acre property, and none

was found.

"In

my professional opinion, the only remaining

option is to connect the structure on this site

to the Clayton County sewer," said Martin

McElhenny, consulting engineer, in a

certification letter to Chariots of Fire board

member John Ford.

Attorney

Spears wrote to Chris Cofty, acting county

administrator, and sent copies to County Attorney

Bill McNally and all the county commissioners,

asking that the ministry's request be considered

again.

He

received his response Thursday, he said.

"The response we received consisted of their

declining to put us on the agenda," he said.

County

Attorney Bill McNally said that as of deadline

Tuesday, he had not been served a copy of the

lawsuit. Once the county recieves the suit, it

has 30 days to file a written answer.

"We

were still talking to [Graham's] attorneys and

had hoped he would follow some of the avenues

available to him," McNally said, adding that

those avenues include reducing water usage at the

site, which county officials consider abnormally

high, and find a new site for the home's septic

tank.

The

lawsuit alleges that the county has no written

standards in place for deciding whether to

approve a request like the one from Chariots of

Fire.

"We're

in a circumstance where the decision by the

commission is made without any standards of their

own, and hence it is arbitrary," said

Spears. The lawsuit alleges that the county's

refusal is "arbitrary, capricious and a

gross abuse of discretion" and "will

result in denial to plaintiff of all reasonable

economic uses of the property."

Also

alleged is that "other persons or entities

have been granted the permission to tie in to the

sewer systems of other municipalities or

counties;" therefore, "Plaintiff has

been deprived of the equal protection of the

law."

Spears

said the ministry is not asking for any monetary

damages at this time, but the idea hasn't been

ruled out entirely. "The money is a

hardship," he said, "but the direct

response to our situation that would be most

important would have to do with hooking [onto the

sewer system]."

Chariots

of Fire was founded two years ago by Graham and

works to help people who have lost their jobs and

homes get back on their feet. The ministry has

been plagued with problems ever since it

purchased a house and outbuildings on 2.5 acres

just east of the intersection of Ga. highways 138

and 279. The septic system failed, and raw sewage

seeped out of the ground and ran down the street,

prompting complaints from neighbors and

increasing pressure from the county Health

Department to resolve the problem.

After

a new septic system also failed, Graham made an

appeal to Fayette County commissioners to allow

the ministry to use Clayton County's sewer lines,

which run right past the property. But

commissioners last month turned down the

ministry's request, citing fears the sewer lines

will then be extended to other Fayette customers

and allow increased density of development in

north Fayette.

Fayette's

Environmental Health Department then ordered the

ministry to hire soil engineers and dig test

holes to find the best place on the property for

a new septic system, but those engineers last

week declared that there is no such place.

<!--

-----------