More than 200

residents packed the Coweta County Commission chambers Wednesday hoping

that the commission would give the okay for them to be annexed into the

county.

But after nearly

three and a half hours of pleas from residents and staff reports, the

commission deferred the discussion until today at 9 a.m. at the commission

meeting room.

After getting

an initial figure of $1.1 million to annex the 17,000 acres and 400 families,

commission Chairman Robert Wood asked the staff to make sure their figures

were correct and report back to the board Friday.

Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter had started challenging the figures when

Sheriff Mike Yeager said it would take hiring four officers and purchasing

two patrol cars for the new part of the county.

"You can't

tell me there's four officers serving the 400 families living below Haralson,"

Hunter said.

Yeager explained

that it would take four officers to cover all the shifts. One officer

would be patrolling the area, along with other areas of northern Coweta,

he said.

The residents

who packed the room explained that they didn't want any services from

the county, since they weren't getting any from Fulton County currently.

Commissioner

Jim McGuffey understood the residents wanting to come into Coweta, but

said he had to look at all issues surrounding the annexation.

"This

is the toughest decision I've had to make since I was a commissioner,"

he said.

South Fulton's

Bill Creel, who has been one of the leaders spearing the drive towards

Coweta, said he understood the commission's reluctance to make a quick

decision, but added many of the people desperately wanted out of the county.

"I'm willing

to donate money personally to get out," he said.

Other residents

complained about the "nightmare" of having to deal with Fulton

County government and said they just wanted "good government."

Newnan Realtor

Chip Barron urged the Commission to approve the annexation because "it's

the best thing to do."

"I would

rather Coweta County control this land than Fulton County," Barron

said.

Staff asked

each commissioner to provide a list of figures they would need and pledged

to have the figures done by Friday morning.

The commission

must make a final decision by Feb. 4.