Coweta County

wants parameters established before it starts running emergency water

lines.

During Tuesday's

meeting, the board heard from water director Harry Hughes who suggested

the board go ahead and bid out engineering work for potential emergency

water lines.

Hughes said

if the bid process was done early, the county could get on a "fast

track" and get water lines to people within three weeks.

While the Commissioners

agreed with Hughes' recommendation to go ahead and do the bid process,

they were concerned about what constituted an emergency water line.

"If we're

not careful, we're going to be running emergency water lines all throughout

this county," said Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter.

The other commissioners

agreed and asked Hughes to come up with some parameters, such as distance

from an existing water line, that would constitute emergencies.

Although the

drought that gripped the county during the summer has eased and many of

the reservoirs are nearly full, many wells throughout the county are still

drying up.

The commissioners

emphasized that they want to get water to the people who desperately need

it first, and want to make sure that the Water Department is clear on

prioritizing the water lines.