South Fulton

Chamber of Commerce President John Boothby hopes the upcoming General

Assembly session is kind to the county.

In fact, Boothby

has narrowed down his list of requests to only three that he would love

to see accomplished this session.

First, the

chamber leader would love to see parts of the unincorporated county be

added to the South Fulton Water and Sewer Authority. Currently, only the

municipal governments of Fairburn, Palmetto and Union City belong to the

group, but Boothby said all of South Fulton should fall under the group's

power.

"Currently,

somebody who wants to develop something in the unincorporated areas would

have to deal with the city of Atlanta. We would prefer to have them deal

with somebody on this side of town who could handle it in a more timely

matter," he said.

The chamber

also wants to see construction of the Oakley Industrial Park bridge. For

some time, this project has been on the priority list at the Department

of Transportation, but fallen victim to projects in other jurisdictions,

Boothby said.

With the cost

of the bridge pegged at $2.5 million, Boothby wants this year's legislators

to help him find the money for the project.

When industrial

prospects visit the Oakley Industrial area, they're often put off by the

fact that any trucks coming from the industrial area often have to wait

for trains to pass. The bridge would alleviate that problem, said Boothby.

The final issue

is opposing construction of the Northern Arc of the outer perimeter highway.

"Anybody

who thinks it's going to relieve congestion also believes in the tooth

fairy," said Boothby.

Instead, Boothby

believes the road will lure development away from the less congested south

side and continue to add to traffic woes on the north side of town.

"It will

seriously harm all the south side counties for the next 25 years,"

he added.

Boothby has

talked to the region's legislators and is hopeful of a successful General

Assembly session this term.