After agreeing they didn't

like the strings attached, the Fayette County Commission voted unanimously

to turn down an estimated $286,000 state grant that would put three traffic

deputies on the road to patrol for aggressive driving violations and impaired

motorists.

Instead, several commissioners

committed to providing the Sheriff's Department with three new traffic

deputies if needed in the upcoming budget.

"If we need three more

traffic cars, I'd like to see the county fund them 100 percent and we

control them 100 percent," said commissioner Linda Wells.

The grant would have required

the county to match $89,000, which includes the salary of one of the deputies

and certain equipment such as laser speed detectors which the grant wouldn't

cover. After the grant period expired, the county would be responsible

for paying all three deputies.

The commission's concerns had

to do with "reporting" requirements that are attached to the

grant. Some worried that the county wasn't in compliance with some of

those requirements and it would take at least 90 days to adopt new ordinances

for compliance purposes.

County attorneyBill McNally

said he thought the county met most of the requirements and could adopt

the other ordinances if the commission chose to use the grant.

Wells, noting that the county

watered down its fire code standards years ago to comply with the needs

of the Atlanta Regional Commission, said there are other reasons to turn

down the grant.

"It is to the point where

we have to be very suspicious when people offer us something," she

said. At the same time, however, commissioners thanked Maj. Wayne Hannah,

the director of the traffic division, for pursuing grants for the county.

The period for this particular

grant is two years, although the clock started ticking several months

ago because of delays at the state level.

Creating three new positions

for the sheriff's department's traffic division will bring it up to the

staffing level outlined in county plans from several years ago.

Hannah told The Citizen Monday

that his 11-man staff doesn't have much time to perform routine traffic

enforcement due to other duties such as investigating traffic complaints,

patrolling school zones, investigating crashes and escorting funeral processions.

If the county funds the three

requested traffic deputies, Hannah wants to dedicate them to pursuing

aggressive driving violations and impaired drivers.

"Following too close is

the major contributing factor in motor vehicle crashes here," Hannah

said, adding that failure to yield is another significant factor in local

wrecks.

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