Some thoughts on current events:

Paving Fayette You

heard it here first. Watch what happens to a 2,000-acre chunk of still-rural,

undeveloped, unincorporated land in the heart of our county.

Word has it that the multi-owner

pastoral parcels are being shopped to the highest bidder. Drive along

Ga. Highway 54 between Peachtree City and Fayetteville. Drive down Sandy

Creek Road and look on both sides of the road. The signs are up; the die

is cast. The heart of old Fayette is poised to undergo radical change.

The old families are dying out. The high-flying Snopeses are moving in

for the kill.

Will this pastoral land be

gently developed as 5- and 10-acre farmlets through the county commission's

careful rezoning policies?

Not on your life. Watch for

the wrecking crew from the Fayetteville City Council to invade the gently

rolling hills west of town. They'll be wearing signs: "Annexation

today, annexation tomorrow, annexation forever."

I wrote a few weeks back that

some members of the Fayetteville Council probably viewed that pasture

land as wasted space more appropriately to be used as paved parking lots.

I didn't realize at the time how close that may be to becoming reality.

Watch for the Fayetteville

Council to announce that a developer group has approached the city seeking

annexation (and access to the coveted city sewer system).

The mayor and council will

talk about clean water and proper planning for "inevitable"

growth and promptly appoint a developer-weighted "study group"

to come up with a suitable plan for the 2,000 acres that will be added

to Fayetteville's west side.

A few known troublemakers will

be appointed a distinct minority, to be certain to give the impression

that all viewpoints are being sought.

The county commission will

flap and complain but eventually subside into frustrated silence, shrugging

their shoulders and saying the battle was lost from the start.

The resulting "plan"

will get several months of attention, with some committee members warning

of the impact of traffic, etc. The Fayetteville Council will shrug and

say, "That ain't my problem, man," and refer callers to the

Georgia Department of Transportation.

In the end, the developers

will get what they want from very friendly council members, spurred by

the mayor annexations and rezonings to allow heavy commercial use, lots

of offices and dense, dense residential sections, quarter-acre lots or

less, all tapped on to the Fayetteville sewer system, the key to this

whole plan.

And the heart of Fayette will

be lost.

It's a slick crew, this Fayetteville

Council. Several of them got elected by opposing a multi-hundred-acre

annexation from an Old Guard Fayetteville Council in the late 1980s. That

bunch of newly elected "reformers," Mayor Ken Steele among them,

stood against the annexation of land that lies directly across Hwy. 54

from the pastures now at risk. Such was the outrage, they got the local

legislative delegation to de-annex much of the land.

And then the "reformers"

got reelected and reelected and reelected by snoozing voters, until the

"reformers" morphed into the very thing they had ridden into

office to oppose. Attention, frogs: The water temperature is approaching

boiling point.

When this new phase is done,

the annexation crew at Fayetteville City Hall will have gobbled up unincorporated

land halfway to Peachtree City.

Give them a few more terms

and they'll annex right up to Peachtree City's eastern boundary.

Running Peachtree City

Question: How are the French and Lynn Westmoreland alike?

Answer: They both have chosen

sides on a hot political issue.

I must have missed an election

lately. Turns out state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland has become the governing

authority of Peachtree City.

The state GOP star, the House

minority leader, who resides across the county line in eastern Coweta

County, just substituted his judgment for the elected City Council of

Peachtree City.

The council had sought local

legislation that would take the Peachtree City Tennis Center and Fred

Brown Amphitheatre away from the city's Development Authority and turn

it over to a newly created Sports and Entertainment Authority.

Westmoreland, with apparent

urging from the current politically Out crowd in the city, decided to

override the council's request and substitute his own measure, keeping

the two venues under the Development Authority.

It is under consideration now

at the Capitol.

Maybe he was persuaded by the

Outs' new political action committee, which is dedicated to reversing

the results of last year's city election.

It's unfortunate that Westmoreland

has chosen to work against the current city council. In the end, he has

made a choice of political alliance. As with the French, time will tell

whether it was a smart alliance.

The last $11,000 The

Fayette Samaritans are down to the wire in their attempt to raise $90,000

on New Hope Road that will serve Fayette residents needing urgent help

with food, clothing and utility bills because of family emergencies or

financial setbacks.

So far, because of your generosity,

the nonprofit group sponsored by more than 40 local churches has raised

slightly more than $79,000. The volunteers need another $10,958 to reach

their goal.

When they receive the $90,000,

another local helping group, Square Foot Ministry, will provide the labor

and crafts to build the 2,400 square-foot facility.

Please help the Samaritans

climb that final stretch. Send your tax-deductible donations of any amount

to Fayette Samaritans Building Fund, 203 Jeff Davis Place, Fayetteville,

Ga. 30214.

You will be helping local folks

in their hour of real need.