The Fannin County Water Authority Meeting this week erupted in a verbal row over the My Mountain Water plan. After a months-long plan to run county water to Phases I and II of the My Mountain Communities, the deal came to an impasse during the Wednesday meeting. Citizens and attorneys all joined the fray in what resulted in a truculent and turbulent situation, culminating in a small window to resolve differences.

Working with the county from the beginning of the project, Engineer Tom Sloope opened the meeting with an update on the plan. He explained his company, Carter and Sloope, has completed some of the survey work for My Mountain I and II and inspected the existing utilities, to do some preliminary work, adding that his company has not proceeded to design the would-be water system.

“So, roughly from the last time we were here,” he said, “not much has happened in respect to the My Mountain I and II design due to uncertainty.”

The uncertainty Sloope referred to is the situation with a complex lawsuit against the Quintrell Estate, the developer of the My Mountain Communities. Present at the meeting, My Mountain I and II property owner Gary Schraut, currently holds a suit against the Quintrell Estate. County Attorney Lynn Doss elaborated on the legal situation.

“Counsel for Mr. Schraut sent a letter to the (water) authority last July,”

Doss explained,

“ and it said, in essence, if you come in, if you bring these water lines into My Mountain Phase II, we join you into the lawsuit in bailing out the developer…We said the law suit needs to go away before we can come in.”

Schraut explained he has been trying to communicate with the county and the water authority for eight months, to try to work out a deal, but said he has been ignored. Doss disputed this, saying that Schraut’s information was false.

Other My Mountain residents, though, revealed a seemingly dire water situation.

“I’m tired of living between the lawsuit,”

My Mountain II resident Kathie Broughton said.

“I’ve been sick twice (because of the water),”

she continued,

“in 2011 in June we had high counts of coliform at 205, (from) which I got sick and had to go to the doctor and was sick for several months.”

Broughton added that her husband had bad health and this was an issue. She also said she had her house appraised in October and had lost $100,000 in value. Another Phase II resident Terry Rutherford said he was hospitalized due to contaminated water. Tests reveal at various periods several wells on My Mountain contained high levels of coliform and even E Coli. Tested in August 2009, well number nine had an E Coli reading of 1.001; In April of 2010, well number two had a coliform reading of 200.5, which sources say is undrinkable and not fit to bath in. Broughton stressed that she wants county water.

Through out the meeting, other residents called out, saying they felt as if they were being held hostage by the lawsuit and, because of it, they were slaves. Roiled by public outcry and booming monologues, the meeting soon came to a vortex.

“Nobody wants to resolve this issue more than I,”

Schraut said,

“No one has more money invested in this, more time, more family pain than I do.”

Lurching forward, Queen barked,

“I’m going to tell you what! Why don’t you and your lawyer get with our lawyer and let’s work this thing out!..Tell us that we can come in and you won’t sue us!”

Schraut reiterated he had been trying to communicate with the water authority and the county since July, but was ignored. Interjecting, Doss said this was false.

When voices died down, John Quintrell, son of the late Roy Quintrell, addressed the crowd. He explained the covenants for Phase I are no longer valid, but the Phase II covenants are valid. He admitted that the Phase II covenants state developer Roy Quintrell will provide water for residents, for a $20 fee plus maintenance. He said the systems that were initially installed were good systems.

“The problem,”

he said,

“is these systems are very outdated now. They have issues…To get this system up where we know we have good water is a lot of money and that gets divided back to the water bill…there’s a very good chance that the (Quintrell) estate could lose control of this.”

He explained that, due to the results of the law suit, the water system as an asset could get auctioned off and a third party can assume authority of the water system, which he said would be

“out of control of everybody.”

Continuing, Quintrell said that if the law suit goes through it is going to get “nasty.” Here, a chorus of groans rose from the crowd, calling the mention of this underhanded. The room erupted again in a maelstrom of voices and accusations until Attorney Doss interjected. She recommended Schraut and the county have a week to resolve their differences. If by that time, the issue is resolved, then the county can proceed with its plan to bring water to My Mountain II. As it stands now, Phase I is already expected to receive water. If the two parties can not reach a resolve within this time frame, however, the county will not run water to My Mountain Phase II.

“On that day,”

Queen said,

“We’re either going to My Mountain or we’re going home.”

FYN will post the video of the March 28th Water Authority Meeting soon.
In the interim, see slide show of meeting below.