Wednesday, November 29, 2023–9:04 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
The Floyd County Commission has approved a resolution seeking to opt-out and/or file a request for exclusion from the nationwide class settlements related to PFAs.
According to Floyd County Attorney Virginia Harman, she made the recommendation to opt out because it is not known what the potential damages would be to the county if the US Environmental Protection Agency institutes what is believed will be basically a zero tolerance for PFAs in the water supplies.
”The potential impact to Floyd County is hard to quantify right now,” she said. “Yet, these defendants are seeking to have a class action that would bind all the claimants to a resolution that would be pennies on the dollar of potential damages down the road.”
Harman added the goal is to have more time to get the information needed to make a decision based on a real risk assessment for the county, its finances, and its people.
Floyd County is listed in the nationwide class action as a “Phase One” potential claimant, meaning the defendants have reason to believe there is an impact on the waterways and water system of the county.
PFAs, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are often called ‘forever chemicals’ as they are resistant to breaking down in the environment.
The City of Rome has reached settlements with upstream carpet manufacturers, chemical companies, and others with the funds going to construct a new ‘reverse osmosis’ facility to remove the chemicals from the Oostanaula River.
Commission denies rezoning for former Model School
The Floyd County Commission has denied a rezoning request for the old Model School on Burlington Drive in Shannon.
In addition to being a school, the property was the site of Church Chair for a number of years.
The applicants were seeking a zoning change from Suburban Residential to Heavy Industrial to house a pallet assembly, storage, and distribution business.
The application came to the commission with a recommendation to deny from the planning commission.
Planning staff also recommended denial.
“Not only does it make the buildings non-conforming if we rezone it, we also have concerns about what this leads to if you give it heavy industrial zoning,” said Rome-Floyd County Planning Director Brice Wood. “That could be anything from auto junk yards to a multitude of other things. More and more industries develop every year. We also have concerns that once you give the variances that would be necessary, they would apply to anything that moves in there, which further allows this to encroach on the neighboring properties.”
In other action Tuesday, the county commission awarded a contract to Woodlands Enterprises for timber removal at the site of the agriculture center off Three Mile Road.
County Attorney Virginia Harman said the vendor not only submitted the best price, but they will be able to make the county’s deadline for the work, which is six months.
