Fulton County Water Main Installation To Affect Milton

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Lisa Maggart
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Project will bring loss of trees on Providence Road at Freemanville Road

MILTON, Ga., January 15, 2008 - A current Fulton County project to install a 24-inch water main on Providence Road at Freemanville Road will cause the loss of approximately 20 to 30 trees in the right of way at the site, despite efforts by the City of Milton to preserve the trees.

The installation, which begins near Summit Hill Elementary School and will progress west on Providence Road, will place a large water transmission line that will deliver water from a Fulton County pumping station to the storage tank at Pritchard Mountain. City officials have been working with representatives from Fulton County over the past several days to determine if any means exists to save the trees, and have exhausted all avenues.

"What makes this situation even more unfortunate is that the trees were planted in the right-of-way when this area was originally developed," said Chris Lagerbloom, interim City Manager. "This area is typically reserved by municipalities for utility purposes, which means that the trees were potentially doomed from the start."

As part of their efforts, Milton officials investigated the possibility of having the transmission lines be laid as close as possible to the trees without removing the trees or risking certain death of the trees due to damage of the root system. This option proved to be logistically impossible. The City also reached out to private citizens with an offer to let them move the trees to another location, but this option also fell through.

"We are highly disappointed that, despite our best efforts, we were not able to save these trees," said Mayor Joe Lockwood. "We place a priority on preserving our City's natural beauty and green space, but this is one of those challenges that we just couldn't win."