Not far from the backed-up traffic on Ga. 92 in north Fulton County, Mountain Park sits apart on a half-square mile of hilly woodlands that slope down to two small lakes teeming with waterfowl. The 500-some residents love the town’s tranquility, scruffiness, mishmash of housing and curling one-lane roads. “It’s quirky, it’s Southern, it’s intelligent, it’s backward,” said Keith Ridgway, an 11-year resident. “It’s like living in a state park.”
But paradise has a price. Town politics marked by apathy. Very high taxes. And a lawsuit that’s bleeding the town coffers.
On Wednesday night a town hall meeting was held to mull the eternal Mountain Park questions.
Should the town dissolve the charter and become part of unincorporated Fulton County? Would it be better for Mountain Park to be annexed into Roswell or even Woodstock? Why don’t more people run for town council?
But the gorilla in the living room was the lawsuit. And that’s such a touchy subject that Mayor Jim Still didn’t want it talked about.
“This is a brainstorming session, not a blame-storming session,” he said.
In 2005, the town council sued several developers in upstream Roswell, saying they ruined the lakes with sediment from building sites. The town’s lawyer, Martin Shelton, said it would cost $2 million to
$3 million to dredge the lake and haul off the spoilage. Though three of eight defendants have settled, no trial date has been set.
Meanwhile, Mountain Park has paid more than $1.76 million in legal fees, said town clerk Karen Segars. That’s a hefty tab for a bare-bones operation with a $482,000 annual operating budget. The town employs only one full-time employee — Segars — and three part-timers.
Because of the lawsuit, Mountain Park taxpayers have taken a hit. The owner of a $200,000 home in Mountain Park pays $942.40 in town taxes before exemptions. The millage is 11.78, higher than neighboring towns Roswell or Alpharetta, which offer city police, parks and a bevy of other services. Residents bear all the tax burden because Mountain Park doesn’t have a single retail businesses, not even a convenience store.
Some residents said the lawsuit has put the town in such a distressed position that it’s impossible to decide questions about the town’s future, such as whether to dissolve the charter. Hope Mays said shutting down the town is hardly a new idea.
“This is a question that’s always there,” said Mays.
Still said some problems will remain, no matter how the lawsuit ends. For instance, the town has trouble finding enough people to run for the seven council seats. Shrinking the council and changing terms from four to two years might increase participation, people at the meeting agreed.
The session ended with a decision to determine what residents want more information about.
Longtime resident Pat McLendon said it’s hard to get Mountain Park folks to agree on anything.
“We’ve always had a lot of fighting in Mountain Park, politically,” she said. “You have some that won’t change and some who want to change.”
Labels: developer, lake, Mountain Park, sues
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Brian Vanderhoff @ 10:31 AM
