There’s been a good deal of chatter on the Oakhurst Message Board of late about higher-than-usual DeKalb water rates.  The AJC wrote a piece on our surely escalating water rates to cover extensive repairs and improvements to the system, though it’s unclear whether these individual reports are a result of that or something else.  (If you’re interested in how much rates are rising year-by-year, this County document (pdf) gives you a good idea of how rates will rise through 2011.  Note that the more water you use, the higher the rate.)

Anyway, the County is holding meetings about these repairs and upgrades, tonight and tomorrow night.

DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon recently sent this announcement around…

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The AJC digs and gets some answers as to why a DeKalb County Water and Sewer crew accidentally cut an “incorrectly installed” gas line on Coventry Road yesterday.

The damage was caused by a county Water and Sewer crew that was repairing a damaged sewer main.

A remote television device spotted intrusion from tree roots. The workers were cutting into the sewer main to repair it when they damaged the gas line.

The gas line had been incorrectly installed, county spokeswoman Shelia Edwards said. She said it had been “bored” into the sewer main.

That can happen with all kinds of new lines, including cable and gas, Edwards said. “They don’t realize it until we have this kind of situation,” she said.