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Residents press Whitfield County on PFAS in water and zoning concerns at public comment
Summary
During public comment at the Sept. 8 meeting, residents raised environmental worries about PFAS contamination in the county's water, objections to rezoning processes, and the idea of a solicitor-permit ordinance; SBA staff also briefed the board on available small-business resources.
Several residents used the public-comment portion of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners’ Sept. 8 meeting to raise local environmental and land-use concerns.
Chantelle Kirk told the board she is concerned about how opponents of property rezoning are being weighed in county decisions, saying that who opposes a rezoning "matters more than the reasoning for the opposition". Kile Lewis raised a separate concern about PFAS—so-called "forever chemicals"—being present in the county’s water supply and urged the board to address the issue. The minutes do not record staff responses, follow-up actions or test results related to the PFAS claim.
Jeff Williams suggested the possibility of adopting a solicitor-permit ordinance for Whitfield County, but the minutes do not show any referral or motion to draft such an ordinance. Kim Florence of the U.S. Small Business Administration addressed the board about SBA resources available to local small businesses, churches and nonprofits.
The board took no immediate legislative action on the public requests recorded in the minutes; several items raised during public comment (PFAS concerns, rezoning opposition, solicitor-permit proposals) would require separate staff study or formal agenda items to move toward policy changes.
