Highland Hills / Shenadoah: What's the motivation?

Recently, without notifying the neighbors who originally asked for a solution to their problem of speeders in their quiet neighborhood, Commissioner Herb Frady tried to reverse two previous Board decisions.

For details on the situation, please read the articles with Highland Hills in the title on www.FayetteFrontPage.com.

The School Board received a few complaints from the neighbors in Shenandoah Estates regarding the added time for their children's bus trip. They sent a letter to the County Commission letting them know about the concerns.

Chairman Jack Smith had his Administrative Assistant contact the School Board to ask if they were requesting any action. They said NO, they were just letting them know about the situation. Copies of the letters have been requested, received and will shortly be on the Fayette Forum.

Here's the note Smith attached to the top of the letter from the School Board, which he distributed to all the Commissioners:

"John DeCotis advises that this letter is for information purposes only and that no action is being requested of the Board of Commissioners at this time."

I called and talked to DeCotis, and I talked to Smith. DeCotis did NOT ask for any action by the Board, he was just letting them know there had been some concerns expressed by some in Shenandoah about the additional time.

So, why did Commissioner Frady feel the need to bring it up? I can speculate until all the cows in the fields of Georgia come home, but there's no way I can know why.

Frady was on the losing end of the last vote. When he brought this vote up he didn't inform Smith that he was bringing it up and he didn't have it added to the agenda so the public would know it was coming up for consideration. Why?

Incorrect facts were stated by Frady and Horgan to justify changing the past TWO separate votes of the previous Boards. Why?

The buses are picking up students. The intersection has not been improved. Speeders will be able to cut through the neighborhood if the decisions are reversed. The area is being maintained by the County and is not overgrown. Students are NOT waiting for the school bus at the area in question. There is not an additional cut-through.

I'm glad it's going to be on the agenda and I'm glad Smith stopped the vote from going forward so the neighborhoods can be there.

I think it's a done deal already, three of the Commissioners have already said they were ready to vote. All stated reasons based on incorrect information.

The neighbors in Highland Hills are going to have a tough time on this one. There are just under 40 homes in Highland Hills --- there are close to 80 in Shenandoah Estates. They're fighting not just an uphill battle, they're fighting a battle like the Spartans fought in the movie 300.

Hopefully the Commissioners will check their facts and will base their decisions not on who yells the loudest, but on those facts.