CENTRE — Local physician Brian Perry last week implored the members of the Cherokee County Commission to pass the sewage ordinance they have been working on for over two years.

“I've been back in Cherokee County for 30 years, and this is the first time I've come here and spoken to this group,” Dr. Perry told the commissioners during their March 12 meeting. “This is something that is very important to me.”

Perry said after he finished medical school and his residency requirement, he and his wife Cindy chose to make their home in Centre. Among the most important factors in their decision, he said, was Weiss Lake. Perry said he grew up fishing and skiing on the lake.

“Those were some of the best times of my life,” he said.

Perry said he had many more good times on the lake after his two children were born.

“I took the children out, really before they could walk, and put them on the skis with me,” he said. “This lake is special to me and it has been a big part of my life since I was young.”

Perry explained to the commissioners that it is because of a lifetime's endearing memories that he felt compelled to address them.

“It breaks my heart to see what has happened to this lake, to know that sewage is being dumped into our lake, unchecked,” Perry said.

Dr. Perry reminded the commissioners of an incident several years ago at a Georgia amusement park when a child became seriously ill after being infected by harmful bacteria in the water at the park.

“The child was sick from E.coli, and almost died,” Perry said. “That bacteria is what is found in human waste. That's the same bacteria we're dealing with in our lake.”

Perry said a similar incident involving Weiss Lake could have severe repercussions for Cherokee County.

“It doesn't take much imagination to know what would happen to this area, economically, if we had a child contract E. coli from the lake,” Perry said. “It would only take one. And it could happen.”

Dr. Perry told the commissioners they were in a “unique position” to end decades of neglect by approving an ordinance currently out for public comment that would establish measures for reducing the flow of sewage into the lake and create a system of fees and fines to pay for enforcement.

“You can enact this ordinance or you can kick the can down the road,” Perry said. “This issue has been kicked down the road for too long, and it's time to step up to the plate. We need to do this now.”

Dr. Perry told the commissioners he has confidence that they will do the right thing when they vote on the ordinance March 26.

“I don't have grandchildren yet, but I hope to someday,” Perry said. “And when I do, I want to be able to teach them how to ski on Weiss Lake. Right now is the time to do this.”

Commissioner Kimball Parker thanked Dr. Perry for attending the meeting and assured Perry that he and the other commissioners are taking the sewage issue seriously.

“We are trying to do something with this ordinance, but it has been a long process,” Parker said. “Some of the delay has come from the state because they had other issues they were dealing with.”

Parker said those delays at the state level gave many concerned citizens the mistaken impression that the Commission was moving too slowly towards passage of the proposed ordinance.

“I guess we could be dragging our feet, but it's not all us,” Parker said. “I'll take some of that blame. But we are trying to do the right thing.”

“At some point we've got to stop revising, revising, revising and take action,” said Probate Judge Melvyn Salter.