Dont shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!!! Well Georgia wants a revolution, well you know. Apparently there is a state line dispute since 1818 at issue (statute of limitations anyone?) The real reason of course is water rights as we all know. However, that is not what I'm concerned about at this time. What tweaks my curiosity is what if this deal happens? What happens to Copperhill and Polk county's ability to serve alcohol? Will they be annexed into Fannin where no such thing occurs? Or will a new county be formed and the previous regulations carried over to it? Feel free to express your thoughts.

If memory serves me correctly, didn't Georgia try to get that 1.1 miles about 25-30 years ago? At that time the state of Georgia wanted the copper mines around Copperhill and the related tax revenues.

This would get things interesting - I say bring on the battle - watching people have to deal with something changing would be worth watching if nothing else.

It would seem the businesses legally serving beer in Polk would have a strong case (challenged through the Federal Court system) to continue to sell in a "grandfathered" state in Georgia, especially since alcohol is legal under GA state law - its just the county trying to prevent it. Or, they could petition to turn Copperhill into a special "enterprise zone" or such and go straight to the GA Department of Revenue for a State pouring license and bypass Fannin (similar to the Toccoa River Club) - seems like lots of businesses should be doing this until the local leaders finally get a clue...

Obvioulsy, this issue would ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court and Congress on something of this magnitude - think of how the Chattanooga metro area would be impacted, and how much tax base They would lose in Tennessee in THAT area. So the stakes are obviously huge.

I am becoming more and more convinced with time that there are just some issues that local governments (cities and counties) should have no say on whatsoever. Alcohol and Firearms are two examples that come to mind. Georgia already has a good firearms preemtion statute on the books, which prevents city (mostly the ones so inclined) politicians from restricting gunowners rights (a good thing) - so any gun laws that apply to one in Blue Ridge are EXACTLY the same in downtown Atlanta. I think that they need to enact similar legislation that says all alcohol related issues (including licensing and related laws) can only be pased on the state level as well. That way we would have a uniform set of laws statewide and prevent some of this silliness. Welcome to the 21st century..

Now back to my Mojito I am enjoying in the lobby of the W Hotel in New York City while catching up on email and surfing the net a bit today... a great scene (even though there are no mountains out the window today!)

I need to do a better job of "perusing" the threads (and my Internet 'sources')..this thread spliced after you blokes were days ahead of me, apologies, hopefully you'll at least find the links worthy/relevant:

A water-starved Georgia General Assembly is looking to pass a few resolutions that might lead to moving the GA/TN border north, apparently in an effort to pull H20 from Nickajack Lake/Tennessee River:

Georgia would own Copperhill - The News Observer - News

Georgia town at the heart of border dispute | ajc.com

This fight has been going on for over a hundred years but I doubt if water rights was ever the issue. I think Sonny Perdue is doing a little more than praying for rain, and unfortunately Copperhill, TN may be caught in the crossfire. Among the other unpleasantries: GA state income tax, a longer beer-run on certain football Sundays for the DDs, & no beer with your burrito in Copperhill, GA.