Resolution on Border Dispute with Georgia Starts Its March

A Tennessee legislative committee is expected to take up a resolution next week to tell the state of Georgia what it thinks of a request to resurvey the border near Chattanooga. The message is, “Go away.”

House majority leader Gary Odom admits his resolution is simply a reply to Georgia’s resolution. Tennessee’s neighbor is calling for three members of each state’s House and Senate to meet together in a border commission. Odom, a Nashville Democrat, says there’s no way Tennessee is going to talk about giving a mile of Chattanooga to the state of Georgia.

“I think the idea of even meeting acknowledges or would lead one to think that we somehow believe there is a problem with the border between Tennessee and Georgia. And of course we don’t believe that. We just got some information today, from the Georgia area, where there’s been an appraisal made of the area in question, in Georgia’s mind, and it has an appraised value of over two billion dollars.”

Georgia kicked off the dispute in early February, claiming the true border between the two states is the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude, about a mile north of the marked border. Georgia legislators say they aren’t so much interested in taking over southern Chattanooga as in getting a foothold on the south bank of the Tennessee River, allowing the state to pump water to Atlanta.

Tennessee officials argue that the border is firm because since 1818, the state of Georgia has never been willing to fight the issue in court.

WEB EXTRA

Odom says he expects unanimous support for the resolution. It comes up in the House State and Local Government committee on Tuesday.

The resolution is HJR0919.