Cartersville is where this contractor's office stands, at 650 Henderson Dr. The city runs its own gas system, so a gas smell here has its own number. By the Census count, 9,230 homes are occupied, the typical one built in 1990 (give or take 3), and renters hold 3,766 of them, about 41 percent. Find your room among the pages, for example standing water and soaked carpet, and then call (678) 288-4775, giving the street and the room.
The weather record
In the Weather Service's table of the September 2009 floods, Cartersville's river gauge sat above its 18-foot flood stage from 7:20 p.m. on the 21st to 9:24 a.m. on the 22nd, about 14 hours, and crested at 20.73 feet at 2:00 a.m. That is 2.73 feet over flood stage. The Canton row in the same table also reads 20.73, so the figure is quoted as the page prints it.
Where Cartersville houses tend to leak
The Census age table puts the biggest slices of the city's 10,161 housing units in the 1980s (1,717) and the 1990s (1,452), about 31 percent between them. Water heaters and washer hoses in houses that age may be on a second round, and UGA Extension's checklist asks owners to look over both for leaks.
At the other end, 417 units date from 1939 or earlier and 624 from the 1940s, so a block of older houses sits among the newer ones. The estimates carry margins, which the table prints; the 1980s figure alone is good to about 450 either way.
Renters hold a large share of the city's homes, and a tenant's first message goes to the building's owner.
Gather before you dial
Before you phone about a Cartersville address
Jot down your street address, which rooms are wet and the hour water first showed. The water bill and the gas bill show which utility sits behind your tap and your meter.
For a gas smell, the city's own instructions ask for your name and address, and a callback number other than the one at the leak. They also say to leave, to operate no switches or devices, and to put out flames. All of that happens outside, before any other call.
Then call (678) 288-4775 for the water.
From North Public Square to Henderson Drive
City Hall stands at 10 North Public Square. The city gas system's office is at 155 Old Mill Road and Public Works is at 330 S Erwin Street. Bartow County's water department is at 50 Nelson Street, and its building inspections office works from 135 West Cherokee Avenue. The contractor's address is 650 Henderson Dr, Cartersville, GA 30120.
Desks and phone lines
Planning and Development works from City Hall, 10 North Public Square, at 770-387-5600, weekdays 8 to 5; its page covers building permitting and inspections, code enforcement and business licenses. The building department page sends permit applications through an online portal and lists an email in place of a phone number. It does not say when a repair needs a permit. Gas leaks go to the city system at 770-387-5642, and Public Works, at 770-387-5602, takes stormwater and drainage.