Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will review and draft a reply to a Cherokee County grand jury's latest findings on the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will review a draft letter in response to the latest findings by a Cherokee County grand jury on how the county is handling the Ball Ground Recycling failure during its meeting later today. Commissioners will meet at 3 p.m. for its work session and will hold its regular meeting at 6 p.m. The meetings will take place at the county administrative building in Canton. The grand jury in its presentments and findings for the September 2012 term recommended several actions for the commissioners to take, including disciplining all county employees responsible for the collapse. The county commission in 2006 created the Resource Recovery Development Authority and backed bonds up to $18 million to relocate…
Monday, December 24, 2012
Cherokee County's District 2 Commissioner Jim Hubbard provided Patch with some insight into his eight-year career in the public eye.
Cherokee County District 2 Commissioner Jim Hubbard, 67, will retire from eight years serving southeastern Cherokee County on Dec. 31. Hubbard grew up in Decatur and moved to Hickory Flat in 1963 where he still lives with wife Peggy. Hubbard is an Eagle Scout and served in Vietnam between 1966 and 1968 while in the United States Army. He is the founding member of the Hickory Flat Volunteer Fire Department and has been a member of Hickory Flat United Methodist Church since 1963. He's also the treasurer of the Cherokee SALT/TRIAD, which he's also the founding member, and is the founding member of the Hickory Flat Township Committee. Other organizations Hubbard has been involved in are Cherokee Outdoor YMCA, Bethesda Community Clinic, Anna …
Sunday, December 23, 2012
The Cherokee County Grand Jury recommends to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to hold employees accountable in the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Cherokee County Grand Jury recommends to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to hold employees accountable in the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture.
The Cherokee County Grand Jury once again had harsh words for the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners in its investigation into the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture. The grand jury on Tuesday released its presentments and findings for the September 2012 term, most of which criticized the county government for how it handled the deal and subsequent fall out. Among its recommendations are: The county commission in 2006 created the Resource Recovery Development Authority and backed bonds up to $18 million to relocate Cherokee Recycling, later renamed Ball Ground Recycling, to land on Highway 5 just south of the Ball Ground city limits. The agreement stipulated Manager Jimmy Bobo was to make payments of the bond into an escrow account…
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
McClendon & Associates will get started on the audit of the failed Ball Ground Recycling deal immediately.
A Newnan-based firm will soon launch its investigation into the failed Ball Ground Recycling venture. The Cherokee County Commission voted to engage McClendon & Associates to perform a forensic audit related to the project in an amount not to exceed $75,000. Cherokee County Manager Jerry Cooper said the firm's time frame will include the present day and stretch back to 2005. If more money is needed to perform the work, county staff will come back to the commission for approval. McClendon & Associates was one of four firms recommend by a Cherokee County grand jury to perform the audit, Cooper added. The firm is one of two recommended by District Attorney Garry Moss and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The county manager noted the …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Cherokee County Commissioners will consider hiring McClendon & Associates to perform a forensic audit on the Ball Ground Recycling deal.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners will consider hiring a Newnan-based firm to perform an audit on the Ball Ground Recycling deal during its meeting today. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. following its 3 p.m. work session. Both meetings will be held at the county administration building. Cherokee County Manager Jerry Cooper recommends engaging McClendon & Associates to perform the forensic audit related to the project in an amount not to exceed $75,000. McClendon & Associates was one of four firms recommended by a Cherokee County grand jury that elected to review the Ball Ground Recycling deal earlier this year. As part of the audit, the firm will review county commissioners and county management, will seek and take direction from…
Friday, November 23, 2012
The Resource Recovery Development Authority has filed suit against Wood-Tech, Inc., one of several businesses owned by Ball Ground Recycling manager Jimmy Bobo and his brother David Bobo.
Cherokee County has taken another step in its quest to regain money lost in a recycling facility deal that has forced taxpayers to pick up the tab. The Resource Recovery Development Authority, made up of the five county commissioners, has filed suit against Jimmy Bobo, David Bobo and companies owned by both men, claiming fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. Along with the Bobos, the defendants in the suit are: Woodtech LLC, BG Land LLC, Bobo Grinding Equipment LLC, Upland Development Group Inc., Georgia National Trucking LLC, Prime Management LLC, J. Bobo LLC, D. Bobo LLC, and Sheffer and Grant Architects P.C. The county alleges Ball Ground Recycling operated as the "alter ego" of the other companies and both men operated BGR …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
State Senator Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) held a meeting in October for lawmakers to hear an overview of the Agenda 21 initiative.
A video has surfaced of Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) hosting a presentation on Agenda 21. Better Georgia, a progressive nonprofit organization, has released a recording of a public meeting it says Rogers hosted in October with other state senate leaders. The video features a presentation by Field Searcy, who gives an overview of Agenda 21 to the lawmakers. Agenda 21, a United Nations comprehensive plan for sustainable development, has been coined by some conservatives as a plan by the government to overtake private property through zoning and detailed land-use ordinances passed by governing bodies. Along with Sen. Rogers, Cherokee County's newest senator, Republican Barry Loudermilk of Cassville was also in attendance. …
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Three local residents have been tapped to replace three county commissioners on the Resource Recovery Development Authority.
Three local residents will soon join the Resource Recovery Development Authority. The Cherokee County Commission unanimously appointed Tom Ware, Jeff Duncan and Troy Welker to the RRDA. The three men will take their place on Jan. 1 or when the county can get a new operator in place at the Ball Ground Recycling facility. They will replace County Commissioners Karen Bosch and Jim Hubbard, whose terms on the commission will end on Dec. 31. Jason Nelms will most likely be replaced on the board as well. Both County Chairman Buzz Ahrens and Harry Johnston are slated to remain on the board. Welker declared his candidacy Republican nomination for the State House District 23, which encompasses parts of Canton, northwestern Cherokee and small …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
No one was hurt in the blaze that broke out over the weekend at the former Ball Ground Recycling facility.
A pile of mulch caught fire over the weekend at the site of the Ball Ground Recycling facility. According to the Cherokee Tribune, Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services were called to the scene in which a pile of mulch that measured between 30 and 40 feet caught fire Saturday and burned through Monday. Tim Cavender, director of public affairs for the fire department, said fire fighters treated the blaze as a controlled burn. "We continue to keep a close watch on the fire and will be several days," he added on Wednesday. "The mulch fire started on its own and has ignited several times during the past few months." Fire Chief Tim Prather informed the Cherokee County Commission on Tuesday that no one was hurt in battling the blaze and …
Phil McCall
6:48 pm on Sunday, December 23, 2012
Twenty four months before the 'Bobo Boondoggle' came to light a local reporter named Carolyn Mathews did an excellent piece in the Lakeside Ledger. She interviewed various Commissioners about the potential of Bobo defaulting, and in retrospect to the published answers to Ms. Mathews questions it is inconceivable that the BOC is not held to account. I fault the existing BOC for not protecting us … more ›