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2A ®[)£ l)fra(ti <§a?ette Tuesday, July, 27,2021
MAP: LAMAR COUNTY TAX ASSESSORS
The 275-acre tract outlined in red has been acquired by
an Alabama conglomerate with mining interests. At the right
of the map is Van Buren Road. The large body of water at the
bottom of the map is the Barnesville city reservoir.
Company with
mining interests
has acquired land
on Van Buren Rd.
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
An Alabama conglom
erate with considerable
interests in the mining
and quarry business,
has acquired land off
Van Buren Road. While
no mining or quarry
permit has yet been
applied for on the tract,
neighbors in the area
are jumpy.
Garner Properties,
LLC of Birmingham pur
chased the 275.59 acre
site from USC Timber-
lands on Dec. 20, 2020
for $633,864. Garner
broke the CUVA agree
ment on the property
at the time of purchase,
paying all taxes and fees
associated with that
move.
Garner then trans
ferred the property to
a Georgia corporation
known as Hazel Hill,
LLC. That LLC was
formed on April 7, 2021.
Hazel Hill also lists its
address as Birmingham.
Hazel Hill’s regis
tered agent is Malik
Law Group, LLC of
Atlanta. The law firm’s
registered agent is Bilal
Husein Malik of Decatur.
Garner Properties
executive Clayton Mob
ley is also president of
GreenRock Mining, LLC.
GreenRock was denied a
zoning request for min
ing materials in Carroll
County, Ga. earlier this
year. GreenRock ap
pealed and the matter is
now in litigation.
The property in
question is located
north of the Barnesville
city reservoir but does
not abut the reservoir
property.
The company’s pur
chase of the land was
discovered by a man
who bought property
nearby and discovered
the quarry angle while
doing due diligence.
Vulcan Materials will
open a rock quarry off
Hwy. 36 East here this
fall that was permitted
years ago. At least one
other area quarry is in
the conceptual stage.
The planned construc
tion of truck lanes
along 1-75 is driving the
demand for rock. Clear
ing and surveying for
that massive project is
underway.
LCRSWA board approves entering
operating agreement with Amwaste
KAY S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
Four of the five board
members who were
present at a called
meeting of the
Lamar County
Regional Solid
Waste Authority
voted unanimous
ly to approve an
agreement with
Amwaste LLC to
operate the Cedar
Grove Landfill.
Amwaste recently bought
out Dependable Waste
and became the garbage
carrier for Barnesville. A
fifth member was unable
to attend but was re
ported in favor of the 30-
year working agreement
okayed after a public
hearing last Thursday.
Provisions of imple
menting the agreement
will be worked out,
according to LCRSWA
director Johnny Poore,
as soon as possible, now
that the required public
hearings have been ac
complished. Poore has
presented the landfill
solid waste management
plan to the Lamar County
board of commissioners
and will present the plan
to Milner at the next city
council meeting. Last
Thursday’s meeting at
the Senior Center was to
hear from the public after
explaining the reasons
for the new agreement.
He said the main
purposes for joining
forces with Amwaste,
an established waste
management company
POORE
based in West Point, Ga.,
included creating a way
to retire the debt for the
waste-to-energy project,
insuring an ongoing
“waste stream”
into the landfill,
and improving the
operations of the
landfill with ad
ditional personnel
and equipment.
Poore said the
step is being taken
“because the au
thority said they
needed a plan for what
happens when 1 am no
longer the landfill
and/or project
director.”
The authority
has a 30-year loan
for $27.5 million
from the Georgia
Environmental
Financing Agency
(GEFA), Poore
said, to complete
and operate a “waste-to-
energy” project that will
divert garbage to a series
of processing machines
to produce saleable gas
ses and a “char” that can
be reused or made into
other saleable substanc
es.
“Amwaste will be pay
ing us enough as opera
tor of the landfill to retire
that debt by the end of
their agreement with us,”
Poore noted. Amwaste’s
income, he said, would
be assured by the waste
tonnage coming into the
landfill. The agreement
also will call for Am
waste’s depositing funds
into an authority account
designated to cover the
millions it will
take to pay for
“closure and post
closure of the
present landfill,”
including the cap
ping required by
the Environmental
Protection Divi
RUSSELL
sion.
The authority will own
the landfill and its newly
developed waste-to-ener
gy project; its assets will
not be sold, Poore told
the attendees.
Chip Russell, CEO of
Amwaste, told the group
he is a Mercer Uni
versity environ
mental engineer
who got interested
in “the waste busi
ness” because it
offered a chance
to do something
to help the public
get rid of trash
and garbage with
out ruining their budgets.
He added, “Our main
goals are the safety of the
people who work
for us, the benefit
of the customers,
and to add some
value for the birds
and the bunnies,
environmen
tally.” Russell also
traced the “path”
of his present
waste disposal
collections, transfer
stations and processing
sites. Amwaste’s first
landfill operation, he
said, was in Birmingham
Ala., where he “slept a
lot of nights on an old
leather sofa in my office
until I could get home to
CARLISLE
BAKER
Macon.”
Penny Hutson
of Milner was
told in answer
to her question
that curbside
pickup will con
tinue at the same
rates for present
customers. Jimmy
Dunbar was another
questioner who learned
that Amwaste plans to
keep the present landfill
employees and add more
personnel immediately.
David Carlisle, CFO of
Amwaste, told another
citizen that if the agree
ment does not work as
anticipated, the op
eration goes back to the
authority. Van Baker, a
member of the LCRSWA,
said the spirit of the
waste-to-energy project
development from the
beginning was that any
benefits would all come
back to the taxpayers
of Lamar County. Brian
Hughes asked for more
information on
Paradigm LLC,
headed by Sea
born Crosby,
who has been the
waste-to-energy
engineering and
design specialist
from the start.
Poore said he
and the authority
anticipate other public
discussions, and that
he hopes more people
would visit the landfill
to see the machinery
and buildings which will
house the waste-to-en
ergy project and under
stand its purposes.
One wounded in
Sammie's drive-by
Arrests were antici
pated Monday afternoon
in connection with a
drive-by shooting July 21
near Sammie’s at the cor
ner of Mill and Railroad
streets in Barnesville.
One bystander was hit in
the shoulder by a stray
bullet and is recovering.
Two separate fusil
lades of gunfire erupted
about 6:45 p.m. as three
males, reportedly gang
members from the Co
lumbus area, targeted a
local man.
Witnesses told police
the three suspects were
talking with a male in the
parking lot who directed
them to meet him behind
the store. The male then
got into the car with the
three suspects. He soon
fled the car and the sus
pects opened fire.
The suspects fled but
returned soon thereafter
and fired indiscrimi
nately toward the store,
striking two vehicles.
The trio fled and their
gray Dodge Charger was
later spotted by Thomas-
ton police. A high-speed
chase ensued and the
driver wrecked the sus
pect vehicle on Hwy. 36
in Talbot County.
All three males in
the car fled on foot into
a wooded area. One
has been identified. No
connection between the
suspects and their target
has been made, accord
ing to Capt. A1 Moltrum
of the BPD.
Monitor barnesville.
com for updates on this
story.
I -
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This immaculate 1930 Model A Ford was among the many
classic cars at the Summer Sizzle car show downtown Satur
day. Despite soaring temperatures and the threat of rain, the
show drew a large number of participants and visitors.
Developers love Milner which now has some cash
WALTER GEIGER
news@bamesville.com
Despite its myriad
challenges, Milner
remains attractive to
homebuyers and the
developers who serve
that market which is on
fire locally.
Adam McGinnis, a
realtor from Monticello,
addressed the council,
noting he is selling the
Gresham property, about
26 acres north of town,
and talking to develop
ers. “I’m trying to find the
best fit for the city and
the property,” McGinnis
said.
The long dead Woodall
Estates development has
been resuscitated and
permits have been issued
for construction on six
lots there. There are
issues with a detention
pond on the property
and the council called a
meeting for Aug. 2 for the
developers and the city
engineers to discuss it.
The engineers could not
attend last week due to a
COV1D case.
City administrator
Tausha Grose said the de
velopers of Vintage Park
have hired an engineer
ing firm to plan out Phase
11 there. That will also be
discussed August 2.
Three lots in Fieldcrest
were okayed for front
facing garages and will be
built on soon.
There was discussion
of The Lighthouse restau
rant building downtown
which is owned by the
Milner downtown devel
opment authority which
no longer exists. An offer
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The sale at the of
fer price would pay off
the note and result in
a $32,000 profit for the
city. It would also put
the property back on the
tax rolls. The matter was
also placed on the Aug. 2
agenda.
The city also gave final
approval to creating a
code enforcement officer
position which will be
filled by police officer
Mark Evans who is in
training.
Grose said the city will
“ease into” cleaning up
unsanitary, hazardous
properties. “We are go
ing to target overgrown
lots, junk cars. We even
have one individual who
has an old pool he has
filled with construction
debris,” Grose said.
Grose also noted the
city received $122,000 in
CARES Act money which
will be spent on water
and sewer infrastructure
and broad band. She re
ported Milner had about
$80,000 in the water and
sewer account, $60,000
in the general fund and
about $50,000 in a re
serve fund she created.
In other action, the
council:
•Approved routine
minutes.
•Learned that no one
is interested in serving
on its committees except
the civic committee
which now has four mem
bers. It will put on Milner
Fest Aug. 2 at 5 p.m. at
city park. Some 80 ven
dors have already signed
up for the event which
will include a car show.
•Agreed to work with a
woman who wants to put
a manufactured home on
her property in an R-2
district. The code does
not allow it though the
previous council allowed
the property owner
next door to the woman
do the same. The gen
eral consensus was the
woman will be allowed to
proceed but it will take
some time.
Her’s will also be the
last variance granted.
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OFFICE: (770) 884-0088