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o O The DECEMBER 26,2019 Madison County Journal Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 MadisonJoumaITODAY.com $1.00 Vol. 36 No. 45 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements WATER LAWSUIT Meeting on Seagraves Lake set for Jan. 7 The Madison County Industrial Development and Building Authori ty will hold a meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the historic county courthouse in the center of Danielsville to discuss the dam at Seagraves Lake. The public is invit ed to attend the meeting and offer input. TAXES GRP: tax payment on the way Georgia Renewable Pow er (GRP) missed the Dec. 20 deadline to pay its $1.65 million property tax bill to Madison County, but the company said the payment is on the way. A GRP spokesperson said Friday that the payment should be in the tax com missioner’s hands early this week. “We cut checks every Fri day,” the spokesperson said. “The check will likely go out today and should reach the tax office by Monday/ Tuesday.” (The Journal had an 11:30 a.m.. Monday dead line this week due to the Christmas holidays.) The property tax revenue from GRP will be divided between the county school system, government and industrial development au thority. INSIDE: Index: News: 1-3A Opinions: 4-5A Crime: 6A Socials: 7-8A Schools: 8A Sports: 9-1OA Churches: 10A Obituaries: 12-13A Classifieds: 11A Legals: 14-15A Contact: Phone: 800-795-2581 Mail: P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, Ga. 30633 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY.com MAILING LABEL GRP in federal court RICO case alleges owners misrepresented power plants to investors By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com A lawsuit in federal court claims owners of Greenfuels Energy mis represented the capabili ties of their power plants while seeking foreign in vestment, then terminated those who pointed out the factual problems in their application for assistance in a federal foreign invest ment program. The plaintiffs seek $9 million in compensation in a pending civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Or ganization (RICO) case in the U.S. Northern District of Georgia Court in Atlan ta. Three firms — Five on Fifty, Gate Industries and Southern Film Regional Center-Atlanta — are su ing F. Raymon Bean. Da vid Shaffer, Jeffrey Kuehr, Greenfuels Energy and its subsidiary, Georgia Re newable Power (GRP), which has four power plants, including facilities in Madison and Franklin counties. The construction of the power plants costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars. An April 2019 ar ticle in Biomass Magazine quotes a GRP official say ing that the company need ed $350 million to build the plants in Madison and Franklin counties. SEEKING FOREIGN INVESTMENT GRP has sought funding for the pricey projects from various sources, including the federal EB-5 program, overseen by federal immi gration services, that offers foreigners the opportunity to receive green cards in exchange for investment in American business. That investment must lead to a certain number of jobs in the U.S. The plaintiffs were hired to assist in the complex EB-5 application process. Plaintiffs Dominic “Nic” Applegate and Lowell El liott said they were asked by Shaffer and Bean to work exclusively on the ap plications for a year. They agreed to do this. The big payoff for the plaintiffs would See Lawsuit, page 2A Merry Christmas, Madison Co. Photos by Wesleigh Sagon Moons Grove Baptist Church hosted its live nativity Saturday, Dec. 21. Mi chelle and Beau Kaye provided the camels. Moon’s Grove Baptist Church provide free hot chocolate to guests visiting the live nativity on Saturday, Dec. 21. Shown are Eli Smith, Owen Smith, Ava Grace Smith and Kate Durocher. Easton Brock, 3, Kiya Key, 12, and Joannie Treadwell set out luminaries for visitors driving through Gilead Baptist Church on Saturday, Dec. 21. Each year the church celebrates Christmas by giving out hot chocolate, cookies and popcorn. ENVIRONMENT Clean Power Coalition moves to set goals, develop committees By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com The citizens group that launched a few weeks ago over concerns about the Georgia Renewable Power (GRP) plant’s use of creosote-treated railroad ties at its Colbert facility is continuing to grow. The Madison County Clean Power Coalition (MC- CPC) held its first regular monthly meeting last week at the Madison County Library and about 50 people attended. The meeting was held to talk about accom plishments so far and to establish goals and commit tees to organize ways to further those goals. MCCPC chairman Drago Tesanovich opened the meeting and he and board member Wendy Meehan noted that nearly 600 people have signed petitions so far to urge GRP to stop burning railroad ties. About 150 signs have been placed in yards around the coun ty so far and most notably, Meehan said, dozens of people have contacted the board of commissioners, industrial authority members, the EPD and other officials, as well as sent letters to the editor to The Madison County Journal and other news outlets to make sure their voices are heard. Meehan also not- See CPC, page 3A CHAMBER New Chamber director Anna Strickland speaks at coffee By Margie Richards margie@mainstreenews.com Anna Strickland spoke to the Madison County Chamber of Commerce members at their Decem ber Chamber Coffee Dec. 19. Strickland was select ed as the Chamber’s new executive director and will begin her duties Jan. 2. She is a Comer resi dent and has Chamber and agriculture business experience. Chamber board vice-chairman Jill Fortson told members that she feels Strickland is the “perfect person” for the job who will work to instill confidence in the Chamber and give people and businesses a reason to support its efforts. “She has a kindness and an eagerness about her that will enable her to do an excellent job,” Fortson said. Fortson also thanked Chamber board member Cindy Jones for working with the county commis sioners, the board of ed- ANNA STRICKLAND ucation and the industrial authority to obtain fund ing for the position and she thanked those entities for providing those funds. Strickland told mem bers she is “so humbled to work with such a group of outstanding leaders” and is eager to begin her du ties as Executive Director in the new year. “I want to learn as much as possible and meet as many of you as possible,” Strickland said. “It is the Chamber’s job to serve its members first, but we will also be looking to expand that membership and to pump up pride in living and working in Madison County. I can’t wait to get started.” 14 14 4