The operator of a Cherokee County recycling plant on Friday will vacate the property he leases from the county and shutter operations, bringing to an end a partnership that has cost Cherokee taxpayers about $1.8 million.
The owner of the Ball Ground Recycling, Jimmy Bobo, reached the agreement with the county Resource Recovery Development Authority rather than continuing to operate while going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, which the company filed for in May.
Cherokee County commission chairman Buzz Ahrens said Thursday the company still owes the county the $1.8 million for bond payments the county has been making for the last year and a half because the company's business faltered and it could no longer afford the $100,000-a-month note to the Bank of New York.
The seven-year-old partnership called for the county to pay if the recycling company couldn't. Ahrens said Thursday shuttering the operation "allows us to find a new partner" to operate the business on the same property. Most of the equipment is owned by the county.
Ball Ground Recycling ceased operations last Friday and laid off workers. It's not clear how many workers lost jobs. Bobo said in May the plant employed about 50 people. During the real estate boom five years ago, it employed about 100 workers, he said. Bobo could not be reached for comment Thursday.
In the meantime, a Cherokee County grand jury is investigating the deal and the authority, which funded the project by selling about $18 million in bonds in 2007. County officials have said they did nothing illegal in forming the partnership and funding it. The county commission has weathered sharp criticism from some for making the deal and putting taxpayers on the hook if the business went bad.
The agreement was signed by Judge Margaret H. Murphy of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia. Ahrens said Thursday the county is still seeking recovery of the $1.8 million, but repayment will be determined by the bankruptcy court.
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