The meeting will be at 3 p.m. at the county administration building, before the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners’ work session.
The authority will discuss the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Ball Ground Recycling, what actions to take, appointment of legal counsel and possible timeline. The RRDA has a lease agreement with Jimmy Bobo to allow him to operate his company on the property and use equipment owned by the county.
The Cherokee County grand jury announced plans to look into the deal this week.
Bobo, who completed the company’s bankruptcy filing last month, was under a lease agreement with the Development Authority to pay $100,000 a month in bond payments on $18.1 million borrowed by the authority to purchase land and equipment for the operation.
The county was notified last year by the Bank of New York that Bobo had not made payments into the escrow account, and the county was obligated to make the payments.
The county had to make $1.2 million in payments last year and still has to pay an additional $608,171.28 this year. A total of $1.2 million was originally due on a yearly basis, with the county placing $101,000 into an escrow account for the purpose of making semi-annual debt service payments.
In February, the commission moved $1.8 million out of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds into the general fund to cover the payments on the debt after Bobo failed to make payments owed on the bonds the county had guaranteed.
Money from the general fund was originally used for expenses that were paid by SPLOST funds last year and the move would reimburse those payments back into the general fund, freeing the monies up to cover the bond debt payment.
The county created the RRDA in 2006 and approved the bond rate for a maximum of $18.1 million in bonds. The bonds were used to relocate Bobo’s company from its former location on Blalock Road near Holly Springs to its current site on Highway 5 just south of Ball Ground.
The county guaranteed financing through the issuance of bonds through the authority.
The Blalock Road site was used for parks for the county. The county government owns about 160 acres on Blalock Road in the Toonigh community, 30 of which was being used by the company, which recycles construction debris into landscaping materials, topsoil and mulch.
The Cherokee BOC had cheated taxpayers for the $18.1 million bond indebtedness, plus the cost of interest, principle, bond fees, attorney fees, etc.!
The BOC spent $700,000 to clean up the overpriced "Bobo land" on Blalock Rd. for a "soccer field." BOC recently added $300,000 costs for removing "rock" at acquatic center land. Like a huge contractor bid for the swim palace constructoin was inadequate!
The county bus service is $200,000 "in the red" and this cost passed to taxpayers. --Mr. Bobo is now ready to sell big equipment and machines at auction. What kind of officials have we?
The above $3.2 million(going on $25 million) expenses are passed to taxpayers! Where is the public outrage over all this? Those who make multi-million dollar mistakes should not brazenly run for "re-election." Unless the public is sound asleep.
Hubbard should resign not run for reelection…