Published: July 02, 2009 07:24 pm      

Possible legal action moves county toward new regional commission

North Georgia Regional Development Center officials are challenging a state law that seeks to merge the NGRDC with the Coosa Valley RDC in a regional commission for northwest Georgia, a state official said. The head of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners says that body wants no part of that challenge and will now join the commission after some early doubts and an initial desire to stay with the NGRDC.

The Northwest Georgia Regional Commission is expected to be the lead body for land use, environmental, transportation and historic preservation planning in the region. The NGRDC, headquartered in Dalton, has been providing similar services for Whitfield, Murray, Fannin, Gilmer and Pickens counties.

An official with the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) told Mike Babb, chairman of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, in an e-mail that the NGRDC is also seeking a temporary restraining order to block appointments to the regional commission. Brian Anderson, president and CEO of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce, was appointed to the commission this week by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

A phone message left for Barry Tarter, the NGRDC’s executive director, was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon.

Babb said when he learned of the possible legal action by NGRDC officials he contacted the other members of the board of commissioners, none of whom want to be part of a lawsuit against the state. He said they directed him to have the county join the regional commission, which has an organizational meeting set for July 16 in Calhoun. Babb said in an e-mail to the DCA that he had talked with Tarter and told him of the commissioners’ decision and “our desire not to be part of a lawsuit against the state.”

“Whitfield County is not going to have any part to do with using taxpayers’ money to sue other taxpayers’ money,” Babb said in a phone interview. “It’s time to go ahead and follow the new state law from the Legislature and join the new commission which basically came into effect July 1. It’s time to get off the fence and decide which way you’re going to go.”

Babb, who represents the board of commissioners on the NGRDC board, said he abstained from voting a week ago when officials there said they were going to hire an attorney. “I told them it wasn’t clear yet from my commissioners what direction we were going to go,” he said. “We’d been saying it was probably going to come down to which carried the least amount of risk to Whitfield County and we think there’s a high amount of risk in suing the state.”

Dalton City Council officials said recently the council will join the regional commission. Murray County officials have been waiting to see what Whitfield County was going to do.

“Without Whitfield County as part of the RDC, it ceases to exist,” Murray County sole commissioner David Ridley said this week.