County leaders stave off decision on landfill probe, while taxpayers cry foul

BARNESVILLE, Ga. - Lamar County’s leaders have delayed a decision on whether to investigate a landfill project that’s been dragging on for years, costing more than $20 million and counting.

The vote Tuesday to table the matter made some outspoken taxpayers even more upset. They say two of the county commissioners who blocked a call for a law enforcement investigation should never have voted in the first place, since they’re also on the panel that oversees the county’s Cedar Grove Landfill.

"The fact that we have two members of this commission that sit on the solid waste authority and did not recuse themselves from the vote is a crying shame," Beth Pearce, the county’s Republican Party chair, said during public comments. "Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves."

Lamar County commissioners Ashley Gilles and Jason Lovett, seen here with their hands raised, were the only board members who voted against tabling a decision Tuesday on whether to investigate a long-delayed landfill project. Commissioners. From left

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Commissioner Jason Lovett, who pushed to launch an inquiry, made a motion to call in the sheriff’s office, district attorney, GBI or FBI for an exhaustive accounting of all state funds pumped into the still-unfinished project.

After the vote failed 3-2, residents at the meeting lashed out at two of the commissioners who voted in opposition – Chairman Ryran Traylor and Nancy Thrash, both of whom sit on the county’s Regional Solid Waste Management Authority board.

Commissioner Jarrod Fletcher also voted against the measure.

"Some commissioners are stalling, hoping to put off the inevitable, while others are seeking truth and accountability," Lamar County resident Dixie Benson told the board.

The project under fire was once envisioned as a model for the entire state, using cutting-edge technology to turn landfill waste into a revenue stream.

The landfill authority's longtime executive director, Johnny Poore, shows the FOX 5 I-Team some products that can be produced in the county's envisioned waste-to-fuel project, which has yet to launch. (FOX 5)

Nine years ago, Johnny Poore, the longtime executive director of the solid waste authority, convinced the county to back a $27.5 million loan from the state. The sum is nearly double the size of the county’s operating budget. Originally, the project was slated for completion in 2017.

The plan was to turn a profit by converting garbage into fuel and a char byproduct that could be used in the plastics and cement industries. The county has yet to make a penny, though, because Poore has yet to crank up the machines. He said the project turned out to be far more complicated than anticipated, requiring redesigns, re-engineering, re-permitting and relocation of machinery. Delays were compounded by the COVID pandemic, he said.

Poore told the I-Team that leachate evaporators – which process rainwater runoff to free up landfill space – will start operating before New Year’s, once a state permit is granted. The pyrolysis portion – the process of cooking waste at high temperatures to produce fuels and char – will start by summer, he said.

Monthly payments on the loan begin in April, being funded through contracts with landfill operator Amwaste. 

Lamar County's waste-to-fuel project, being built using a $27.5 million state loan, will eventually be housed inside this former Enercon building near the Cedar Grove Landfill. (FOX 5)

For years, no one made much fuss about the project, even though it was years behind schedule.

Then some Lamar County residents, frustrated by new landfill dumping rules, started asking questions about the operation – such as, what happened to that 2014 loan for $27.5 million dollars?

Last week, the FOX 5 I-Team confirmed that some of the loan money went to Poore and people connected to him. Poore received $136,600 from 2015 to 2016 as compensation for overseeing construction of the waste-to-fuel project, on top of his regular salary. Records show he’s due to be paid that same sum again once the project is complete.

Poore is receiving that money with the blessing of the landfill authority board, which voted in 2014 to pay its executive director extra for construction management, rather than hire the low bidder for the job at a cost of more than $2 million. Commissioner Thrash was one of the authority board members who voted in favor.

"It was a matter of, if we’re going to do this, let’s at least be fair," Poore told the FOX 5 I-Team last month. "And the board said, that’s fair."

Lamar County Commissioner Jason Lovett called for a law enforcement investigation into the still-unfinished landfill project on Tuesday, but his proposal to formally request one was shot down by a 3-2 vote. (FOX 5)

On Tuesday, Commissioner Lovett called out the chairman for voting on the audit, saying because he’s a member of the solid waste board and has accepted too many campaign donations from the current landfill operator, he should recuse himself.

"We don’t need the grandstanding," Traylor shot back at Lovett at one point.

Traylor told the FOX 5 I-Team the solid waste authority has always had board members who double as commissioners.

"When you look at recusing the people who should have the most knowledge, that doesn’t make sense to me," he said.

Commission Chairman Ryran Traylor told the FOX 5 I-Team he believes the waste-to-fuel project will eventually be "extremely beneficial" to the county. (FOX 5)

The commission did vote to bring in outside attorneys to evaluate whether the chairman’s voting is, indeed, a conflict of interest, and whether the county commission has power over the landfill authority to call for an outside audit.

The board is expected to take up the issue of an outside investigation again in January.