Chattooga County Commissioner Blake Elsberry is demanding that over $47,000 be returned from a local industry in relation to work that was done at the company’s facility in Lyerly in 2020.

Commissioner Elsberry has written a letter to a local contractor and to Try-Con Tufters in Lyerly to return the money that was spent last year by the county at the facility.   According to the commissioner, the work was done on private property and he believes it should not have been performed or paid for by the county.

Try-Con contends that the work that was performed by the county was on State of Georgia owned railroad right-of-way and not on private property.  The company’s attorney has written the commissioner explaining that Try-Con, the Town of Lyerly, the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority and the county government had met prior to the installation of sewer lines that would connect Try-Con with the Town of Lyerly’s system and agreed on the work to be done.  In fact, Try-Con’s attorney says that Try-Con spent over $199,000 for work related to the project that was on company property.

Just last year, Try-Con announced a $5 million expansion project at the facility in Lyerly.  The announcement was made by Governor Brian Kemp and when completed, is expected to add 104 jobs to Chattooga County’s workforce.

Commissioner Elsberry said at a press meeting this week, ““There is a possibility some of the work may have been done on private property” and said that while he has already issued a demand for payment, he is “still investigating” to see if the work was indeed done on private property with public funds.