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DADE COUNTY SPECIAL USE PERMIT MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 25 2021 AT 6:00 PM
MEETING ROOM: DADE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1(d-e)
The DADE COUNTY SPECIAL USE PERMIT BOARD MEETING was held Thursday, February
25, 2021 at 6:00 pm., in the Dade County Public Library. The meeting met the requirements of the
Georgia Sunshine Law.
Chairman, Allen Townsend called the meeting to order. Board members present were; Allen
Townsend, Richard Stephens Sr., Chris Bradford and Robbie Ryan III.
Chairman, Allen Townsend provided an overview of the meeting and introduction of the board
member and the owners of NewTerra, Compost LLC. The business is already in operation prior to
the permit, which was not contemplated by the ordinance board. This meeting and the decision will be
to determine to issue the permit for the continuation of that business.
Election of Vice-Chairman –Robbie Ryan made motion to elect Chris Bradford as the vice-chairman.
Allen Townsend 2nd the motion. Allen Townsend, Richard Stephens Sr, Robbie Ryan all voted yes.
Chris Bradford accepted. Motion passed.
Election of Board Secretary –Allen Townsend announced that Robbie Ryan would be the board
secretary and ask for agreement. Everyone was in agreement. Robbie accepted. Allen Townsend,
Richard Stephens Sr, Robbie Ryan all voted yes. Chris Bradford accepted. Motion passed.
Norm Lavoie and Michael Ryan – provided a power point presentation about the NewTerra Compost
LLC. The presentation has been requested and will be printed and attached to these minutes upon
receipt from Norm Lavoie. The presentation provided where the operation is located, what is
composting, what is the method by which to compost, the importance of composting, the day-to-day
operations at NewTerra. What the compost consists of, where the products to make compost come
from, how the process works. Mr. Lavoie stated the have received a Class 2 permit by rule from the
state. He explained that meat and dairy products were allowed by the state permit.
Chairman, Allen Townsend asks the board if they had any questions at that time. Mr. Stephens stated
he like the site. Mr. Townsend then ask NewTerra to list customers for the board and where the drop
kiosk was located. Mr. Lavoie states that all customers are from Chattanooga at this time and
currently does not have any Dade County customers. They have around 25 customers in the
Chattanooga area. Approximately 5,000 lbs. per week per customer. Mr. Lavoie ask who is paying for
the 8 bags of garage that one person can to take the dump, who’s paying. We are actually reducing
the amount of garage that is being sent to the dump. Mr. Townsend ask does the materials they collect
from Chattanooga go to the Dade County transfer station. Mr. Lavoie said no.
Robbie Ryan wants to know how much it cost to dump at the transfer station and how much does it
cost to haul the waste to the Ft. Payne location.
The board allowed the following citizens to come forward and speak.

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Nathan Tomblin – Mr. Tomblin stated he lives at 299 Hummingbird Lane and he has 3 concerns.
- The condition of the road since the business has begun operation. It’s a muddy mess, is this
going to be addressed.
- The site is approximately 125 yards from his front porch, this is the view he now has and the
selling value of his home.
- All the waste is coming from Chattanooga and being placed in viewing distance of his home.
Lori Tomblin – Mrs. Tomblin stated she lives at 299 Hummingbird Lane and from a wife’s point of
view, they purchased the property because of its beauty and the views they had. The current view of
the site is not desirable as a private land owner. She states that since this site began, the coyotes seem
to increase in sound at night. Lastly, has a compost facility every been in a residential area, would you
be ok with that, big trucks coming in early morning, all day long, its just our house.
Dr. Bill Pullen – Dr. Pullen had a list of concerns and questions, some are listed below, however the
complete list will be attached to the meeting minutes upon receipt.
- What is the certification, degrees or continuing education required to operate this facility?
- Is the temp’s variable, how do you maintain the temps listed in the PP presentation? With
compositing you are going to have some bacteria. The only way to eliminate bacteria is at 190-
200 degrees, you could have spontaneous combustion, then it would catch fire, I don’t know
- What type of testing is being performed on the finished product and eliminate bad bacteria?
- Water runoff, how is it being controlled.
- Water runoff, what is being tested to prevent bad bacteria in the run off water that feeds 2
streams and a pond.
- The amount of product received at the site per month, he estimated based off their presentation
of 500 tons a month x12 equates to 12,000,000 lbs. per year
- Is there a limit or cap of how much are you going to take?
- What about traffic problems
- What about scavenger protection
- How are the containers being cleaned that haul the product into the site and where is that water
going?
Chairman, Allen Townsend ask Dr. Pullen about the standing water and could it cause a mosquito
infestation as it gets warmer months and pose a health issue. Dr Pullen indicated it could possibly have
health issues.
Doris Shober – Mrs. Shober stated she is the owner of Lupi’s Pizza and she subscribes to have her
food waste products picked up by NewTerra Compost, LLC. She states she supports food waste
reduction and everyone lives on the same earth. Mrs. Shober stated she is part of the Dade County
Farmers Market.
Suzanna Alexander – Mrs. Alexander stated she has lived here over 30 years; she is an organic farmer
and she composts. She feels with the business Dade County is progressing, however the county has no
good system in process. She is angry at the county for not having anything in process and this business
must apply for a permit after the fact.
Richard Doyle – Mr. Doyle stated this was difficult because this is his family members and that he
loved them and didn’t want any hard feelings, however he did not support this business as his property

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is next to this location and feels his family property will not be worth anything with this business in his
front door. He agrees with the composting, but not in a residential neighborhood. He asks the county
what can be done to keep businesses like this from going into neighborhoods. This is an old established
neighborhood.?
Randy Pullen – -Mr. Pullen stated he wished he had been contacted prior to the business opening for
operation, but he was not.
Mr. Randy Pullen provided a Power Point Presentation. A copy of the PP will be printed and attached
upon receipt.
-The PP showed the pond adjacent to the site, the water streams that feed into this pond.
- Fly over slide showing standing water after recent rains
- Fly over showing where the water was running and feeding into his pond causing concern of
contamination of the fish, etc. in the pond causing leche.
-He provided data around water runoff and showed that this soil is a class D, basically means has
higher run-off potential.
-How does the permit work, does it allow for owner transfer if you decide to sale to a new owner
George Alexander – Mr. Alexander indicated that Georgia had strict guidelines, what kind of analysis
was performed. Norm Lavoie stated he has an EPA study
Alex Hixson – Mr. Alex Hixson ask the following
-What type of ground water monitoring for wells is in place
-What type of air monitoring
Suzanne Alexander wanted to know if this should be apart of the process. Chairman Townsend says
the board does not hire anyone to perform these types of functions. Would be the responsibility of the
business if requested.
Wes Hixson – Mr. Wes Hixson indicated he does not feel this should be located in a place to deface
people’s property. Perhaps this needs to be next to the county landfill.
The following citizens spoke out in the audience but did not request to address the board.
Mrs. Polly Ryan- states that her son (one of the owners) is a good salesman, he works with the
restaurant business in the Chattanooga area. She stated that as land owners they were unable to sale
this property.
Mrs. Alojean Vaughan -states she lives across Hwy 11 from the site and that she does not have any
issues with the site. She also states that the coyotes that were mentioned earlier have always been
around and start howling when the train comes through.
Mrs. Sandy Pullen states her family has owned property in this county for over 100 years, that over the
years they have been approached by different opportunities, however she feels that are good stewards
of the property and that’s why they haven’t ever looked at the various opportunities.
Chairman Townsend informed NewTerra that no decision will be made tonight, the board will review
the information. The documents provided tonight will be made available for public view.

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No future meeting was scheduled at this time.
Chairman Townsend ask for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Richard Stephens Sr., made the motion
to adjourn @7:57 pm. Robbie Ryan 2nd the motion. Allen Townsend, Richard Stephens Sr, Robbie
Ryan and Chris Bradford all voted yes. Motion passed.