A hearing is scheduled Tuesday, June 23, at 1:30 p.m. in Bulloch County Superior Court Judge John R. Turner's courtroom in the Bulloch County Judicial Annex regarding a lawsuit filed by Bulloch County against a local contractor and his partner.
The civil action was filed June 11 at 10:15 a.m. against Michael S. Henderson and partner Mary Foreman, both of M&M Investments, GP.
Neither Foreman nor Henderson have returned phone calls seeking comment regarding the suit.
Represented by county attorney Charles Brown, Bulloch County seeks "equitable injunction to abate nuisance," according to the suit.
The complaint involves property Henderson and Foreman own along Cypress Lake Drive, which they are developing illegally, Brown said.
Development of their property has led to soil being dumped into an area that has clogged county drainage pipes underneath Old Riggs Mill Road, which runs parallel to Cypress Lake Drive, and has caused at least one home to be flooded during rainy weather, he said.
"Additionally, Defendant Henderson has hauled fill dirt onto his lands and the lands of Defendant Foreman, disturbed soil in the area, and interdicted drainage," the suit reads. " He has failed to stabilize the soil, and caused erosion and silting in water courses, all without permit by the County."
Henderson also installed an underground plastic pipe that is inadequate for drainage, and this further disturbed soil, causing erosion and silting, Brown said.
"Defendant Henderson has ignored 'stop work' orders of county inspectors and continues filling and ditching," the suit reads. "The county has no adequate remedy at law and seeks the equitable powers of the court to stop the defendants' creation of a nuisance and irreparable harm to the area."
The county seeks to stop Henderson and Foreman from further work, and to correct the damage done.
The suit also encompasses charges that Foreman and Henderson have committed violations of a similar nature at their properties in the Pine Forest subdivision, specifically along Evergreen Drive.
The properties include lowlands and wetlands Henderson and Foreman have developed in attempts to make them usable, but causing erosion and silting due to improper methods, Brown said.
Henderson was notified by county authorities May 19 "of his failure to stabilize open ground along a ditch bank ... to provide adequate screening along the ditch, and to remove sediment from the ditch," the suit stated.
Henderson stripped vegetation that led to erosion and imposed "a development plan that was not designed to create the lowest practical erosion potential ..." and failed to respond t written notice of the violations issued May 19, Brown said.
"Because of the defendant's pattern of redundant violations and ... repeated failure to abide by ordinances, the county shows hat this court should impose a penalty of $2,5000 per day for the violations on each lot, for a total of $5,000 per day, and that the penalties should continue daily until the corrections are made," the suit reads.
Penalties in the same amounts are sought regarding the Cypress Lake Drive properties as well,. in addition to attorney's costs, litigation costs, and a temporary restraining order to " stop further activity ... pending a hearing for an interlocutory injunction,"
according to the suit.
The civil action was filed June 11 at 10:15 a.m. against Michael S. Henderson and partner Mary Foreman, both of M&M Investments, GP.
Neither Foreman nor Henderson have returned phone calls seeking comment regarding the suit.
Represented by county attorney Charles Brown, Bulloch County seeks "equitable injunction to abate nuisance," according to the suit.
The complaint involves property Henderson and Foreman own along Cypress Lake Drive, which they are developing illegally, Brown said.
Development of their property has led to soil being dumped into an area that has clogged county drainage pipes underneath Old Riggs Mill Road, which runs parallel to Cypress Lake Drive, and has caused at least one home to be flooded during rainy weather, he said.
"Additionally, Defendant Henderson has hauled fill dirt onto his lands and the lands of Defendant Foreman, disturbed soil in the area, and interdicted drainage," the suit reads. " He has failed to stabilize the soil, and caused erosion and silting in water courses, all without permit by the County."
Henderson also installed an underground plastic pipe that is inadequate for drainage, and this further disturbed soil, causing erosion and silting, Brown said.
"Defendant Henderson has ignored 'stop work' orders of county inspectors and continues filling and ditching," the suit reads. "The county has no adequate remedy at law and seeks the equitable powers of the court to stop the defendants' creation of a nuisance and irreparable harm to the area."
The county seeks to stop Henderson and Foreman from further work, and to correct the damage done.
The suit also encompasses charges that Foreman and Henderson have committed violations of a similar nature at their properties in the Pine Forest subdivision, specifically along Evergreen Drive.
The properties include lowlands and wetlands Henderson and Foreman have developed in attempts to make them usable, but causing erosion and silting due to improper methods, Brown said.
Henderson was notified by county authorities May 19 "of his failure to stabilize open ground along a ditch bank ... to provide adequate screening along the ditch, and to remove sediment from the ditch," the suit stated.
Henderson stripped vegetation that led to erosion and imposed "a development plan that was not designed to create the lowest practical erosion potential ..." and failed to respond t written notice of the violations issued May 19, Brown said.
"Because of the defendant's pattern of redundant violations and ... repeated failure to abide by ordinances, the county shows hat this court should impose a penalty of $2,5000 per day for the violations on each lot, for a total of $5,000 per day, and that the penalties should continue daily until the corrections are made," the suit reads.
Penalties in the same amounts are sought regarding the Cypress Lake Drive properties as well,. in addition to attorney's costs, litigation costs, and a temporary restraining order to " stop further activity ... pending a hearing for an interlocutory injunction,"
according to the suit.