COVINGTON, GA (WXIA) -- Apparently you can fight City Hall -- or in this case, the county commission.
When Newton County's commission proposed to expand their landfill, they never comprehended the opposition, and on Tuesday night, that opposition now has a say in what happens in their community.
"I would like to amend his motion so that the county commission would form a citizen's committee," said one councilman during the Tuesday night session.
That amended motion did pass, giving citizens who live near the county landfill a voice in its future. The landfill is one the county has been trying to resurrect from a lawsuit and a landfill that runs at a deficit of $2 million.
More than 300 people from the Spring Hill Community wore t-shirts and carried placards, filling Newton County's old courthouse to try to put the brakes on a hasty proposal to expand the county's landfill into a regional landfill – increasing its capacity three-fold.
They say it would decimate their community. Their voices were heard, and the resolution to expand the landfill was tabled for 60 days.
"It does cost us a lot of money, said commission chairman Keith Ellis. "We did have a lawsuit, but there are a lot of citizens that are involved in that community out there and we wanted to make sure that they were heard so this gives us some time."
"I feel like they finally understand that we want our voices to be heard and that we matter," said Spring Hill resident Brenda Mullins.
Their fight is not over, but they now have a say in what happens to their community. That board will be set up to study options, and will be made up of commissioners and citizens -- one citizen for every commissioner.
