Some Roopville residents are criticizing a decision by the Carroll County Board of Commissioners to donate a parcel of property to a Roopville church.

The motives and legality of the land donation were questioned at a town hall meeting on Thursday night in Roopville.

The board voted on Aug. 4 to donate a 5-acre lot, which contains primarily a baseball field, to Holy Ground Baptist Church. The church had been leasing the property since 2006. As part of that lease agreement, the church would mow the grass, pay for utilities and maintain the facility. Outside of general upkeep, the church would not be required to pay for the land.

Commissioner Kevin Jackson, the host of the town hall meeting at Roopville Elementary School, said he only first learned the possible donation would be on the board’s Aug. 4 meeting agenda on the Thursday prior to the vote, and in that time he did his best to discern what would be the best course of action.

“I did not know there was a progression on this. I did not know the attorneys were working on this. I did not know it was about to go on he agenda,” he said.

Jackson said his first move was to call Commissioner John Wilson, who had been working to transfer the land to the church dating back to before Jackson was elected last year. He then called Roopville Mayor Bob Merrell to see if he had heard about the possible deal. Merrell had not. Jackson said he then called Kirby Hamil, a former candidate for Jackson’s current seat on the board and a Roopville resident, who Jackson said had also not heard anything about it. Jackson’s final call went to Barry Huff, chairman of the Roopville Historical Society, and, like the others, he too had heard nothing of it, according to Jackson.

The following Monday, the day before the board meeting, Jackson orchestrated a meeting between himself, the mayor, Huff and members of the church. At that meeting, he made it clear that he believed the city should be given first opportunity to receive the land. But Merrell said the city did not want it.

“He said ‘We don’t want it. We can’t afford it, and we haven’t done anything with it in the past. Give it to the church,’” Jackson said.

Hoping to receive collective input on the decision before the next day’s meeting, Jackson told Merrell to speak with the City Council and then write a letter or an e-mail letting him know of the city’s wishes. If anything, Jackson said, with something written in hand, he could show the other commissioners where they were in the negotiations and potentially table the deal to a future meeting, ideally to a date after his previously scheduled Roopville town hall.

But Jackson said he did not hear back from the mayor. The item remained on the agenda, and the next day, the land was given to the church.

Some residents, though, aren’t happy about it.

Robert Stewart, a Roopville resident, said that by giving the property to the church, the county is limiting how county residents can use it.

“It’s not just the city of Roopville. It’s county property,” Stewart said. “That you’re proposing to give county property away to an institution that will be selective about who it allows on the property is flat wrong. It’s a terrible precedent. ... That’s wrong, and it’s a mistake. Giving it away wholesale to an institution that will prevent general access to it is wrong.”

Hamil, the former coordinator of public hearings regarding Georgia State Route 400, said any such land donation requires a public hearing.

“Commissioner Wilson said he had checked, and it was legal. I still question whether it was legal,” Hamil said.

“It has to have a public hearing to let people know about it, and that is against the law to give a piece of property away without a public hearing,” Hamil said.

Jackson said he had been in contact with County Attorney Cynthia Daley, who assured him the deal was absolutely legal.

Daley said there is a procedure in place if the county were selling property that would require a public hearing, but such a procedure is not applicable in this case.

“They’re thinking about when you’re selling land,” she said. “If we’re selling it or whatever, there is a code section that says there has to be a public hearing. But we’re not selling it. We’re giving it away.”

At its Aug. 4 meeting, the Board of Commissioners failed to see a current copy of the deed.

The most recent known document detailing the sale history of the property goes back to 1988. In that year, the property was given to the Roopville Youth Athletic Association, a predecessor to the present-day athletics booster club, from the Roopville Board of Education. Prior to that, the field belonged to what was Roopville High School.

In 2002, the property went to the county, a product of the Carroll County Recreation Department’s move to consolidate the youth athletic associations in Roopville, Whitesburg and Hulett. Less than two years later, the county stopped using the field for games, moving all sports to the existing recreation complex on Newnan Road.

In the meantime, the deed has either failed to be updated or has been lost in the transition. Daley said she will be looking at the existing deed next week to clarify any discrepancies about the ownership of the property.

Either way, Jackson said, the fallout from this situation is not comparable to any other problem he has faced as commissioner.

“I’m caught in the middle of something,” Jackson said. “I tell you what. This old boy didn’t sign up for this. I don’t want the church mad at me. I surely don’t want the citizens mad at me. I know we’re going to face tough decisions, but this is the toughest thing I’ve dealt with, no doubt about it.”