Roopville’s mayor and City Council are requesting an apology from Carroll County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bill Chappell regarding comments he made about a Roopville neighborhood.

At its Aug. 4 meeting, the board voted to donate a 5-acre parcel of land in Roopville to Holy Ground Baptist Church. In describing how the church in recent months cleaned up the land, which contains primarily a baseball diamond, Chappell said, “The area has been the scene of dope dealing, and a good many prostitutes were there as well from what I’ve been told.”

Now the city is requesting a formal apology from Chappell, saying the property has never been the site of the kind of illegal behavior he described.

“Your reference to the property of the old Roopville High School and active recreation facility ... was not only unfounded but indicates a tremendous amount of irresponsibility from a high-ranking elected county official as yourself,” reads the letter, dated Aug. 19.

In the letter, signed by Mayor Bob Merrell and council members Jon Huff, John Price, Kenneth Hill and Irene Teal, it notes, “a thorough investigation has been conducted with local law officials, responsible citizens, and employees working in the area and there are no records of arrests, complaints, and/or investigations that have occurred to substantiate your negative comments toward our little community.”

The letter goes on to say that the mayor and council expects from Chappell “a full apology and efforts made” to rescind his statements.

As of midday Thursday, Chappell had not apologized to the city, nor did he return a phone call seeking comment.

But Chappell’s silence on the issue isn’t going to make it go away, Price said.

“It really upset and hurt some people. The older people who lived there were real upset,” he said. “Small communities like ours just don’t exist anymore, and we’re just trying to keep our community as it is. I just think that it wasn’t investigated and handled right, and if it was handled right, I don’t think this would have happened. An apology would go a long way. I think if he had said that maybe he spoke out of turn, something like that might help.”

The comments not only affect the way others see the residents of Roopville, Merrell said, but they also affect the way people view the city as a whole.

“It made it look pretty bad,” Merrell said. “It is insulting, and it’s not true.”

The property itself has remained an issue since the board formally gave it to the church earlier this month, with allegations surfacing that the county might have broken the law by giving it to the church in the first place. Now it looks like the church may not receive the property after all. The Carroll County Board of Education has the right of first refusal for the property, and it will decide at its next meeting if it indeed wants to take ownership of the land. If it declines, the property will then go to the church.