The Coweta County Commission is standing firm in its dues-paying dispute with the Chattahooche-Flint Regional Development Center.

For months, commissioners have disputed paying more than $41,000 to the development agency for a variety of reasons.

First, the commission disputed the way the agency counted population and established a per-person fee to the agency.

But now, the commission is angry over the city of LaGrange not paying its dues for the last four years. The city has agreed to pay this year's dues, but still owes the agency nearly $100,000 in back fees.

During last week's commission meeting, the commissioners took issue with recent statements in a LaGrange newspaper about Coweta County's concern about the non-payment.

The LaGrange city manager apparently said that Commissioner Vernon “Mutt” Hunter should stop worrying about LaGrange's business and focus on running Coweta County.

“That's exactly what Mr. Hunter is doing. I'm watching over Coweta's business. If you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler,” Hunter said in response.

Hunter remains opposed to paying the funds until the county receives a clearer signal from LaGrange officials.

“We told the Chatt-Flint director we would pay our dues when he collected from LaGrange. They can at least tell how they're going to pay it. Even the IRS gives you a plan to pay,” he said.

Commissioner Jim McGuffey said he expects the matter to come to a resolution at the Chatt-Flint board meeting in August and will deliver a report back to the board after the meeting.

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