Camden lawsuits over spaceport costly

Jan. 13—Camden County Commission members may start feeling like they are in the movie "Groundhog Day" in the coming months.

Newly elected Camden County Commissioner Jim Goodman made a motion during his first meeting earlier this month to stop spending money on legal fees related to a spaceport.

The vote failed, but Goodman said he plans to make the same motion at every meeting until he gets the three votes necessary for the county to stop all spending related to the spaceport, including paying lawyers, and to turn over records requested related to a risk analysis of rocket launches from the site.

The lawsuits are self-imposed and could be resolved easily, he said.

"They volunteered to step into the middle of a lawsuit," he said.

The easiest of the four lawsuits to resolve is one by the environmental group One Hundred Miles. It is seeking records related to potential rocket failures from the proposed launch site. The county has argued the information is not public record because it's part of an ongoing real estate transaction.

Seventy-two percent of Camden County voters approved a referendum last year prohibiting the county commission from spending any more money on the spaceport project. More than $12 million has been spent, so far.

"Every commission meeting, I'm going to make the same motion to turn over all the documents," he said. "Just give them the documents and the expense goes away. It's a lost cause."

The county is also suing Union Carbide for breach of contract after the company decided not to close on the property sale because voters approved the referendum banning commissioners from spending any more money on the project.

"That one could go away real fast," Goodman said. "Actually, they're all easy to resolve."

Another lawsuit involves the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to issue a launch site operator's license. Opponents said the FAA ignored many concerns about the risks of rockets launched over Cumberland and Little Cumberland islands, where there are dozens of residences and historic structures, and environmentally marshes and wetlands.

The case most likely to be the first to be resolved is the county's legal challenge to the referendum to ban the county from spending any more money on a spaceport.

That case is now being considered by the Georgia Supreme Court. A ruling is expected in February.