Border war saga unfolds anew during hearing before Ga. secretary of state

Monroe County says Macon-Bibb County doesn’t know where to draw the line.

The line between the two counties, that is.

Now, a top Georgia official has started hearing what may be the last round of a yearslong dispute between the two about the border in the area around Bass Pro Shops.

After more than a decade of legal wrangling, feuding over evidence and searching through the woods for traces of roads and fords from the days of horses and buggies, Macon-Bibb and Monroe may have their boundary settled by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

Kemp and a few dozen other folks sat quietly in an ornate room at the state Capitol in Atlanta on Tuesday, listening to the first day of testimony in a case that he is set to decide in the coming months.

The sole witness so far: a key surveyor who explained why he thinks the real border is not the one shown on Macon-Bibb tax maps today, but is one that he said was laid out in the 19th century.

During a presentation lasting more than three hours, Terry Scarborough outlined how he used surveying, archaeological evidence and old documents — including maps — to conclude that Macon-Bibb has encroached on Monroe County over the years.

“In reality, the 1822 Bibb-Monroe boundary has never moved from its original location,” said Scarborough, a surveyor appointed by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2005 to identify the boundary. That line, according to Scarborough, would give Monroe County a wedge of what Macon-Bibb now administers, including part of the Bass Pro Shops property and some nearby homes.

Monroe County, drawing on Scarborough’s research, is asking Kemp to make Macon-Bibb accept the surveyor’s line.

Macon-Bibb County, however, stands by a border that gives it the wedge of land that Monroe disputes. The land is worth about $2.1 million annually in property taxes for Macon-Bibb and its schools.

Virgil Adams, who’s representing Macon-Bibb, said that when it’s his turn to argue, he will present a “complete historic record,” including documents from Jones County that he said Monroe has not taken into account.

But Monroe County Commission Chairman Mike Bilderback said Scarborough “has gone to great lengths to study, research and verify his work.”

Kemp said his office will be in touch with attorneys from both sides to schedule the next hearing date.

In a case that started before he was even elected, Kemp has previously rejected Scarborough’s arguments. But an administrative judge has said Scarborough’s survey correctly found the beginning and endpoints of the straight line that the state meant to draw there in the 19th century.

The state Supreme Court has heard parts of the dispute twice: about Kemp’s power to make a decision and about what evidence Kemp can consider.

Kemp’s process will follow the rules of a hearing: Both sides will get to make their arguments. Scarborough’s presentation was just the beginning, but if both sides abide by Kemp’s ruling, it could be the beginning of the end.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Border war saga unfolds anew during hearing before Ga. secretary of state."