In early October, a group of residents who live on Pine Hill Drive in Cleveland appeared before the Cleveland City Council to present their complaints about noise and dust from nearby White County Molding, a division of Atlanta Hardwoods Corporation.
To address those complaints, Atlanta Hardwoods officials say they have been working to make changes they believe will address their neighbor’s concerns. On Tuesday, company officials hosted a meeting with neighboring residents and city officials to take a tour of their facility and see the things the company has done so far.
Hal Mitchell, President of Atlanta Hardwoods Corp., explained to the guests that they have added a new filtering system that should help with the amount of dust coming from the facility. Mitchell also said they are working on the noise concerns.
He said they needed this time to hear from those attending.
“We just need some open dialogue we haven’t been able to get from the community. We are willing to be good stewards and make the changes; we just need to understand what that is, particularly the parameters as far as the noise is at the property line. We’ve really got to understand to make the improvements we need for the community.”
In the past, city officials have met with company officials at the facility, which is located just north of Dairy Queen on the Helen Highway.
Following Tuesday’s tour, Cleveland Mayor Josh Turner said he believes they are moving in a positive direction.
“I think that they are very concerned about being good neighbors and good stewards of the environment,” he said. “We are going to continue to work with them to try to find a resolution between their neighbors and the plant itself and the management here, but I appreciate them hosting us today, and we will continue to work with them.”
Turner said the city would continue to “do research” to continue the discussion.
Atlanta Hardwoods says they are working with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and sound engineers to come up with ways to reduce the noise produced at the plant.
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