PETA tracking lawsuit related to proposed Bainbridge monkey farm

• The lawsuit between area neighbors and leaders is one PETA is watching closely right now.
• Residents involved in the lawsuit argue the community was not given enough notice about the project and decision making process at the time.
• Watch the story to hear what PETA has to say just days after court.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

A major animal rights group is responding to a lawsuit between Bainbridge neighbors and area leaders.

It's the latest in an ongoing battle over a proposed primate breeding facility here.

As neighbors fight to stop what's been called a major economic development project, PETA is weighing in.

"Things happen behind closed doors,” said primate scientist with PETA, Dr. Lisa Jones Engel.

"Things happened in meetings that should have been open to the public,” said Engel.

She's talking about a meeting late last year where local leaders gave the green light to a company working to bring a primate breeding facility to the area.

A group of neighbors is now taking those leaders to court.

WATCH OUR REPORT ON WHAT HAPPENED IN COURT:

They argue the community was not given enough notice about the project and decision-making process at the time.

"You don't have a $360 mil. Deal without a whole lot of paper being exchanged,” said Engel.

Those papers could play a pivotal role in the lawsuit between neighbors and leaders.

"I'd certainly like the court to consider freezing any discovery request being sent by any party or any discovery being requested to be responded to from any party,” argued attorney for the city of Bainbridge, Micheal Kozlarek.

That discovery he's talking about is the part of a lawsuit where either side can gather information needed to win a case.

"The paper trail that they left was significant enough for us to know they had been violating the open public meetings act,” according to Engel.

In this case, a small group of neighbors argues area leaders violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act back in December of last year.

Kozlarek notes that the city has already sent over hundreds of documents through PETA's open records request.

When it comes to the request to hold discovery, a judge said...

"I'm not ruling on it. I'm telling him to make the appropriate writing request then I will consider it and give you (Attorney for residents, Rebecca Davis) the opportunity to respond,” said Judge Lawton Heard Jr.

The project at the center of all this was initially projected to bring more than 200 jobs to the Bainbridge in an effort promote the city's growth.