Hall County officials say they have settled a claim with Lanier Raceplex and the Moonshine Music and Arts Festival over payment for security services that were offered by the county sheriff's office at a 2017 event.
The county commission approved the ratification of the settlement at its Tuesday voting session. County attorney Bill Blalock said the county was able to settle the claim with the raceplex last week without a lawsuit. In an email, county public information officer Katie Crumley said the settlement was for just over $23,000.
Blalock said the sheriff's office provided security for the Fourth of July weekend event as part of a condition of the event's approval from the commission.
"That was done, everybody approved it, apparently. But then, apparently, the sponsors of the music festival ran into some financial difficulties," Blalock said. "So the county had to make a claim against both the Lanier Raceplex and the music festival sponsors."
Crumley said the settlement was "mutually negotiated" between the county and Lanier Raceplex. The amount is reportedly the same as what was originally charged by the sheriff's office for the services.
"We gave all our claims that we had against the music festival to Raceplex so that they could pursue whatever claims they have plus ours," Blalock said.
The event was held at the raceplex and featured three days of concerts and camping. It had been held annually in northwest Georgia for five years, but organizers were hoping to move the event closer to Atlanta by relocating to southeast Hall County.
There is no information on the festival's website on whether a similar event will be held in 2018.
