The Covington City Council informally decided Wednesday that they are going to stay out of the Social Circle drag strip debate, because the proposed project would be outside the Covington city limits.

Mayor Kim Carter said the Leadership Collaborative had been discussing the possibility of signing a joint letter in opposition to the proposed drag strip, because the project goes against the county’s comprehensive and land use plans.

The Leadership Collaborative is a collective group of members from the Newton County Board of Commissioners, the Newton County School System, the Newton County Water and Sewage Authority, the City of Covington and Social Circle City Schools.

“However, after reading a draft of the letter today we asked (City Attorney) Mr. (Ed) Crudup to chime in a little bit from a legal point of view. It’s really not in the best interest of the city to sign the letter,” Carter said. “While we do support the collaborative and the planning process, in this particular case, I just don’t think that’s the right thing.”

Carter asked if any council members felt differently, but they all said they wished to remain neutral.

The proposed drag strip would be in Newton County, within the city limits of Social Circle. In early January, the BOC wrote a letter in opposition to the drag strip and sent it to the Social Circle Planning Commission.