12/30/2025
An apology
Attorneys for Matt Sliger, developer of a DeKalb County subdivision, are seeking a formal public apology from the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission and County Mayor Matt Adcock for “wrongfully defaming” Sliger by stating he could be the target of a criminal investigation for allegedly illegally selling lots in the 38 lot Silver Point Shores development on Aunt Helen Road near the Putnam County line, prior to final plat approval. Those allegations were raised during a county planning commission meeting in August.
Meanwhile, the county and Sliger have also been in a dispute over installation of the proper fire suppression system, as called for in the county’s subdivision regulations at Silver Point Shores According to the county’s standards, each home within a development must be within 1,000 feet of a hydrant and that a fire suppression system is required to supply water to fight a fire there capable of pumping 250 gallons per minute for two consecutive hours. That has not been done. Sliger claims the fire suppressions issue at Silver Point Shores has been addressed based on national standards by requiring each homeowner there to install sprinkler systems as noted on the plat. Since the final plat was approved by the planning commission and recorded prior to installation of a county required fire suppression system, some are concerned about the county’s potential liability for the expense which now could be as much as $200,000, well beyond the $45,000 cashier’s check Sliger had posted as a surety to cover it.
On the issue of lot sales at Silver Point Shores, Sliger’s attorneys, Michael Savage and Mike Giaimo, assert that the “transfers and/or closings of the sale of the lots did not occur until after October 12, 2022 which was the day the final plat, that had been approved by the planning commission, was filed with the office of the Register of Deeds in DeKalb County. They further claim that Sliger did not own the lots which were sold because he was only the developer.
Sliger and his lawyers initially called for a public apology at the October planning commission meeting but none came. If an apology is not forthcoming soon, Savage and Giaimo say they may pursue legal action against the county for defamation against their client. The attorneys claim that Sliger has done nothing wrong and that according to District Attorney Bryant Dunaway, Sliger is not being investigated for any wrongdoing.
During a meeting of the planning commission on August 11, County Mayor Adcock stated that Sliger could be the focus of a state and or federal investigation for allegedly illegally selling 38 lots of the Silver Shores development in their entirety three years ago to people from across Tennessee and as far away as Florida a month before obtaining final plat approval from the planning commission. Collectively the lots sold for more than $3.5 million but no homes have yet been built there.
County Mayor Adcock further announced during the meeting that he had contacted the District Attorney General’s Office requesting an investigation of Sliger, Silver Point Shores project manager for the Southland Development Group, Inc and RLA Equity Group who were responsible for selling the lots. Because some of these lot owners are from other states, County Mayor Adcock said at the time that the DA’s office may also seek a probe into the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Adcock said he had talked to the DA’s assistant about the matter but not to DA Dunaway himself.
A few Silver Point Shores property owners who had bought their lots in 2022 attended the August planning commission meeting seeking answers, mostly about the fire suppression installation issue. Renee Kunze said she had planned to move from Florida to DeKalb County by September but could not claiming the developer did not complete the subdivision by installing adequate fire suppression as promised and that she could not even obtain homeowners insurance to build a home there because of it.
Kunze first raised concerns about fire suppression at Silver Point Shores during the July county planning commission meeting. Kunze claimed to have bought her lot from the developer at Silver Point Shores in September 2022 before the planning commission gave final plat approval in October 2022. Kunze further provided a copy of her purchase agreement. Kunze, who had a well dug as a water source, said she planned to start building a home there in September and was under the impression that the subdivision would have fire hydrants. She was also concerned that the pump and infrastructure she had installed to support her home’s sprinkler system might not be sufficient. County Mayor Adcock said he decided to call for an investigation by the District Attorney’s office after hearing this information from Kunze and others.
County Mayor Adcock later contacted DA Dunaway by email and provided information about the issue but in his response, Dunaway explained that County Mayor Adcock had cited an obsolete state law when calling for a criminal investigation and that in this case, Sliger could not be prosecuted for a crime.
In his response. DA Dunaway wrote “ “After reviewing your email and its’ attachments, I learned about the public meeting where several property owners attended. At that meeting you made public comments that this matter was criminal, that the District Attorney was looking into this and the District Attorney may refer this matter to the FBI”.
“I don’t know why you made such comments, you and I have never spoken about this matter, I understand that you did have a brief message exchange with my Assistant District Attorney”.
Even so, after receiving your email, I reviewed the documents you provided and also reviewed some public records from the Register of Deeds office. This matter appears to be an unfortunate situation for the property owners. While there may be some civil remedies available to the property owners, there does not appear to be a criminal matter, As you are aware, by law my office only handles the prosecution of criminal cases”.
“My first observation is that copy of Tennessee Code Annotated 13-4-306 that you sent me in your email is obsolete and outdated, I am enclosing a copy of the current statute that has been in effect since March 2021. The current statute contained no criminal penalties for violating what it prohibits”.
“The statute provides, in part, that property owners, shall not “transfer or close the sale” of land by reference to…a subdivision plat without first submitting a final subdivision plat to the planning commission, receiving the commission’s approval and before the final plat is recorded in the Register’s office.”
“Based upon my own search of the records of the Register of Deeds, I find that the final plat for Silver Point Shores Subdivision was recorded October 12th 2022 in Plat Book 1, page 1665.”
“Upon reviewing the plat itself, it appears to have all the required signatures including a certification by the Secretary of the DeKalb County Regional Planning Commission, dated October 12, 2022, certifying that the plat has been approved for recording”.
“I further note that the warranty deeds conveying lots to the purchasers listed on the summary of sales list that you provided to me show that all of the deeds were transferred after October 12, 2022,” wrote DA Dunaway.
Sliger’s attorneys then followed up with an email to County Attorney Hilton Conger seeking a public apology from the county planning commission and the county mayor stating in part that “at this (August 11) meeting, members of the public were told by at least one member of the planning commission that “they violated the law in selling it before the plat was finalized”. This statement was objectively and verifiably false. The DeKalb County Mayor, Matt Adcock, stated that the property was all advertised and sold before it was ever approved which is a criminal offense”. To begin with Mr. Sliger did not sell anything as he was only the developer and not the owner of the property. Second, transfers and/or closings of the sale of the lots did not occur until after October 12, 2022 which was the day the final plat, which had been approved by the planning commission, was filed with the office of the Register of Deeds in DeKalb County”.
“Mr Sliger has worked as a real estate developer for the past 22 years completing over 45 developments in seven states. His reputation is very important to him and the defamatory statements which were made about him will undoubtedly harm his reputation and cause him to lose business. Mr Sliger continues to incur financial losses as a direct result of the statements and actions of the DeKalb County Planning Commission and/or the DeKalb County Mayor. Time is of the essence in clearing Mr. Sliger’s name and in installing the fire suppression system. Should Mr. Sliger continue to suffer damages as a result of the actions/inactions of the DeKalb County Planning Commission, its members and/or the DeKalb County Mayor he will consider bringing suit for damages against them both for their official and/or individual capacities should the facts and law so warrant,”
In the letter to Conger, Savage called for the DeKalb County Planning Commission and the Mayor of DeKalb County at its October 12, 2025 meeting to issue a formal apology for wrongfully defaming Sliger and that the apology be reflected in the minutes of the meeting with a local press release to the local media. Otherwise, we (attorneys) have been authorized to begin the process of drafting litigation to hold the county and its officials liable for their tortuous conduct”.
As to the fire suppression issue, under DeKalb County subdivision regulations at that time, conditional final plat approval could be granted by the planning commission without infrastructure, such as a fire suppression system already having been fully installed by the developer, if a surety is submitted to guarantee its installation. Sliger posted a $45,000 cashier’s check, as a surety for the Silver Point Shores project but in this case the planning commission signed off on the final plat before the fire suppression system was added. Now, three years later the fire suppression system is apparently still not in place and according to Sliger’s engineer the cost to install it could be as much as $200,000 to dig two wells, install two storage tanks and booster pumps, and for a backup generator.
According to the county’s subdivision regulations, each home within a development must be within 1,000 feet of a hydrant and that a fire suppression system is required to supply water to fight a fire there capable of pumping 250 gallons per minute for two consecutive hours. While Sliger has said such a system has not been installed there he claims the “national” standards for fire suppression have been met by requiring each homeowner within the development to install a sprinkler system in their homes as noted on the subdivision plat.
During the August meeting, the planning commission voted unanimously not to move forward with the county being liable for fire suppression installation at Silver Point Shores and to hold the $45,000 surety posted by Sliger in escrow until the responsible party, developer is held accountable.
Sliger’s attorneys, Savage and Giaimo claim it is the county, and not Sliger who should be accountable.
“The DeKalb County Planning Commission, by and through its secretary (at that time), entered into an agreement for a certified check in lieu of completed improvements (Exhibit A). According to the agreement, Mr. Sliger was to provide the DeKalb County Planning Commission a certified check for $40,000 as bond for the installation of fire suppression tanks. The specifications were as shown on the Job estimate dated October 9, 2022 (Exhibit B) which was provided to the DeKalb County Planning Commission prior to the original agreement. The agreement improvements required by the DeKalb County Planning Commission were to be completed by October 10, 2023. In the event the improvements were not completed by October 10, 2023 the certified check was to be cashed, with the funds therefrom to be forwarded to the applicable city/county and/or utility district for the construction of said improvements. This first agreement was subsequently replaced by a second agreement (Exhibit C) and that agreement was replaced (Exhibit D) with the bond amount of $45,000 and provided a completion date of April 4, 2025. Mr. Sliger provided the planning commission a certified check for $45,000. It is our understanding that the certified check has been cashed by the DeKalb County Planning Commission, but the funds have not been forwarded for the construction of the improvements as required by the agreement”.
“The planning commissioners apparently claim they were somehow misled by Mr Sliger. He (Sliger) provided the job estimate to the planning commission prior to entering into the type and capacity of the fire suppression system to be installed, Now, after more than almost three years the planning commission has decided the fire suppression system, as proposed is not sufficient. If the job estimate did not meet the regulations which the planning commission is required to formulate pursuant to (state law) why did the DeKalb County Planning Commission enter into the agreement attached as Exhibits A, C and D. Although Mr. Sliger denies the proposed fire suppression system is not sufficient, it appears that by its assertion of insufficiency the planning commission failed to ensure that the job estimate complied with what it now claims is its own regulations and is attempting to shift the blame on Mr. Sliger”.
“Mr. Sliger made a bond in the amount of $45,000 as required by the DeKalb County planning commission, based upon the commission’s own specifications and requirements. It was the planning commission that approved the fire safety requirements and established the bond amount, which was increased multiple times. And each time, Mr. Sliger agreed to pay the bond in an effort to put this matter in the review mirror. DeKalb County now has Mr. Sliger’s money but refuses to use it to install the fire suppression infrastructure. We don’t believe any upgrades are necessary, but the planning commission did at one time. Thus, the bond requirements. Mr. Sliger complied, and he would now like to see his money either utilized to the benefit of the landowners or returned”.
“Maybe the most important point we would like to emphasize is that Mr. Sliger’s development comports with national standards for fire suppression and/or prevention. We do not believe that has ever been disputed or challenged. As DeKalb County has adopted that standard, Mr. Sliger’s development is in full compliance with the applicable standards. Again, however, he agreed to pay the bond (and bond that steadily increased) which speaks volumes about this integrity and willingness to cooperate,” said Savage and Giaimo.
Bryant Dunaway Letter
Attorney letter to Hilton Conger
Attorney letter to Dwayne Page
