The Troup County Board of Commissioners voted on several items that they have discussed on numerous prior occasions earlier this week, but one of the most significant votes was the approval of the intergovernmental agreement on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

On Tuesday, the commission approved the SPLOST V Intergovernmental Agreement which clearly states what percent of the funds brought in by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax will go to Troup County, LaGrange, Hogansville and West Point if the measure is approved by citizens on Nov. 7. The agreement also listed the projects that SPLOST would cover with estimated costs of those projects.

Troup County’s county specific projects will include $8,204,000 in roads and bridges, $8,076,000 for the fire department, $2,170,000 for vehicle and equipment replacement and $1.5 million for renovations and replacement of county facilities such as the fuel center, administrative offices and public safety and court faculties.

County wide projects will include $8 million for roads and bridges, $6.2 million for parks, $5 million for the Thread multi-use trail, $1.5 million for West Point Recreation, $750,000 for Hogansville Recreation and $250,000 for 911 upgrades.

SPLOST funds are required by law to only be used on capital improvement projects, so they cannot be used to cover items like salaries or benefits for employees.

The funds will be collected over the six-year period of the SPLOST beginning on January 1, 2019, and are expected to total $70 million for the county and three cities.

Ga. Initiative for Community Housing

The board of commissioners also approved the application for the county to apply Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, which will help connect the county with other counties that have faced similar housing concerns in the past.

The application, which is being filed jointly with the City of West Point, would need to make it through a selection process in order for the county to be able to participate in the program, so this is only the beginning of the process for the county.

“They do a site visit to the community, so we are starting to talk about what we want to do assuming that we do make the finals — which I hope we do,” County Planner Tracie Hadaway said during a work session.

“It will be a power point presentation discussing what our housing issues are in Troup County and the municipalities. That will happen the last week in August, and the selections will be announced Oct. 4.”

Hadaway has expressed hopes that the resources that will available to the county as a result of the program will help the county make informed decisions on housing in the future.

LaGrange – Callaway Airport

Commissioners also voted to approve Peed Brothers and TCA Electrical Contractors as the contractors that will perform the work on the airport runway extension. The project will bring the runway from its current length of 5,600 feet to 6,500 feet.

This extension will make it possible for the runway to accommodate larger aircraft.

The project will also include repaving of the current runway, rerouting of some streams, tree removal and light instillation. It is being funded primarily through federal funds as well as some state funds, so Troup County is only expected to pay $319,603 for the project.

New subdivision

The Troup County Board of Commissioners accepted the roads in the Lindsey Estates Subdivision into the county — labeled as Cash Drive and Diana Court — and approved the land plats for the subdivision.

The development is located on Briley Road, and officials expect construction to begin on the project in the near future.

Hiring decisions

On Tuesday, the commission approved a lift of the hiring freeze for the budgeted positions of a Drug and Lab Administrator and a Code Enforcement Officer within the county.

“We posted it as quick as we could, but we cannot hire until we get (the commission’s) approval,” County Manager Tod Tentler said of the position in the drug lab.

The Troup County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to meet again on Aug. 1 at 9 a.m. at 100 Ridley Ave.