LaGRANGE – The Troup County Building, Planning and Zoning Department requested to be able to replace an employee and gave the board of commissioners an overview of what their duties are and how recent changes have affected the department during a county work session on Friday.

The department has a small staff who work hard to keep the county safe and organized in their own way, which is to say through quick follow-ups and solid inspections in the growing county, officials said.

“Our building inspections and permits are way up, and we are having to do what we have to do to get done in that 24-hour rule,” said Senior Building Official Jay Anderson. “… We are really booming.”

In the Building, Planning and Zoning Department, employees are regularly cross trained for maximum effectiveness. Last year, the department handled 575 building permits and 1,389 inspections, and Anderson expects that number to continue to rise this year.

“I think Troup County has been proactive by doing so much cross-training,” said County Engineer James Emery. “The state doesn’t require (it). … We think it’s a good idea that all of those people that are doing any kind of inspection that could assist with that sort of thing (like recognizing signs of erosion) should be, and they are.”

The department is also over code enforcement, reviews beer and wine licenses and works with the fire marshal on inspections, among other duties. Anderson requested an increase on fees for inspections last year in order to keep the department’s impact on funds from land taxes neutral, and that increase has had a positive impact on the department’s finances.

“That $500 fee should be what it costs us to do that inspections and the processing that it shouldn’t cost a lot more where then tax payers are having to fund that permit through the millage rate,” said Anderson. “I think we should be cost neutral to Mr. and Mrs. Smith who never come into our office.”

The department is currently working to put more of the department’s applications online where they are easier for the public to access, and place more department information online where regulations will be easier to find and understand.

The commission plans to vote on whether to approve the budgeted position of a code enforcement officer to replace an employee who is transferring to another department at their regular meeting on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at 200 Ridley Ave.

 

Reach Alicia B. Hill at alicia.hill@lagrangenews.com or at 706-884-7311, Ext. 2154.