On Tuesday, the Troup County Commission recognized Tracy Lester, the dependency coordinator in the juvenile court, for being the county’s Strongest Link for September 2019.

Lester was the third county employee to win the award since Troup County established the Strongest Link program. 

Wesleigh Whittle, administrative assistant for the county’s human resources department, said there were 11 nominees for this month’s award.

“Our recipient for September has actually been nominated each month since we rolled this program out, which shows her great value to Troup County,” Whittle said. 

“When the committee met this month to go over all the nominations, it was unanimous across the board that this employee always goes above and beyond, always has a smile on her face and is willing to help no matter what is asked.”

Whittle also read a portion of Lester’s nomination form, which outlined why Lester is Troup County’s strongest link:

“Tracy is pleasant, calm, peaceful and uplifting to clients who are struggling. She never makes anyone feel like they are beneath her or that she doesn’t care about their crisis. She truly treats others the way that she wants to be treated.”

As the winner, Lester received gifts from donors to the program, including AMC Classic LaGrange 10, Cofield Comfort Systems Inc., Chick-fil-A on Commerce Avenue, Creative Call-Ins, Jackson Services, Longhorn Steakhouse, Mud Creek Graphics, Stephens Exclusives, America’s Best Garage Doors LLC and Van’s Hardware.

Other items covered during the meeting included:

4The Troup County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to open 10 new part-time firefighter positions. 

At the commission work session last week, Troup County Chief John Ekaitis said that the increase in staff would improve fire department coverage and Insurance Safety Commission ratings.

4The board of commissioners held a public hearing on a rezoning application for an un-numbered property on New Franklin Road from SFMD to general commercial. 

The proposed use of the property is a boat storage facility. There was no comment.

4The board of commissioners held a public hearing on a rezoning application for 0 and 161 Pine Circle from split zoning (single-family medium density and general commercial) to general commercial. 

The proposed use is for office space, and county staff recommended approval conditional on the entrance facing away from the residential road facing the property. 

There was no comment. Both rezonings are expected to be up for a vote on Oct. 15.

The Troup County Board of Commissioners will meet again on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. at 100 Ridley Ave.