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On Tuesday evening, the Troup County Board of Commissioners approved hiring three new employees, one full-time grant manager position and two part-time firefighters.

County Manager Eric Mosley said the grants manager position has not been filled on a full-time basis for a couple of years.

The position was previously held by former Troup County Fire Chief Dennis Knight. Mosley said he stepped down into a part-time position, so the grant manager was downgraded from full-time.

“We really feel like we need a full-time person in that role,” Mosley said. “With ARPA and other COVID monies, FEMA monies and all of the court services grants coming through, we are in desperate need of having someone in that role full-time to manage those monies coming through.”

Mosely explained that many of the grants have administrative fees associated with them, so ultimately there is no cost to the county to fund the position.

The commissioners unanimously approved the full-time grant manager position.

The commissioners also approved a request from Fire Chief Michael Strickland to hire two additional part-time firefighters.

Strickland said the Troup County Fire Department utilizes part-time firefighters to supplement full-time firefighters so that they can have time off for vacation, sick leave or to attend training.

Troup County currently has 10 part-time firefighter positions. Strickland asked for two more so that they can have an even split among all three shifts throughout the day.

Strickland said that one of his goals is to have two firefighters on every call that goes out, which they currently cannot maintain with their current staffing.

Mosley explained that since the positions are part-time, they would be enlarging the staffing pool to pull from, so there would be no need to increase the budget.

In other business, the commissioner approved:

• A contract change order with Bryant Electric for the second phase of the LED Light Fixture Conversion project, including the Juvenile Court Building in the amount of $31,452.

• A purchase of two KIA Tellurides to be used as administrative vehicles at a cost of up to $100,000, which covers the cost of both vehicles, lights, sirens, mobile radio and graphics.

• Reappointed Tommy Baker and Jesse Jones to the Appeals Board for Subdivisions and Road Specifications.

• Reappointed John Darden and Carol Smith to the Board of Assessors.

• Reappointed Paulette Hall and Eric Davenport to the Board of Elections and Registration.

• Reappointed Sandra Brownlee to Community Action for Improvement.

• Reappointed James Emery and Ellis Cadenhead to the Greater West Georgia Joint Development Authority.

• Reappointed Jimmy McCamey and Curtis Brown to the Three Rivers Regional Commission.

• Reappointed Lonnie Thornton and Richard Woods to the Troup County Development Authority.

• Reappointed Tommy Whitworth to the Troup County Board of Health.

• Reappointed J.C. Cameron to the Troup County Water Review Board.

• Appointed Lewis Davis to the Three Rivers Regional Commission and Ellis Cadenhead as an alternate.