Whitfield County Board of Commissioners to meet Thursday night
Oct. 5—The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on new service delivery strategy agreements with the county's city governments when the commissioners meet Thursday night.
The meeting will take place at 5 in the courthouse meeting room.
The commissioners typically meet on the second Monday of the month but this coming Monday is Columbus Day, a state and federal holiday.
The service delivery strategy agreements spell out which services each government provides and is aimed at avoiding duplication of services. State law says these agreements must be updated every 10 years.
The current service delivery agreements are 39 agreements, covering areas ranging from ambulance service to zoning.
One change in the proposed agreements covers the Dalton-Whitfield Senior Center. It is currently jointly funded by the county and the city of Dalton and operated by the city of Dalton. Under the proposed agreements, it will be funded and operated solely by the county.
The commissioners are also slated to vote to apply for a Public Safety and Community Violence Reduction Grant that is being funded by the state's American Rescue Plan Act money. The maximum award is $1.5 million. The grant would fund the salary and benefits required to fill law enforcement positions that existed on Jan. 27, 2020, but were unfilled on March 3, 2021.
The grant would not fund new positions. If the county receives the grant, the funding would start in 2023. The grant requires no local matching funds.
The commissioners are also scheduled to vote on:
—A request by the commissioners to rezone 24.71 acres at 1531 Beaverdale Road to general agriculture from rural residential to bring its use as a farm into compliance with zoning.
The property was incorrectly zoned several years ago. Since it was not the owner's fault, the commissioners requested the rezoning so the owner would not need to pay any fees to correct the issue.
—A request by RW Sales to rezone 2.62 acres at the corner of Dawnville Road and Brooker Road to high-density residential from low-density, single-family residential to develop a 43-unit apartment building on the property.
—A request by Doyle Gazaway to rezone 4.38 acres on Stadium Way near Cohutta to neighborhood commercial from general agriculture. According to staff analysis, the request follows a determination by code enforcement that the property was being illegally used as an auto detail and body repair shop.
