The Henry County Board of Commissioners will likely convene on its next regular meeting date of April 21, but will consider only one agenda item.
At the close of the board’s April 7 meeting, county manager Cheri Hobson-Matthews suggested that the April 21 meeting be cancelled since there was no business scheduled to be considered that day. Board chair June Wood pointed out that it might be necessary to take action regarding Gov. Brian Kemp’s shelter-in-place order.
A motion was made by Dee Clemmons to move the time of the meeting from the evening to 9 a.m. and that it be convened specially to address that single issue.
In other business at the April 7 meeting, the board voted to approve several measures regarding the receipt of grant funds from the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Grant applications were authorized for the 2021 fiscal year on behalf of several of the county’s accountability courts, including the Henry County Felony Drug Court, Henry County Resource Court and Henry County Veterans Treatment Court. Also approved was a resolution accepting a $70,000 Violence Against Women grant with matching funds of $23,333.
The board’s consent agenda included a list of 92 country assets declared surplus for sale at auction, as well as a resolution authorizing a grant application for improvements at Turner Church Road and Hwy. 20, for which the Georgia Department of Transportation has committed $500,000.
The commissioners unanimously approved an amended fire ordinance that was updated over the past month after previous feedback from commissioners and county staff. Some of the changes were made to make sure that older commercial structures are brought up to current codes, and other sections specifically addressed personal care homes and townhomes.
According to the Henry County Fire Department’s Michael Black, assistant chief of prevention and fire marshal, the ordinance previously consisted of items adopted between 1982 and 1992 with few exceptions, and the county’s extreme growth over the years since then necessitated the updates.
The board approved a resolution requesting that the county’s legislative delegation introduce a local law authorizing the county to create tax allocation districts. Should the measure be approved by the Georgia General Assembly, it would allow the commissioners to put the question on a referendum.
When Wood asked if it could be done in time to get on this year’s November ballot, county attorney Patrick Jaugstetter replied that it did not seem likely since the General Assembly’s session has been suspended indefinitely because of COVID-19.
A proposed ordinance that would establish distance requirements between small-box discount stores was presented for discussion only. The issue initially came up in February, and county staff now has a draft of an ordinance that will be brought back to the commissioners in May.
