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The Troup County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a request Tuesday from county Elections Supervisor Andrew Harper to apply for a reimbursable Georgia Secretary of State grant to purchase three ballot drop boxes.

The grant is open until Sept. 15, and Harper requested approval so the county would have time to receive and install the boxes before the November election. The county plans to install one box in each of Troup County’s cities — LaGrange, Hogansville and West Point.

Voters can drop their absentee ballots off at the boxes for the November election starting 45 days before the election (Sept. 19) until the election ends, but the boxes will remain in place permanently.

The Secretary of State’s office will reimburse 75% of the costs of drop box purchase/installation.

The total cost will be about $1,400, so the net cost to the county will be about $350.

In other action, a rezoning application submitted by the owners of a property on American Legion Road was approved unanimously. The owners asked for the property to be rezoned from commercial to agricultural residential. In the future, they hope to combine it with an adjacent parcel they own to build a new house.

A special use application for a short-term vacation rental at 258 Dr. Hammett Drive was also approved unanimously.

These applications bring operators of Airbnb or VRBO properties into compliance with the county ordinance.

The strongest link award, given monthly to an employee who has “demonstrated excellent performance and productivity, loyalty, professional pride, and other noteworthy accomplishments,” was given to Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Nicole Kostial of the Juvenile Court.

Lastly, the commission unanimously approved a request to auction off some county vehicles on GovDeals.com that were no longer needed.