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By Shiann Sivell

The Troup County Board of Commissioners voted to reduce its meeting times to twice a month on Tuesday, a change that will officially begin at its next Nov. 16 meeting. 

The board will meet the first and third Tuesday of each month, scheduling its pre-meeting work session a 9 a.m. and regular meeting at 5 p.m., both of which will take place on the same day.

Part of this change is to be more accommodating to citizens who may want to attend meetings.

The board currently meets four times a month, with two work sessions and two board meetings. Work sessions take place on Thursdays and board meetings are on the following Tuesday. The time for the meetings rotate between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. One set of meetings — a work session on Thursday and a board meeting on Tuesday — takes place at 9 a.m. Then, the following set of meetings take place at 5 p.m.

This is the second time the commission has changed its meeting times in the last few years. The commission previously met at 9 a.m. exclusively until 2019 when it decided to start rotating meetings between mornings and 5 p.m. so more citizens could attend.

In other business at the meeting:

Commissioners approved ratification of an agreement with the city to grant a 25-year license for the city to use property in relation to the expansion of the Thread.

Natalie Hale, the executive director of the Friends of the Thread, said the organization recently applied for a $200,000 recreational trails program grant from the Department of Natural Resources to expand the Thread by 1.2 miles.

The expanded thread would begin at the George Harris Baseball Complex and stretch to Nutwood Winery. It would leave the existing asphalt and will incorporate land on several private properties, including Diverse Power on South Davis Road and Farm Bureau on Upper Big Springs Road to get to Nutwood Winery.

As part of the lease agreement, the city would be responsible for upkeep for the properties and liabilities of the trails.