Whitfield County commissioners approve new roof for the jail

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen said the positive thing is that the county only has to re-roof the county jail every 20 years or so.

“That’s because it is so expensive,” he said. “(The jail) is 86,000 square feet.”

The commissioners voted 4-0 Monday to accept a $1.858 million contract with Tri State Roofing Contractors of Chattanooga for a new roof for the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office and the jail. The contract calls for the work to be completed by Dec. 15. Jensen typically votes only if there is a tie.

The work will be funded from the county’s share of the 2020 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

The commissioners also voted 4-0 to:

• Accept a bid from CR Coating of Calhoun to re-stripe county roads for one year. The company will receive $400 to $2,800 per mile depending on the type of striping that is called for.

“The plan is to stripe 40 miles of county roads, with most of those including the reflective markers as well,” said Jensen.

Whitfield County Administrator Robert Sivick said the company has specialized equipment that allows it to do the work fairly quickly, freeing up county Public Works employees to focus on maintaining county roads.

• Approve a request from Michael Hill to rezone from general agricultural to heavy manufacturing 28.5 acres at 220 Cross Plains Blvd. in Dalton. Ethan Calhoun, a planner for the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission who handles zoning staff work for the county, said plans call for a trucking terminal. Hill said he already has a building near the property and the building he plans to put on the site is similar to the one he already has. He said his company does no manufacturing, just logistics.

• Approve a request by Hunter and Hannah Painter to rezone from rural residential to general agricultural 16 acres at 1656 Trickum Road in Rocky Face. Hannah Painter said they want to farm the property and possibly build a house there.

• Approve a request by Joshua and Jessica Atchley to rezone from heavy manufacturing to general agricultural 6.96 acres at 4690 South Dixie Highway in Resaca. The two want to build a meat processing plant there. The commissioners also voted 4-0 to approve a special use permit for that facility.

The commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a request from Bryan Spence to rezone from general commercial to rural residential 0.42 acres on Hill Road in Resaca. Calhoun said the rezoning would allow Spence to build single-family houses or duplexes on the site. Spence said he plans to build two houses and subdivide the property. Commissioner John Thomas recused himself from the vote, citing a conflict of interest.

The Dalton-Varnell-Whitfield County Planning Commission in June unanimously recommended approval of all four rezoning requests.