Board to rule on airport properties
Rezonings connected to the runway extension project are among the items up for action Tuesday by the Floyd County Commission.
Floyd County Commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday before they decide on rezoning two tracts north of the airport for the upcoming runway extension project.
The farmland purchased by the county on McGrady Road and Jones Mill Road would be folded into Richard B. Russell Regional Airport as a safety zone. The request is for light industrial zoning.
“It would bring that area in line with the same zoning as the airport,” Special Projects Manager Bruce Ivey said during a presentation early this month where the Rome-Floyd County Planning Commission recommended approval.
Nearby resident Robin Miller expressed concern that the move would close off part of Jones Mill Road to through traffic. Ivey said the rezoning won’t affect traffic, “but ultimately there will be a fence” around all the airport property.
Plans are to extend the main runway another 1,200 feet to accommodate corporate jets. Work is set to start this fall and will take about a year.
Ivey said the fence — closing Jones Mill between McGrady and Armuchee Park — would be installed after the extension is complete. The park and county remote dump site would remain accessible from the other approach but officials are looking for another location for the dump site.
The board also is slated to rule on an application from Rhinehart Equipment that would allow it to expand its farm equipment rental and service business at 3556 Martha Berry Highway.
The company is asking for commercial zoning of about 15 acres of undeveloped land on Beard Drive and Old Dalton Road behind its existing operation.
Two residents who live next to the tract registered objections regarding the potential
affect on their property value. Greg Massey, whose company is surveying the land for Rhinehart, said future plans also call for singlefamily housing on part of the property.
“We’ll leave a good buffer, like Applewood,” he said, referring to a subdivision just north of the land on Old Dalton Road.
Commissioners caucus at 4 p.m. and start their regular business meeting at 6 p.m. in the County Administration Building, 12 E. Fourth Ave. Both sessions are open.
Also on the evening’s agenda is the board’s adoption of the 2018 millage rate.
Two public hearings are scheduled Tuesday before the Commission decides on the proposed property tax rate of 9.487 mills for maintenance and operations. The rate is unchanged from 2017, although it’s expected to bring in a little more revenue because some properties in the county have increased in value.
Comments will be accepted at a hearing set for 8 a.m. in the Administration Building and at 6 p.m. before the board takes action during its meeting.
Residents in the unincorporated area also pay 1.650 mills for fire protection and 0.656 mills for solid waste. The Floyd County School System is planning a slight decrease, to 18.300 mills from 18.355 mills. The County Commission also is slated to officially set those rates Tuesday.