In a few hours, Northside Hospital-Cherokee will be able to add the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to the list of supporters for its replacement hospital.

At today's meeting, commissioners will adopt a "resolution of recognition supporting the relocation" from Hospital Road to a new $250 million facility near Canton Marketplace.

The resolution comes one month after WellStar Health System Inc. challenged Northside's relocation plan.

While Northside said the new hospital location is less than three miles from the current one and therefore exempt from the state's rigorous certificate of need (CON) application process, WellStar contends that Northside's math isn't right.

"WellStar believes that Northside Cherokee Hospital has failed to provide sufficient information and documentation to support its request for an exemption," WellStar spokesman Keith Bowermaster said last month.

At the time of the challenge, Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens called WellStar's opposition "a disservice to our community and ... an attempt to stall construction of this much-needed replacement hospital."

Also at tonight's meeting:

• The FBI will recognize two Cherokee County Sheriff's Office officials whose work was vital in a recent Fulton County Jail corruption case. Lt. Mike Painter and Deputy Alex Rivera provided "substantial assistance" in an investigation that resulted in the June indictment of a Fulton County deputy and three detention officers who allegedly smuggled drugs and cell phones into the Fulton County Jail, the United States Attorney's Office said at the time.
• County Manager Jerry Cooper will request approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Ball Ground to install $68,799.72 worth of radio equipment on the city's water tank. The equipment would improve coverage in Ball Ground and surrounding areas. The money would come from SPLOST funds.
• Cooper will ask commissioners to consider an amendment to Nelson's Fire Services Agreement. The amendment would remove the 3 mill cap on that city's fire district rate. The cap would not be able to exceed the rate for the fire district in unincorporated Cherokee County.

Open the PDFs on this page for the full agendas of the 3 p.m. work session and the 6 p.m. regular meeting. If you can't attend today's meeting, log on to Canton-Sixes Patch, Holly Springs-Hickory Flat Patch and Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch at 3 p.m. for our live, minute-by-minute coverage.