Commissioners Approve Rezoning Requests

Rezoning requests for professional offices and a residential property were approved on Tuesday by the .

According to to the , the board voted to rezone 3.28 acres on Bells Ferry Road from agriculture to office-professional for professional offices and to rezone 3.26 acres on Pope Drive from agricultural to residential.

In other business, the newspaper reported that commissioners voted to schedule a hearing to allow Michael Jorge to appeal the denial of his variance by the .

Jorge's original application asked for a reduction in front and rear building setbacks to help speed the process of building two new homes in the Belmont Trace Subdivision near Towne Lake. Jorge now is asking for only a rear setback to build one additional home. A hearing will be held at the next available date.

In other action, the board:

• Appointed David Pitts to the ;
• Hired McKenna, Aldridge and Long out of Atlanta as representation in the Ball Ground Recycling bankruptcy case;
• Hired Louise Estabrook as the county's new cooperative extension agent;
• Accepted a $618 grant for the for striping and signage repairs at the BridgeMill precinct;
• Approved a contract with the Department of Human Resources in the amount of $169,665.53 for the county's rural transportation program for fiscal year 2013;
• Renewed the county's annual contract with the Atlanta Regional Commission and approved the ARC's $651,106 for fiscal year 2013;
• Approved a renegotiated contract with Thyssen Krupp Elevator Corporation for $45,909.36;
• Voted to expand Lewis Park to include all U.S. Army Corps of Engineer property south of East Bells Ferry Road;
• Approved revisions to the Athletic Use Policy;
• Approved revisions to the Youth Athletic Association’s manual;
• Approved DSI Medical Services to serve as the county's third party administrator for substance abuse screening services at a cost of $7,697;
• and scheduled a public hearing on July 24 regarding changes to the Cemetery Preservation Ordinance.