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The Troup County Board of Commissioners approved the receipt of $20,000 from the Three Rivers Area Agency on Aging at its meeting on Tuesday night.

Aging Services Manager Dan Wooten said Three Rivers received additional funding from the state. The funds can be used for providing members with food, as well as assisting with medical, dental housing and utilities expenses. 

The money is earmarked for each city — $10,000 for LaGrange and $5,000 each for Hogansville and West Point. 

Crews asked Wooten how the reopening process at The Active Life centers was going. The LaGrange center reopened a month and a half ago, and Wooten said District 4 Public Health has been helpful in advising them on safety protocols.

“The community has been so cooperative and following our protocols, and it’s going real well,” Wooten said.

The Active Life LaGrange used to average 250 visitors per day. That number has been about 80 people recently, which Wooten said was a positive when it comes to following protocols. On Monday, the center served its first in-person meal since reopening, though Wooten said they continue to deliver meals to 300 people. 

Commissioners also approved a lifting of the hiring freeze in order to replace an employee at the West Point facility who left. This lack of staff has prevented the county from reopening the West Point center. 

Purchasing Director Diana Evans spoke to commissioners about awarding a new contract for right of way mowing and trash removal. The lowest bid was submitted by BCLS of Dacula, Georgia, at $87,150 per cycle. The county pays for three to four cycles per year, depending on rainfall and how much the grass grows. Over the course of a year, then, the county could pay BCLS $261,450 or $348,600. 

County Manager Eric Mosley said he spoke with staff in Lamar County, another client of BCLS, who vouched for their work. Commissioner Lewis Davis wanted to remind people that the county only maintains the right of ways and picks up trash on county roads, not state highways.

“We got to be careful about that so they understand what we’re doing, we can’t pick up on the state highways,” Davis said.

Commissioners and constituents were not happy with the previous contractor, Graham County Land Company of North Carolina.

“We got a lot of grief, on the previous one,” Davis said. Commissioner Ellis Cadenhead said the last cutting was “pitiful.”

The board approved a motion that will allow staff to draw up a contract with BCLS.