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The Troup County Board of Commissioners approved Tuesday to allow for 10 fire hydrants to be added to the southern end of Thrash Road, which has recently seen new development.

The proposal was brought forward by a Thrash Road resident, said County Manager Eric Molsey. Thrash Road leads into Mountville, within an unincorporated portion of Troup County and intersects Knott Road and Big Springs Mountville Road. County Engineer James Emery specified this project would “fill in gaps” between Stewart Road and Knott Road.

In the past few years, two subdivisions have been built along the road: the new Dove Creek subdivision on Forester Road, which spurs off of Thrash Road, and the Rhinestone subdivision which includes 14 recently built homes.

The 10 fire hydrants would need to be spread 1,000 feet, the minimum standard, to convert with set ISO standards, Mosley said. The road already has a few hydrants along it.

The installation project, however, comes with a hefty price tag. The price to install a single fire hydrant is $7,500 — bringing the total cost of the project to $75,000. 

“It’s a substantial investment on our behalf,” noted Mosley, who added he was not sure why the hydrants had been placed on the road prior to the request. “I do believe through our [American Rescue Plan Act] funds, we do have funding available for waterline expansion, which would include fire hydrants, so we could pay for that through that fund based on the perimeters of that grant.”

The waterline that would supply water to the fire hydrants provides water to the Mountville area and was purchased previously by the city of LaGrange. 

In other business at the meeting: 

• The board approved a resolution authorizing the Troup County School System to levy an annual ad valorem tax to provide funds for the payment of the principal of and interest on $32 million of obligation bonds. Troup County School System Attorney Greg Ellington said this resolution was needed in the unlikely event that E-SPLOST revenue is not enough to pay for the bonds TCSS issues. 
• The board approved a request from the Troup County Juvenile Court to reapply for a $350,000 grant from the Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program. Juvenile Court has previously applied for the grant with success for the past decade. There is no county match for this grant.