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During the Troup County Board of Commissioners work session on Tuesday, the county discussed a request to annex seven county-owned properties off Hamilton Road into the City of LaGrange.

County Engineer James Emery presented the request at the previous LaGrange City Council work session on Nov. 28 but as is standard practice, the city reached out to the county to sign off on the request.

“When the city receives an annexation request like this, they notify the county regardless of who the applicant is. It seems a little silly at this point, but they have notified you that you have applied for an annexation,” Emery said to the commissioners.

The properties in question are located along Hamilton Road and Sam Walker Drive, all owned by the Board of Commissioners, Emery said.

The parcels include several prominent county buildings including Troup Fire Station 1, the Troup County Fire Administration Building and Emergency Operations Center, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office and Jail and the former Troup County Correctional Institution.

The annexation does not include the properties north of Sam Walker Drive or the Cattlemen’s Association building on Vulcan Materials Road.

Emery said there are other properties between the parcels in question and the city along Hamilton Road. The annexation will allow more property owners to consider annexation into LaGrange.

“Any property owner in the unincorporated area, who adjoins the city limits along one of their boundaries has the ability to consider annexation into LaGrange,” Emery said.

“There are a lot of benefits to that, so I think property owners should consider that if it’s possible.”

Emery said that the properties in question have only recently been eligible for annexation after the county acquired contiguous land to connect to the city.

There are many benefits to being inside the city limits, Emery said. It will reduce the cost of their utilities he said, noting that water service from LaGrange is 50 percent more in the unincorporated areas of Troup County.

Troup CFO Sonya Conroy said the county will also see savings on electrical rates for some of the properties that are on city power. Some are on Diverse Power though, she said.