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On Tuesday, the Troup County Board of Commissioners discussed a plan to switch to a leasing model for public safety vehicles rather than purchasing them outright.

The leasing would be done through Enterprise, similar to the leasing agreement that the City of LaGrange switched to in November.

The agreement would allow for the sheriff’s office, marshal’s office and the fire department to have much newer vehicles on the road with lower mileage and in turn, drastically reduce repair costs.

“I honestly think this is the way to go,” Sheriff James Woodruff said. “Otherwise, we’ll have to buy cars because a lot of our cars are absolutely just falling apart with 200,000 miles and some close to 300,000 miles. They can’t be safe.”

The county is considering a pair of lease agreements that would provide a total of 25 public safety vehicles. The first agreement would provide the sheriff’s office with 16 Ford Interceptors, two Chevy Silverado pickup trucks, a Chevy Trailblazer and a Chevy Malibu for an annual cost of $304,806. The second lease would provide two Ford F150s, two Ford F250s and a Chevy Express 2500 van for an annual cost of $74,421.48.

County Manager Eric Mosley said the costs for leasing the vehicles are expected to be a net wash.

“It basically equals out,” Mosley said. “It levels out because we are spending less in the expense of maintaining the vehicles versus what we would spend now.”

Mosley said the costs for the leases are already included in the budget. If the commissioners decide to go another way, that money can be reallocated, he said.

No action was taken on the potential lease agreements.

In other business, the Board of Commissioners:

4 Reappointed Walter Darden to a five-year term on the Family and Children’s Services Board of Directors.

4Reappointed Eric Mosley to a three-year term on the Pathways Center for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Community Service Board.

4Reappointed Derek Staley to a three-year term on the Region 4 EMS Council.

4Reappointed Richard Woods to a three-year term on the Troup County Public Facilities Authority.

4Appointed Charles Milligan to a three-year term on the Troup County Public Facilities Authority.

4Approved a Beer & Wine License Application for Chandresh Patel at 3191 Robert Hayes Rd.

4Approved a Beer & Wine License Application for Johra Jasani at 3659 Bartley Rd.

4Approved a Manufactured Home Unit Application for Temekie Parham on Horseshoe Bend Cir.

4 Approved a Manufactured Home Unit Application for William Blake on Horseshoe Bend Cir.