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Voting season may be over in Troup County, but the machines used during its elections still need to be maintained all year long.

At the Troup County Board of Commissioners work session on Tuesday, Andrew Harper, the Troup County elections and registration supervisor, explained that the election board will be taking over an expiring state contract that encases the maintenance fees for all county voting machines on an annual basis.

The total amount the county will have to pay each year is $28,955 for 182 voting machines, 18 scanners, and two visual servers.

“It’s a mandate now from all the states,” Harper said, noting the nearly $29,000 was budgeted.

The fee would be paid to Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. who provides the voting equipment.

The board approved the maintenance contract at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

In other business:

• The board denied for an applicant, Manish Desai, to rezone a 43-acre parcel from general to commercial along Highway 18 and Shoemaker Road in Troup County. Desai wanted to use the land, for housing development. Desai’s request to rezone this parcel was denied at the Troup County Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission’s regular meeting in November due to traffic concerns voiced by residents in the area. Desai additionally presented an application to rezone two parcels at 7770 and 7778 West Point Rd, near the West Point Motel. This request was unanimously approved. 
• The board approved the first reading on beer and licensee applicants for two applicants: the Hogansville Golf Course on 115 American Legion Road and the Dollar General on 9066 Hamilton Road, owned by Dolencorp LLC.
• The board approved a drug and alcohol policy update for Troup Transit.The board tabled a resolution to increase judicial supplements for the county’s superior court judges. Will Simmons, District Court Administrator for the Sixth Judicial Administrative District of the Superior Courts of Georgia, requested the board increase the supplements from $30,000 to $50,000 due to an increase of cases and time judges are hearing. Simmons said the last time supplements increased were in 2009. The board will re-hear the request at its next meeting on Dec. 21.