Other action
Also during a meeting Thursday night, Forsyth County commissioners:
• Approved an agreement with the state Department of Transportation for utility relocations required to extend the inside northbound lane on Ga. 400 from McFarland Road to the Big Creek Greenway, which runs under the highway.
• Raised no objection to the proposed annexation of a parcel owned by Wheeler Family L.P., and the parcels in the Tri-County Plaza into the city limits.
• Issued a conditional use permit for a church at Union Hill and Shiloh roads.
• Granted a rezoning from agriculture to residential-4 for John Barrett to build four family homes on a nearly 2-acre property on Boyd Road.
• Appointed Edward Kroell to the zoning board of appeals to fill the term of Craig Nolen, and appointed Nolen to the planning board to fill the term of Jim Kelleher.
• Approved an agreement allowing the Forsyth County Historical Society to have 45 days of limited access to the county-owned Eagle’s Beak property on Old Federal Road for a minimally-invasive archaeological study.
Note: All votes were 5-0.
— Alyssa LaRenzie
Forsyth County commissioners on Thursday authorized staff to move forward with the animal shelter project, which voters approved in the recent 1-cent sales tax referendum.
An advisory committee recommended the course of action during a meeting earlier in the week.
Though revenue from the six-year tax extension won’t start coming in until July 2013, the county plans to borrow the money from its reserve fund to build a shelter and pay it back with interest.
Deputy County Manager Tim Merritt has described it as “the best low-cost way we could find to finance the project early and allow us to begin immediately.”
Projections show the 15,000-square-foot facility could be finished by fall 2013.
The estimated $2.7 million project has been prioritized due to the private entity that owns and runs the current shelter wanting to step down.
The commission also authorized the water and sewer department to bid construction of a needed sewer line to the property on County Way in north Forsyth.
That effort, separate from the project cost, is estimated to cost the water and sewer department between $80,000 and $100,000.
Both votes were 5-0 in favor.