CANTON — Cherokee County nonprofits are slated to get about $2.8 million in federal funding through the county government.

The county issued a request for proposals to help facilitate the use of $6 million in ARPA funds that the county has earmarked for homelessness or assistance to impacted nonprofit agencies, according to county documents.

The county received a total of 29 project requests from 13 nonprofit agencies for about $20.3 million. The county also requested that the project amounts be between $25,000 and $1 million.

Of the 29 requests, the following projects were recommended by county staff for an initial round of funding, and approved unanimously by commissioners Tuesday:

♦ Boys and Girls Club: controlled door access, smoke detectors and occupancy sensors — $78,000

♦ Bethesda Medical: transition to hybrid clinic (Medicare/Medicaid) — $588,600

♦ Heritage Presbyterian Church: construction of portico, ADA accessibility and security monitoring at food pantry — $330,812

♦ YMCA: repurpose outdoor tennis courts — $110,000

♦ Goodwill of North Georgia: purchase of welding and forklift simulators — $379,980

♦ Canton Housing Authority: demolition and abatement of old buildings — $500,000

♦ Next Step Ministries: bus with wheelchair access for three — $160,072

♦ Goshen Valley Foundation: purchase of medical building — $700,000

The next step, according to the county, will be to enter into an individual memorandum of understanding with each nonprofit organization. Once the county receives those executed MOUs, they will again be presented to the board for approval during a regular meeting.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board unanimously approved a construction agreement with Abuck, Inc. for an addition to Fire Station 32 for $1.8 million with a 10% county-controlled contingency of $185,150, which totals about $2 million.

The addition is planned to include a new 2,050 square foot lodging building with six bunks and three bathrooms, laundry room, office space and community space, a new 200 square-foot personal protective equipment storage building and two open air metal breezeways to connect to the original station. This addition will eventually become the main station with future modifications.

Fire Station 32, according to county documents, is located in the Hickory Flat community and was built by volunteers in the early 1980s, and was not built to be manned 24/7 or accommodate the number of personnel who use it today.

Commissioners also unanimously approved an application by Rocky’s Lake Estate for a special use permit for a special event facility and a special use permit for non-scheduled chartered passenger air transportation on 9.8 acres at 2700 Cox Road. The permits will allow the venue to continue hosting special events, such as weddings, and allowing helicopters to fly in and out of the venue.

“I had a meeting earlier last week with Mr. Parks Huff (an attorney representing the applicant) and it was a very productive meeting. They will have to maintain the lake, the dam, and it’s going to be a major amenity for that development. It’s really laid out nice and fits the character of the area,” Commissioner Richard Weatherby said.

Also, the board unanimously approved a request to rezone 70.23 acres at 747 Arnold Mill Road from agricultural to a single-family residential district (R-40) for 58 homes.

Commissioners tabled a request from Boardwalk Storage-Killian’s, LLC and Boardwalk Storage-Univeter Road, LLC to change zoning conditions at 1265 and 1550 Univeter Road near Canton. Condition changes include allowing Boardwalk Storage to build a six-foot tall chain link fence along Univeter Road and along the eastern side of 1550 Univeter Road, rather than a 10-foot solid fence. Additionally, the applicant is requesting a variance to eliminate the requirement of a deceleration lane at 1550 Univeter Road.

Resident Shannon Thompson said while she can understand wanting to modify zoning conditions on the property, she wants to focus more on turn lanes on Univeter Road.

“Univeter Road is a critical services corridor and that’s a very dicey place to have entrances,” Thompson said. “I mean, the property across the road has gone through its fourth iteration that may be coming up; that piece of property, before it became light industrial and was a stand alone piece of property that’s now part of the boardwalk, it never sold because it never had any sight distance. We don’t need any more dangerous entrances.”

“Staff will be further reviewing access onto Univeter Road from the site and providing additional information when the matter is considered again,” said Cherokee Community Development Agency Director Brantley Day.

The case was postponed until the next meeting Oct. 4.

Commissioners also held a public hearing for zoning condition modifications for Scenic Summit Partners for a proposed development on 57.5 acres located at 7385 East Cherokee Drive near Canton from a single family residential (R-40) to R-40, for 59 proposed lots. To view these conditions, visit https://rb.gy/9jvivm.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved a 40-day moratorium on self storage facilities. A public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18 during the board’s regular meeting to determine whether to extend the moratorium.

♦ The board unanimously approved a proposal from Travelers for fiscal year 2023 insurance coverage for property, casualty and liability insurance for a total premium amount of $1.8 million.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved a purchase agreement to purchase Old Tippens School parcel and Hunt Road parcel from Cherokee County School District for $600,000.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the county’s construction services agreement with Pencor Construction for additional services for the Charlie Ferguson Community Center for $318,899.90.

♦ The board unanimously approved a lease extension amendment with Canon Business Solutions for the county’s multifunction copiers for $119,325.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved a right-of-way negotiations fee schedule with Atl♦ as Technical Consultants for the Trickum Road at Highway 92 Intersection Improvement Project for $73,000.

♦ The board unanimously approved the purchase of one Ford F-150 truck for the Sheriff’s Office for $44,885.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution establishing a growth boundary agreement with the city of Ball Ground.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved a call for a public hearing for Oct. 18 to consider the removal of zoning conditions to allow for an expansion of an existing care facility located at 2258 and 2260 Sam Nelson Road for St. Agnes Foundation of North Georgia Angel House, Inc.

♦ Commissioners unanimously approved a request to rezone 34.6 acres from general agricultural district (AG) to AG with conditions on Trinity Church Road for the development of a minor subdivision up to five single-family residential lots. The applicants, John and Lori McDevitt, are seeking to create five lots for themselves and their children, the smallest of which would be at least three acres. They also seek to build a road off Trinity Church Road, that will provide access to the parcels’ individual driveways.

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