The adoption of the Grenada County Land Development Ordinance highlighted the Nov. 6 Board of Supervisors meeting. Along with the approval of the ordinance, the Board handled their normal first of the month items. All five supervisors were in attendance for the meeting.
Code Enforcement Officer Eric Williamson said this was the first step of the adoption of International Building Codes and mandatory issuance of building permits.
Back in 2014, the state legislature passed a law that all 82 counties have building codes. Most of the counties failed to act, according to Williamson.
“A lot of the counties didn’t do anything,” he said. “They kind of just kicked the can down the road.”
Four years later, a law was passed that said every county had to issue building permits. The permits included any remodeled construction more than $10,000 and any new construction more than $50,000. With the new law came increased pressure from the state to follow these new mandates.
“The state basically said, ‘you have to get going on this,’” Williamson said. “We are not going to let you not do this.”
The Board hired Williamson in October 2022 as Code Enforcement Officer to begin the process to move to following the new state laws. A public hearing was held on Nov. 6 and the board formally adopted the ordinance.
“The new ordinance clearly designates what is agricultural, industrial, commercial and residential land,” Williamson said. “In a nutshell it keeps an industry from building in the in the middle of a neighborhood.”
A copy of the new ordinance is available in the Chancery Clerk’s office, according to Williamson.
In other action, the Board will receive and open bids for commodities at 10 a.m., on Dec. 18 with the following specification or equivalent; metal, poly and concrete culverts. They will also open bids for grader blades, bolts and nuts that are 6 and 7 feet long. Bids are to be good for calendar year Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024.
They also will open and receive bids for bridge/road repair/replacement from Jan 1 through Dec. 31, 2024.
