The McDonough City Council voted at its Feb. 18 regular meeting to approve a $642,000 payment to Henry County for its share in construction costs for the McDonough Parkway extension project.
City manager Keith Dickerson informed the council that he had received a letter Feb. 1 from Roque Romero in the county’s SPLOST department about the money. The two municipalities entered into an intergovernmental agreement in 2013 regarding this project. Romero wrote that under the terms of that agreement, the city was to make the payment within 60 days of receiving the formal request which came with the letter.
The city will pay this expenditure from its own SPLOST funds.
In other business, the council voted to put the question of extended Sunday alcohol sales on the next municipal ballot. The move is in response to the so-called “brunch bill” passed by the Georgia General Assembly which allows municipalities to change the start time for Sunday sales by referendum from 12:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Dickerson noted that Henry County and the cities of Hampton, Locust Grove and Stockbridge are also considering whether to put it on their ballots, and it passage could create an issue of competitiveness where local businesses in the county are not all on the same level. Council members stressed that the vote did not reflect their opinions on the issue either way, but was to allow citizens the opportunity to vote on it.