Two recent decisions by the Henry County Board of Commissioners will enhance county events at one of its parks as well as other locations.

  The board voted at its July 9 regular meeting to approve the $94,250.73 purchase of equipment to create a cultural arts center and flex space theater at Nash Farm Park. The equipment will be used to improve the existing activity barn, which county officials said has limited use in its current condition.

  Dee Clemmons, in whose district Nash Farm Park sits, said that the county does not own an arts space at all and there is nothing of this kind in the western part of the county. She added that this action is the best way to create such a space without building one from scratch or buying an existing facility.

  County officials noted that the space can be transformed at a much lower cost than buying or constructing a new building. It will be a multi-use location and can be rented out.

  “This could greatly enhance special projects and initiatives offered by the Henry County Parks and Recreation Department while increasing revenues as an economic driver,” according to a county staff report.

  The equipment being purchased is demo/used and thus less expensive than if it were new. Funds for the purchase are available in the District II impact fee account.

  The motion to approve the purchase was approved unanimously.

  Another purchase that received unanimous approval was a $94,075 allocation for a mobile staging system that can be transported all over the county for various events. Officials said it would be more economical than building multiple permanent stages and would benefit existing programs like the annual Veterans Day event while also allowing the county to offer new programs countywide and help increase revenues.

  The structure being acquired is a stage only, without lights or sound equipment, but there is rigging for it to be added at each event. HCPRD director Tim Coley said a sound and light company would do that work for each event anyway, since the county does not have technicians for it. Since the stage is hydraulic and takes two people to operate, a portion of county staff will be certified to do it.

  Gary Barham pointed out that this type of system would save a lot of money in overtime and other expenses stemming from a lengthy setup and teardown process at each event. He also suggested that it could be rented out to the county’s cities from time to time. Johnson said there are no plans to rent it out at this time, but that option is not off the table.

  Funding for this purchase will come from the countywide impact fee account.

  In other business, the board approved a $15,000 budget amendment requested by the Henry County Police Department related to its participation in the U.S. Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force. It was described as a “strategic alliance of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to confront and suppress technology-based crimes.”

  Certain HCPD officers assigned to the task force as trained and equipped at the National Computer Forensic Institute and will be made available for a three-year period to assist the Secret Service in the event of a large-scale cyberattack within Georgia, according to officials.

  The U.S. Treasury Department, of which the Secret Service is a part, has a policy for reimbursements of certain overtime costs and expenses for agencies involved in joint operations. The budget amendment was required to get that process started.