Less than two months after being elected to office, Kevin Lewis was named the vice chairman of the Henry County Board of Commissioners for 2023. The vote by his fellow commissioners came January 4 at the board’s first regular meeting of the year.

Lewis won the election for the District V seat in November. Bruce Holmes, who had held the seat for 12 years since first being elected in 2010, was unable to run for a fourth term because the newly approved district map changed the layout of the district significantly and it no longer included his residence.

Holmes now lives in District II, and at the same meeting he was appointed by Dee Clemmons to represent that district on the board of the Henry County Water Authority. His was one of many appointments approved by the commissioners to the HCWA, Council on Aging, Development Authority, Library Board, Recreation Board, Henry First Inc., Zoning Advisory Board, Transportation Advisory Committee, and Citizens Police Advisory Committee.

In other business, the commissioners approved an ordinance enacting a moratorium relating to commercial and residential multi-family housing. The vote to approve was unanimous.

The issue was not previously on the agenda but was added at the meeting. According to a county staff report, the ordinance includes “horizontal and vertical apartments, townhomes, and duplexes for an indefinite period not to exceed 12 months.”

The board also approved an ordinance amending the code regarding the termination date of the six-month impact fee grace period for development, which is February 2 and not January 2 as incorrectly stated in a previous ordinance.

The commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement with the city of McDonough regarding an intersection improvement project at Hwy. 20 and Turner Church Road. The agreement stipulates that McDonough will commit $250,000 toward the cost of the project.

According to a county staff report, the intersection improvement is included on the city’s project list for the transportation special-purpose local option sales tax (T-SPLOST) which was approved by voters in the fall of 2021, which is why the city has committed this funding for the project.