DALTON, Ga. — Get your swimsuits ready.

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Monday night voted 4-0 to support an effort by a group of citizens to build an aquatics center in Whitfield County. The commissioners agreed to donate land for the facility and to operate and maintain it. In return, the citizens have agreed to raise the money, a projected $4 million, to build a competition-size indoor pool.

Board Chairman Lynn Laughter typically votes only in the event of a tie, but she said she supports the project.

Supporters of the pool were happy about the vote.

“This will benefit not only the schools but the community as a whole,” said Bruce Lacle, whose daughter is a swimmer at Westside Middle School. “People can use it for birthday parties and other get-togethers. Who doesn’t enjoy a pool? It can improve safety by being a place where swimming lessons can be offered, first responders can train.”

Commissioner Barry Robbins said that “a number of citizens” had contacted commissioners supporting the idea for a pool. All three county high schools and two middle schools have swim teams. All practice at Dalton High School, which has the only competition-size indoor pool in the county.

“They are passionate about their objective. It would be good for our students,” Robbins said.

The citizens group said their preference is for the facility to be in Edwards Park in Varnell, and commissioners said they will try to meet that request but the location could be changed.

“Certainly, Edwards Park would be the most convenient for the swimmers,” said Parks and Recreation Department Director Brian Chastain. “It’s close to Northwest and Coahulla Creek high schools and a couple of the middle schools as well as the city of Varnell. The group that came to us said some schools in Catoosa County might be interested in renting it for their practices. But to put it in Edwards Park we might have to lose a couple of our tennis courts, and we also have to think about expansion. If we might ever want to expand that facility, would we have room at Edwards Park? I’m not saying it can’t be done. But those are the sorts of things we are going to have to consider.”

Chastain said the county also has land available at the Westside Park and at the site of a planned park near Southeast Whitfield High School.

• Before the meeting, the Dalton Building Authority briefly met and unanimously voted to accept a bid from Pinnacle Public Finance of Scottsdale, Ariz., to issue up to $4 million in bonds to build a new Whitfield County fire station on South Riverbend Road in the southeast part of the county. The bonds will pay 3.14 percent interest.

Commissioners then voted 4-0 to approve a resolution to repay the bonds from the property taxes collected in the special tax district for the fire department, which is everything outside the city limits of Dalton. Commissioners are talking about asking voters for a new Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) in March 2019 and have said they may shift the financing of those bonds to the SPLOST if it is approved.

Commissioners also voted 4-0 to:

• Approve a $12,200 agreement with Cornerstone Automation of Chattanooga to repair a leaking chiller in the heating and air conditioning system at the Whitfield County Health Department.

• Accept a $1.6 million loan from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to extend sewer to the Carbondale Business Park. Officials have said they have lost projects at the park because it did not have adequate sewer. The new system will have a capacity of two million gallons a day, compared to the existing capacity of 100,000 gallons a day.