MOULTRIE , Ga. — The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners has tabled plans to decrease the minimum size of a primary residence.

At the board’s meeting on Tuesday, commissioners reported getting several calls from constituents opposed to reducing the minimum size from 900 square feet to 720 square feet within certain zoning districts. The plan was designed to allow smaller manufactured homes.

In the work session ahead of the meeting, Commissioner Chris Hunnicutt said the proposal didn’t go far enough. He said he’d spoken with an official at a manufactured housing company, and that official had told him they sell a popular 560-square-foot model that could not be used as a primary residence in the county, neither under the existing ordinance nor under the proposal.

“I believe if you own the property, you ought to be able to do what you want to on it,” Hunnicutt said.

His view aligned with Commission Chairman Denver Braswell, who has indicated a desire to eliminate the size limit entirely.

The discussion began at the commission’s July 5 meeting when John Touchton, who builds tiny houses, approached commissioners about allowing them in the county. County Compliance Officer Justin Cox said then that he hadn’t been approached by anyone seeking a tiny house for a primary residence, but he had been approached by people who wanted to place manufactured homes smaller than the 900-square-foot minimum.

He said the zoning rule applies only to a primary residence. The smaller manufactured homes or even the 400-square-foot tiny houses discussed in July would be perfectly legal as guest houses, he said, although they may require a variance.

Commissioners agreed for Cox to begin the process to change the zoning law to allow houses as small as 720 square feet. The process has taken about five months, including proper advertisement and consideration by the Moultrie-Colquitt County Planning Commission, and county commissioners expected to vote on the proposal Tuesday. Under state law the commissioners would not be able to alter the terms of the rule change being considered: They could approve the 720-square-foot minimum or reject it, but they couldn’t make it smaller or larger without starting the process all over again.

During Tuesday’s regular session, Hunnicutt made the motion to approve the 720-square-foot minimum. No one seconded it. Rather than letting the proposal die for lack of that second, the commission tabled it until its Dec. 20 meeting.

The planning commission had voted to approve the rule change by a 5-4 vote with Chairman Eric Wingate abstaining. Cox, who was present at that vote, said there were no public comments from the planning commissioners about it, and county commissioners wanted to know what thoughts went into the 5-4 split.

The planning commission meets again on Monday, Dec. 12, and some of the county commissioners said they would attend. They also asked Cox to extend an invitation to planning commission members to attend the county commission’s Dec. 20 meeting.

In other action Tuesday, the board:

• Approved a contract with OnSolve for its Code RED mass notification system to distribute emergency messages throughout the county.

• Received an update on employee health insurance. John Taylor of TBR, which provides the county’s coverage, warned of an increase in the county’s premiums after an increase in large claims this year. He offered some suggestions to mitigate the increase, but commissioners made no decisions about them on Tuesday.

• Heard from Don Storrusten, a resident of Lower Meigs Road, who has been having problems with his neighbor’s dogs. Storrusten and his neighbor live in an area zoned for agriculture, which means the county’s leash law doesn’t apply there. He urged commissioners to change the ordinance, but none took up his cause. Commissioner Marc DeMott said he was running for his current seat when the leash law was passed and he remembers opposition to it was strong; making it apply only in areas zoned residential was a compromise necessary to getting it passed.

• Approved a contract with the district public defender that includes a slight increase in cost. The increase was approved during the county’s budget sessions in the fall, but the contract doesn’t take effect until January.

• Named Chuck Brooks to the county Board of Assessors to replace longtime assessor Johnny Spooner.

• Reappointed David Herndon to the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority and appointed Jeb Griffin to replace Commissioner DeMott, who is leaving the MCCDA.

• Tabled an appointment to the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society board of directors to replace Commissioner Johnny Hardin, who is leaving the board.

• Reappointed Commissioner Paul Nagy and Barbara Grogan to positions on the Southwest Regional Commission. A third position on the commission is still being advertised; the seat is currently occupied by Johnsie Handfield, who did not wish to be reappointed.

• Approved the purchase of two side-loader garbage trucks at a cost of $385,748 each with a $220,750 buyback option from Sansom Equipment. Delivery is expected in 14-16 months.

• Approved other routine purchases and payments.

• Approved splitting a four-acre lot on Old Norman Park Road into four one-acre lots.

• Discussed ways to notify landowners about their responsibility for garbage pick-up for their tenants’ residences. Chairman Braswell said some landlords are receiving surprise bills after their tenants leave and stop paying for garbage services.

• Approved a 12-month contract with Sutton Systems for gasoline, diesel and red diesel fuel. The prices are significantly higher than the current contract, which ends Dec. 31, but commissioners and county staff said they expect fuel prices to increase; the contract allows them to lock in current prices for next year.