The Floyd County Commission is expected to decide today if it will accept a $400,000 trails grant several members have said they can’t afford.

The proposed Redmond Trail would go from the levee at Avenue A, along Little Dry Creek and past the post office, to Tolbert Park. It’s part of a link the board envisioned in 2007, from downtown Rome to the Pinhoti Trail.

County Manager Blaine Williams said Georgia Department of Transportation consultants notified him in September the grant may be withdrawn if “significant progress” isn’t made within 60 days.

But the county could be on the hook for as much as $150,000 in engineering and right-of-way costs, at a time when revenues are down and departmental budgets are being cut.

Commission Chairman Irwin Bagwell was one of several who also pointed out that the project limits — narrowed since the original grant application — would be wholly inside the city of Rome.

“I consider this a capital project for the city,” he said.

Board members deferred action earlier this month after Commissioner Rhonda Wallace said there could be a chance of private funding.

The Commission caucuses at 4 p.m. and starts its regular session at 6 p.m. in the County Administration Building, 12 E. Fourth Ave. Both sessions are open to the public. Click here for the agenda.

Among the other items on the board’s agenda is a public hearing on an amendment to the Unified Land Development Code that would modernize the definitions of auto repair and auto service shops.

Rome-Floyd County Planning Director Sue Hiller said zoning regulations should recognize a “new” category of businesses such as Jiffy Lube, Midas and Firestone that offer services but don’t sell gas.