Coweta County's

growth may cause another department added to the county's government.

During Tuesday's

meeting, the County Commission decided to give County Administrator Theron

Gay greater purchasing power. The commission voted to allow Gay to approve

budgeted expenditures under $5,000 without calling the commission for

approval.

In the last

few months, commissioners have approved a number of bid confirmations

during meetings after being polled by Gay for their opinions.

Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said he is tired of having all the confirmations

at the commission meetings and said Gay should have the authority to approve

the bids.

The other commissioners

agreed, and Commission Chairman Robert Wood instructed staff to look at

the feasibility of creating a central purchasing department.

"I think

we're big enough to do that now," Wood said.

Wood has floated

the idea of a purchasing department before, and said many of the county's

staff are agreeable to the idea.

A central department

could free up the other county department heads to concentrate more on

management instead of writing purchase orders, he said.

Wood's directive

will be examined by the staff and brought