ROCKINGHAM – The Richmond County Board of Commissioners held its first meeting of 2018 Tuesday evening.
Martie Butler, Management Analysis and Economic Developer, brought a public hearing on the closeout of the Community Development Block Grant for the Direct Pack project on Airport Road. With no public comments, the hearing was closed with no action required by the Board. Butler noted that this closes out the federal grant portion of this project.
County Manager Bryan Land then brought a request for a proclamation to the board. Land asked for the designation of Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, as a county holiday in memory of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King.
“It has been customary for the Board to adopt a proclamation in honor of Dr. King for a number of years,” Land noted. A motion was brought by Commissioner Thad Ussery and seconded by Commissioner Don Bryant. The motion passed unanimously.
Land also gave an update of several projects as part of his monthly report to the commissioners. The US 1 widening project (R2501) is progressing, according to his report. Grubbing was completed last week, and the water line relocation should take about 90 days to complete with good weather.
“Once the water line and other utilities are relocated, (the) DOT will let the roadway portion of the project around March of 2018,” Land added.
Another water project is approximately 90 percent complete. The water line extension for the Windblow community (in the northern part of the county) is expected to finish in the next two weeks. Land encouraged residents to contact water maintenance at (910) 997-8338 if they would like to take advantage of the reduced tap fees that will be offered for the first 90 days.
The normal policy allows homeowners a discount of $500 off the normal $900 fee of a 3/4 inch tap if they sign up within the first 90 days following completion of a water project.
Land, when asked by Commissioner Capps about how many people have already taken advantage of the discounted tap fee, noted that they are up to about 15 residences to date. Initial estimates projected only 10, and Land indicated that he was pleased with the response thus far.
Land reported that on the ongoing county-wide water meter project, all 7,500 residential meters have now been installed and all of the new meters for the commercial portion of the project have been ordered.
“I’m thrilled to report that we budgeted almost $5.1 million and it’s looking like we will come in drastically under budget at around $3.3 million,” Land stated to the Board. “That’s 35 percent savings, (which) is huge.”
Land gave the credit for these savings to the work that was completed in-house by the County staff. He credited Jerry Austin, Deana Cook and their staffs for having “done a tremendous job with spearheading this project.”
In other news, the Richmond County Airport project is still on time and under budget. The remainder of the paving is scheduled to be completed as soon as the weather breaks. The hanger relocation and apron expansion project is budgeted at $1.3 million and is funded 90 percent through grants.
Also brought to the Board’s attention was the gymnasium project at Cordova Middle School, which was reported as progressing well. The building framework is up and all of the fields are completed, including irrigation. Within the building, the plumbing and electrical work has been completed as well.
“The block-work and outer skin will be the next items to be completed,” Land said.
The annual solid waste report included stats of 7,500 bags (totaling 115 tons of debris picked up) from 367 different roadsides in 2017. This was a combined effort of County and DOT employees. Additionally, 917 tires were also removed from road sides within Richmond County.
Solid Waste Enforcement Officer Allen Hodges investigated 23 illegal dumping sites, issued 21 warnings and 72 citations. Over 1,000 community service worker hours were logged in 2017.
In addition to the progress of projects around the County, the Emergency Management building project is progressing well and is about 85 percent complete. This puts the project ahead of schedule by 60 days, with completion expected by mid-March of 2018.
“We received an almost $7 million grant to fund this project, making us the largest grant recipient in the state of North Carolina,” Land reminded the Board.
Several county employees were recognized by Land. Davone Goodwin, manager of the Sandhills AGInnovation Center in Ellerbe, was recently featured in the winter edition of Modern Farmer Magazine.
Susan Kelly, County Extension Director, was recently named the North Carolina Outstanding County Extension Director of the Year.
As previously featured by the RO, Neil Peacock and his team from Area Richmond Transit delivered goods to Florida residents who were devastated by Hurricane Irma earlier in the fall.
Land finished his report by mentioning that the last day to pay 2017 county taxes without incurring penalty is Friday, January 5.
The January meeting was closed with a request for approval of a Radio Console contract award for the new Emergency Services Center by Emergency Services Director Donna Wright.
“We held bid openings on the 12th of December,” Wright informed the Board. “We received two bids and I’m coming before you tonight to ask for awarding a bid of $403,453 to Radio Communications Company… this is 100 percent from grant dollars.”
Wright went further to say that the other bid came in slightly lower (about $8,800 less), but was for older technology that is expected to be obsolete in several years. The proposed equipment is expected to allow for future expansion and longer lifespan. The motion was approved unanimously.
Wright also brought a request for approval of Dispatch Workstation Contract also for the new Emergency Services Center. The bid, from Russ Bassett Corporation was for $163,422.02.
“As part of this grant, we are also having to put in new workstations, which is the actual furniture for the 911 center,” Wright noted. “One hundred percent is being paid by grant and 911 funds. Nothing (is) coming from general funds.”
For additional information on this meeting, contact the Richmond County Administrative Office at 1401 Fayetteville Road, Rockingham, N.C., by calling 910-997-8200.
