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Bladen County Commissioners held a regular meeting Monday and took action on several items, heard reports and held a closed session to discuss personnel.

The Consent Agenda included scheduling a Public Hearing on property located on US 701 N. past Merritt’s Pottery to receive comments related to rezoning from Residential Agricultural (RA) to Commercial (C). Owners of the property are seeking the change to possibly accommodate a new Dollar General store in the area.

Commissioner Arthur Bullock requested the board reassign a county vehicle to Heather Ellis, an EMS employee. He stated she had a vehicle assigned to her, but was pregnant and it was re-assigned to someone else. Bullock stated she could better serve the county if she had a vehicle. He stated she was required to use her private vehicle when she was required to dispense medicine at the EMS building near the airport. Chairman Charles Ray Peterson disputed the reason the auto was reassigned but asked County Manager Greg Martin to provide information related to the matter at the next meeting. Bullock also stated the Elizabethtown Rescue Squad was in the process of selling a heavy duty crash truck and offered the county the first offer to purchase. If the county is not interested, it will be offered to any willing buyer. Martin will also provide information related to the request at the next meeting of the commissioners.

Commissioners recognized Deputy Warren Holder who recently retired from the Bladen County Sheriff’s department. Holder has about 40 years in law enforcement, some in the military, a few years another state agency and about 20 in the local sheriffs department. Capt. Jeffrey Singletary praised Holder for his work. Chairman Peterson presented him a plaque and his weapon. Holder will also be recognized Friday in a ceremony at the Sheriff’s department.

Commissioners approved a Resolution in support of a Revised House Bill (117) related to the distribution of sales tax. Peterson and Martin said the proposed change would greatly benefit Bladen County, however, the NC House and Governor McCrory appear to oppose the legislation that has passed the Senate.

Phil Geary, Transportation Engineer with the NC Department of Transportation, presented a new Comprehensive Transportation Plan now being considered by the state. The long range plan the distribution of funds and the projects to be undertaken for the next 25 to 30 years. The towns in the county are also included. The plan includes every county in the state and project funding is competitive with urban counties most likely to receive the majority of the funding. Dr. Delilah Blanks questioned why the upgrading of the transportation does not include the ‘four laning’ of NC 87 from Elizabethtown to US 74-76 in Columbus County. Geary sympathized and said he would bring the issue to the group discussions at the state level. The DOT representatives will return as the plan is being developed. The upgrade of NC 87 had been on the previous Transportation Plan (TIP) for several years but funding was never approved.

The Board received reports related to the State of the County Health Report and Young Families Connect Program. (more later)

Commissioners approved a reclassification of an EMT position from EMT-Intermediate to an EMT-Paramedic position. The cost of the update was just over $3,900.

Commissioner Jimmy Smith was appointed as voting delegate at the annual meeting of the NC Association of County Commissioners, scheduled for August 20-23 in Greenville, NC.

The board went into closed session to discuss personnel.

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