By Erin Smith, editor
The Bladen County Board of Commissioners met on Monday night and heard from Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker regarding a lease agreement for office space with the North Carolina Highway Patrol. The office space would be in the new law enforcement center currently under construction on Smith Circle in Elizabethtown. The Highway Patrol is requesting about 290 square feet of office space to rent.
The agreement calls for the North Carolina Highway Patrol Sheriff to pay the county a sum of $4,500 every nine months for a period of 36 months to be paid on monthly installments of $500.
Sheriff McVicker explained that if the lease agreement were any longer than nine months at a time, it would have to go before the Council of State and be approved by them. The board voted unanimously to approve the agreement.
In other business, the Commissioners conducted a public hearing regarding an Animal Control Ordinance Amendment. No one spoke at the public hearing and the board voted unanimously to approved the amendment.
County Manager Greg Martin updated the board regarding two Bladen County folks who were recognized during the annual meeting last week. Martin said that Bladen County Commissioner Billy Ray Pait was named as recipient of the leadership award and Clerk Maria Edwards was named Regional Clerk of the Year
David Howard, Director of Bladen County Department of Health and Human Services, presented several agreements to the board which were all approved. They were an agreement with Cape Fear Valley Bladen Healthcare for physician services; an agreement to provide prenatal and postpartum services to mothers; an agreement with Elon University for Physician Assistant rotations; a grant was received by the Health Department in the amount of $5,700 grant to purchase a DVD player for patients; memorandum of understanding with the Columbus Count Health Department and Bladen Medical Associates for certain services; a memorandum of understanding with Eastpointe Mental Health; a memorandum of understanding with the Bladen County Department of Social Services; and an agreement with a staffing agency called Zoom Sourcing to provide home health nurses while the agency is in the process of being sold.
The board voted to table making any advisory board appointments to allow new members time to review the appointments.
The board heard from County Manager Greg Martin regarding setting a meeting to discuss an appeal by CB Bladen Solar regarding their denial of exclusion status. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on January 3.
The board also named Commissioner Ray Britt as the voting delegate for the upcoming NC Association of County Commissioners 2017 Legislative Goals Conference. The board scheduled a planning session for January 9 at 5 p.m. and approved an amendment to the Inmate Labor contract which adds the town of White Lake to the contract.
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