The Bladen County Board of Commissioners have scheduled several public hearings for Monday, June 3 in the meeting room on the lower level of the Courthouse in Elizabethtown. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m., according to Chariman Charles Ray Peterson.
The public is invited to the hearings.
Among the hearings on the agenda concerns the proposed fiscal year 2019-20 operating budget. County manager Greg Martin has submitted his proposed budget to the board. It’s available for inspection in the County Manager’s Office located in the Administrative Building at 201 East King Street and in the Bladen County Library. The document also is available on the county’s web site at bladeninfo.org.
Other public hearings include:
Development of a Community Development Block Grant-Neighborhood Revitalization program application.
Bladen County Economic Development Commission
Salaries, retirement, and healthcare costs for two full time staff members and one part time member are $210,407, a portion of which is reimbursed by Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial Inc. Operating costs (advertising, telephone, utilities, memberships and dues, client entertainment, postage, copier costs, supplies, travel) are $20,951. Bladen County has an incentive agreement with
Smithfield Farmland Corp. and $217,741 is included in the FY 20 budget.
Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
Allocation to support Chamber’s operating costs, marketing and events is $3,500.
Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial, Inc. (BBAI)
Rents received from the state of North Carolina of $444,975 for the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle Call Center and the Elizabethtown JobLink center to cover rents, utilities, maintenance, cleaning, cleaning supplies, trash removal, landscaping, and yard and lot maintenance are passed on in the same amount to BBAI. The County of Bladen pays $30,000 for their allocation of space for Bladen County employees and services in the JobLink center.
North Carolina’s Southeast Partnership (NCSE)
Bladen County allocates $20,000 to NCSE to support the public, private partnership which provides marketing, advertising and technical support services for the recruitment of business and industry to 18 counties in Southeastern North Carolina.
Southeastern Economic Development Commission (SEDC)
Bladen County allocates $3,167 to SEDC to provide grant writing and administrative services for US Economic Development Administration grants. Membership in this organization is required to be eligible for EDA grants.
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