by Blake Proctor
The first Monday in December is a special day for County Commissioners only every even-numbered year, when the winners of the previous month’s political follies come to claim their prizes. The December 3rd Board meeting was no exception, but for the sheer number of new victors to be sworn in.
With a change of venue for their oaths of office, three re-elected and four newly-minted Commissioners, some with families in tow, ventured into the bowels of the Bladen County Courthouse to the basement Commission Chambers to receive their oaths, and to have official pictures taken.
Entering the Chambers one commissioner and family at a time to ensure social distancing during the Wuhanfluenza pandemic, each was given their oath of office by Niki Dennis, Bladen County Clerk of Superior Court, and then signed three pages of documents for her before the next electee entered.
In order of their appearance before Ms. Dennis were re-elected Commissioners Ray Britt and Michael Cogdell, followed by new-comers Dr. Danny Ellis, Mark Gillespie, Rodney Hester, and Cameron McGill. Arriving in time to claim the final signer’s spot was re-elected Dr. Ophelia Munn-Goins.
[slideshow_deploy id=’200156′]
They now join Republican Charles Ray Peterson and Democrat Arthur Bullock on the Board. With the absence of Commissioner David Gooden, a Republican, and the seating of Mark Gillespie, a Democrat, the Commission consists of five Republicans and four Democrats for this two-year term.
The newly- and duly-elected Commissioners made their way to the Superior Courtroom for the first meeting of the 2020-2022 Bladen County Commission.
With Chairman Britt officiating until a new Chairman was elected, the meeting was called to order at 6:30pm; the Chairman called upon the Reverend Bruce Miller of Hickory Grove Baptist Church to provide the invocation; County Manager Greg Martin led the Pledge of Allegiance.
The first item of business was the approval of the Consent Agenda, exceedingly light at seven items this meeting; there were no requests for item additions or changes, and the Consent Agenda, which always includes the current meeting agenda, was unanimously approved.
Next up was the election of a new Chairman and Vice Chairman. Commissioner Bullock nominated Commissioner Munn-Goins, reminding the Board that there has never been a Chairperson of Color, and adding that no County Departments Heads are either; Chairman Britt nominated Commissioner Peterson.
Nominations were closed and on a show of hands, Commissioner Peterson was elected Chairman on a 5-4 party-line vote; Commissioners Britt and Peterson changed seats. Newly-elected Commissioner Gillespie was nominated by Commissioner Ellis to be Vice Chair, and was elected unanimously.
Emergency Services Director Nathan Dowless came forward to present the recipient of the annual Employee Suggestion Award; this year, the recipient is EMS’s Jeff Kulp for suggesting, writing, and receiving an emergency services grant of $334,358 which will cover nearly 48% of the cost to replace or refurbish E-911 Center equipment.
There being no parties to speak before the Board, Commissioner Cogdell spoke on a Matter if Interest to Commissioners: He opined that with Covid19 on the increase again, perhaps it may be wise to revert to meeting telephonically.
He then requested that Mr. Martin prepare an inventory of all Department Heads by ethnicity, race, and gender for the next meeting. Mr. Martin replied that such a list could be easily compiled, as that information is kept readily available.
Kelly Robeson, Director of the Division on Aging, appeared before the Board to request approval of a temporary part-time In-home Aide position; this position will be funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, & Economic Security (CARES) Act. Her request was unanimously approved.
Health Department Director Dr. Terri Duncan stepped up to the dais to ask that the Commission approve her request from the last meeting to replace the two part-time Animal Shelter Attendant positions with a single full time position; as this has already been before the Board, approval was unanimous.
She then presented a Covid19 update by, first informing the Board that there will be no Federal or State vaccine mandates. Under guidelines, the first shipments of vaccine will go to such first-line Covid19 workers as hospital staff, EMTs and others who are at high every-day exposure risk.
The next recipients will be medical offices, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities; thereafter, vaccine will be made available to the general public.
Dr. Duncan stated that Covid19 testing is now being done Monday through Friday at the Health Department, and will be, at least through the end of December. She believes a successful provider extension will allow that expanded service to continue into the new year.
She ended her report first with a reminder of the “Three Ws” – Wear a mask, Wash your hands, & Watch your distancing, and then closed with the current state and county illness statistics:
LEVEL TESTED CASES DEATHS RATIO
State 5,600,000 399,366 5,560 1.39%
County 16,000 1,437 20 1.39%
(Ratio is the Percent of Deaths to Confirmed Cases)
Kip McClary, General Services Manager, had been tasked by the Commission to address some illegal dumping issues. In his Memorandum to the County Manager, he summarized the actions he, Greg Elkins with County Code Enforcement, and the Sheriff’s Department have undertaken to correct code violations.
Specific continuing problem areas include the Vause Road/Watson Graveyard Road dumping site and the Kennedy Store Road location. These sites have been cleaned up, but are again being used for dumping; the Sheriff’s Department has both sites under surveillance to catch violators.
As far as roadside cleanup, the NC Department of Transportation has curtailed this activity due to budgetary constraints. The Sheriff’s Department and General Services have teamed up to create and equip an Inmate Roadside Cleanup Crew, which is proving very successful, having collected over 76 tons of roadside trash.
Dean Morris, Director of the Soil & Water Conservation District, was present to provide an update on the NC Agriculture Conservation Easement Program to fund projects that will preserve agricultural lands and thereby the sustainability of family farms.
He summarized the goal of counties establishing Voluntary Agricultural District Programs or Farmland Protection Plans, stating the grant eligibility for developing and maintaining these programs closes December 18, 2020.
Turning to the previously-tabled matter of appointments to the Clarkton ETJ Advisory Committee and the Clarkton Fire Service District Committee, there being no further issues, all five appointments were unanimously approved.
Chairman Peterson advised the Commission that there were seventeen appointments to five Advisory Committees scheduled for approval at the December 21st meeting.
To finalize the open session, County Manager Martin began his portion of the meeting as always, with a review of the calendar of events for both the remainder of December and the month of January, reminding the Board that the January 18th meeting will be held Tuesday the 19th; that Monday is the Martin Luther King holiday.
On a request from the Commission at the previous meeting, Mr. Martin presented a proposal to provide one-time “hazardous duty” bonuses to employees, with $450 for high-exposure employees such as EMTs, $300 for mid-exposure employees, and $150 for marginally-exposed employees who have very limited contact with the public.
Since the County’s Coronavirus grant fund has more than sufficient money to cover the expected cost of this program, Commissioner Bullock wondered aloud if all employees could receive the same amount; this, of course, would defeat the purpose of the program to compensate those with the greatest exposure with the greatest reward.
With no further public business to consider, the Commission went into executive session at 7:45pm for the purpose of discussing issues of economic development. On exiting closed session, the Board immediately adjourned at 8.29pm.
About Author
