Greene County Board of Commissioners meeting recap
Snow Hill - On Monday, December 5, 2022, the Greene County Board of Commissioners met in their regular meeting at the Greene County Operations Center. As this was the first meeting since the general election, County Manager Kyle DeHaven led the start of the meeting asking the County Clerk of Courts Holly Little to deliver the oath of office to the three newly elected/re-elected board members.
Commissioners Bennie Heath (District 4) and Jerry Jones (District 3) were both re-elected to their seats. Joining Heath and Jones was Ray Johnson, who was elected in November to server as Commissioner for District 5. Each man took the oath of office and then returned to their seats. Mr. DeHaven then called on the Board of Commissioners for nominations for Chairman of the Board. The only nomination put forth was for Bennie Heath to continue as chair. Mr. Heath then took over the meeting and nominated Commissioner James Shackleford to serve as vice chair. The vote was unanimous and Comissioner Shackelford was elected to serve as Vice Chairman.
Prior to beginning the business part of the meeting, Chairman Heath recognized out going board member Susan Bilizzard.
Heath stated, “We wanted to recognize outgoing member Susan Blizzard for her 8 years of service as a commissioner. Susan could not be with us today, but we have a plaque for her and want to acknowledge her hard work and dedication to the county.”
Following the seating of leadership, the meeting was centered on three different presentations. The first being about the expansion of water services to different areas throughout the county. Rich Moore with Greene County Water shared with the Commissioners that through the American Recovery Act that the county received earmarked funds to help expand and improve water lines.
Mr. Moore shared, “As of right now, the county does not have a policy in place for the use of public money in expanding water lines to new areas. We have one that address private expansion but nothing for the use of public money solely. That is something the board may want to visit as we shift through this money.”
Commissioner Burress asked, “What is the criteria for the use of the money? How do we determine the need for expansion?”
Mr. Moore responded that currently there were no set criteria, but that he believed the inclusion of the planning board and determining “the value of the investment and return on it for the county,” would need to be considered as part of any new policy. Moore reiterated that there wasn’t an action item for the board, just information and to spur discussion of the development of a new policy.
Following that discussion, Charters of Freedom presented a proposal to build a monument to the charters of freedom somewhere in the county. Dr. Streeter from the organization presented the information and details about the program and what they would provide to the county. The Board took the information under consideration and asked the County Manager to explore it further. Last, the Economic Development Director, Trey Cash, presented that My Future NC was developing plans to work with economic partners and schools in the region to help move students towards having the skills needed for the workforce that exists and will exist. A motion was made for the board to approve a resolution supporting their efforts. That motion passed unanimously. Following that, the board entered closed session and the public meeting was adjourned.
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