Commissioner Larry Johnson scored a victory Tuesday night during the meeting of the board of county commissioners. Each board member represents a district and so each will, at times, take an especially vested interest in a particular issue facing their constituents.
Johnson has reminded his fellow board members repeatedly about the fire in 2018 that gutted Faith Baptist Church on Franklin Road in the Toast community of Mount Airy. He has been asking, and gently reminding from time to time that he has asked, for a solution to preventing such a fire again by adding a fire hydrant to the East side of Franklin Road.
On Thursday he told fellow board members that the City of Mount Airy had taken it upon itself to place a request for bid and had selected a contractor to lay not one, but two, new fire hydrants on the East side of Franklin Road. One of the two new hydrants will be located on the school grounds to protect the largest elementary school in Surry County from another such dangerous fire.
Greenfield Utility Construction LLC won with a low bid of $135,000 for a project Fire Marshal Jimmy Ashburn called a no-brainer. Johnson informed Mount Airy will continue to lead the effort, “They took it and run with it… and are willing to pay for it, and bill us half of it.”
Mount Airy and the county will split the cost of the project 50-50 with the county’s $67,500 being paid from the general contingency fund. Johnson thanked the city and the board for agreeing to remove this thorn from his side and protect the citizens in Toast.
More than a dozen agencies responded to the Faith Baptist fire with assets even crossing the line from Virginia. Franklin Elementary was examined for smoke damage and air quality before students were allowed back in for instruction.
Pastor Randy Edwards said at the time, “I don’t think there’s words really to describe all the emotions you’re going through at that time, it’s devastating.”
Johnson has been pushing for the new hydrant to prevent anyone else from the feeling of devastation Edwards referred to and has been monitoring the potential cost estimate as well. As with nearly everything else, the projection went up dramatically, but County Manager Chris Knopf also pointed out that a second hydrant had not been included in the quote before.
In other actions at the board meeting:
– Jessica Montgomery of the county’s public works department sent through a series of budgetary changes related to the constructions of the new detention center that needed board approval. Contractor HG Reynolds and Moseley Architects are overseeing the detention center construction. The firm sent four changes to cost projections on projects like waterline blow-offs and epoxy of floors/surfaces in the center’s shower rooms, and one price reduction to a fifth project.
The board of commissioners approved the five budget projection changes that added a total of $60,099 to the projects initial estimated total cost of $41 million. Completion of the project and opening of the facility are to happen this year, with firm dates yet to be announced.
– The Town of Elkin renominated Bill Golden to be the ETJ representative on the planning board and board of adjustments. The board approved his reappointment for another term upon the recommendation of Sarah Harris, Elkin’s town planner, which will run through December 2025.
– In county personnel moves, Samantha Ange, county health director, received approval to establish a new Public Health Nurse II position that will work in support of the WIC division. WIC is the colloquial name of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children that serves to help those who are at “nutritional risk.”
She said the nurse will help “provide services to meet the needs of Surry County residents and proved high quality health care and resources.” Ange is using creative staffing to fill this job as she told the board in her memorandum that finding a nutritionist to work for the health department has been challenging. The Public Health Nurse II role can be cross trained, providing some of the same services her department is lacking for not having a nutritionist on staff.
– Finally, a resolution sought by residents and faith-based leaders was presented to the board in the fall that seeks to have the county proclaim this a safe place for the unborn. Residents petitioned the board to consider the resolution that would proclaim Surry County as a sanctuary county for unborn children and take a stand against abortion, or murder as proponents of the resolution may choose it phrased.
Since the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June that changed the face of reproductive health and rewrote the laws on abortion in many states across the nation, some women have been seeking recourse by travelling across state lines to places where there are less stringent restrictions.
While there are restrictions, abortion is still legal in North Carolina until week twenty of a pregnancy. In July, Governor Roy Cooper by executive order decreed the state would not seek to prosecute women who cross into the state seeking an abortion and the resolution proposed to the county board seeks to plug that hole, at least in spirit.
Chairman Eddie Harris recalled that when last discussed all five commissioners expressed an interest in further discussion of the resolution “in some form or another.”
“This is the resolution in regard to the sanctity of life. I would ask the board members think about this, I think we really ought to have a unanimous vote on this. I am not going to let perfection be the enemy of good in this, I think if we’re going to do this – and I do support doing this – I think it ought to be a unanimous vote.”
He encouraged his colleagues to consider the resolution and offer comments to him. “Think about it, makes some notes in regard to what you can support, and can’t support, and bring those back to me,” he advised that during one of February’s meetings the board could consider the resolution as the public requested.
In October Harris said he was aware any such action by the county commissioners would be a non-binding resolution, but he said there is a benefit to the board, and therefore the county, taking such a stand, “It (the resolution) has no weight behind it, it would send a strong message.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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