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County Council Tables 2nd Reading of Land Use Regulations

Daniel Prince

Council member urges concerned citizens to get involved in boards and commissions

On Tuesday, Phillip Russell presided over his first Union County Council meeting since being sworn in as supervisor. In a meeting that lasted less than half an hour, council covered a good bit of ground.

Tracie Campbell made a motion to table 2nd reading of the Union County land development regulations ordinance pending further discussion by the Union County Planning Commission. She said it would be best to have more meetings and gather more input to make sure that what is eventually voted on is best for Union County. David Sinclair thanked the Planning Commission for their hard work on the regulations so far. He said he is in favor of land development processes, but the ordinance needs to be tailored more to fit Union County, and he asked the commission to get those involved who will be directly affected by this ordinance to get their input. Supervisor Phillip Russell thanked the public for coming out to the hearing last week at Main Street Junction, saying their feedback was well received. Dr. John Flood noted that there were probably around 250 or more people there, and that it would be nice if, when council is looking for folks to fill seats on commissions, boards, and committees, that one of them would step up and volunteer. He said you can’t fix anything in the county unless you become a party in the process, and he said this is how you become a party in the process. The vote to table the ordinance was unanimous.

Of the four people who requested to be on the agenda, Mary Owens was the only one in attendance Tuesday night. She requested $29,150 in funding for her organization, Sisters on the Move by Faith Education Center. She said it is helping to train senior citizens in various skills with a goal to motivate, educate, and encourage seniors to play their roles in this county. She said the organization has received a tax ID number, and she continues to work on its 501c3 status. Supervisor Phillip Russell referred her request to the finance committee.

There were two vacant budgeted positions council voted to fill. There was a vacant full-time position in Probate Judge Toni Allen’s office, and there was a finance position coming open at Union County 911, as Esther Starnes will be retiring. Supervisor Russell stated that Starnes handles all the finances for the office, and she will be working part-time for the next few months to help train her replacement. The vote on both positions was unanimous.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office requested capital funds of around $32,000 that had been earmarked for computers and radios to pay for a couple of federal surplus K-9 cars that Sheriff Bailey and the supervisor found. Russell said both vehicles were in excellent condition with very low miles, and the total cost for both was $30,100. They come equipped with a dog cage, lights, and everything, and all that would be needed is to put the logo on the side and a radio inside. He said the sheriff had already spent the money for the radios and computers out of his budget, not realizing the capital funds had been set aside for that use. Council voted unanimously to release the funds to the sheriff’s office for the vehicles. We’ll have more from the meeting in tomorrow’s newscast.

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