The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners met in regular session = on Monday, December 1, 1997 at 6:30 PM in the Conference Room of the County Of= fice Building, 90 South Main Street, Sparta, North Carolina

&= nbsp; The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners met in regul= ar session on Monday= , March 3, 2008= , at 6:30pm in the= Board Meeting Room of the Count= y Administration Building, 348 South Main Street, Sparta, North Caro= lina.

&= nbsp; Present: Chair Ken Richardson, Vice-Chair W= arren Taylor, Commissioner Randy Miller, Commissioner Doug Murphy, Commissioner M= illy Richardson, County Attorney Donna Shumate, = County Manager Don Adams, and Clerk to the Bo= ard Karen Evans.

Chair Ken Richardson called the meeting to order.

Commissioner Doug Murphy led the Pledge of Allegiance and opened the meeting with a prayer.

Chair Ken Richardson reviewed the agenda changes; delete David Higgins, Larry Ada= ms, closed session and add deed of trust release and secondary road public hear= ing dates.

Commission= er Milly Richardson made a motion to approve the amended agenda for this March 3, 2008<= /st1:date>, meeting. Commissioner Randy M= iller seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.

= ;

AGENDA

Monday, March 3, 2008

6:30 PM

6:3= 0 &= nbsp; Meeting Called To Order

Pledge of Allegiance and Praye= r

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Motion on Agenda for March 3, 2008, meeting

Motion on Minutes for February 18, 2008, meeting =

6:3= 5 A. Public Comments—30 minutes

B. = David Higgins &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (deleted)

RE: Fire Departments

C. = Junior Waddell

RE: Personnel

D. &nbs= p; John Kilmartin

RE: Razor Edge Skate Park

E. = Mary Walker

RE: Board of E&R/Tax Advertising/Tax Office Annual Report

F. = Register of Deeds Annual Report

G. = Arts Council Annual Report

H. = Piney Creek Volunteer Fire Department Annual Report (deleted)=

I. = &nb= sp; County B= usiness

1. PEG Grant Budget Amendment

2. Tag Office Update

3. Non-Smoking Policy<= /span>

4. Budget Work Session=

5. Deed of Trust Release &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; (added)

6. Secondary Road Public Hearing = Dates (added)

7. Other Business

8. Closed Session—NCGS 143-= 318.11 (a) (6)—personnel = (deleted)

9. Adjourn

Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to approve the minutes for the February 18, = 2008, meeting. Commissioner Randy Miller <= /span>seconded the motion.&nb= sp; Vote 5:0.

Chair Ken Richardson opened the public comments’ portion of the meeting and asked for public comments. No= ne were received. He closed the public comments’ portion of the meeting.

John Kilmartin came before the Board to request a one-time allocation for the Skateboard Park. He talked about the huge increase = in concrete prices. He explained= that their current shortfall is $4,400. He further explained that they are asking the County to become invol= ved as a partner on this project. He talked about funds they currently have and the different revenue sources. He stated that the total raised is $16,400.

Commissioner Doug Murphy and John Kilmartin discussed the $4,400 shortfall is on phase 1= . John Kilmartin explained that phas= e 2 is all through private donations.

Commissioner Warren Taylor asked about the timeline for the project and could it wait until budget time.

John Kilmartin explained that the park should be completed in May.

Kathy Murphy stated that they hope to complete the park in May and have a grand o= pening on June 21. She explained wha= t has been done so far.

Commissioner Warren Taylor and John Kilmartin discussed the Town’s participation.<= o:p>

Commissioner Doug Murphy asked about the recreation department providing $2,000.

John Kilmartin stated that was a misunderstanding of prior funds and now underst= ands that those funds aren’t available.

County Manage= r Don Adams explained that those funds were Recreation Commission funds and were not earmarked for the skate park; therefore they were used on the ropes course.=

Chair Ken Richardson and County Manager Don Adams talked about the money would come from the fund balance.<= /p>

Commissioner Warren Taylor made a motion to approve the request for the skate park.&nb= sp; Commissioner Milly Richardson seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.

Commissioner Doug Murphy stated his appreci= ation to Coalbey Murphy for his hard work on this project.

Lizabeth Roupe, Register of Deeds, presented the annual report for the Register of D= eeds office. She discussed the tot= al collections for the calendar year, real property recording fees, number of = real property documents handled, amount collected in excise tax, number of certi= fied vital records, marriage licenses issued, death certificates filed and the n= umber of plats recorded. She talked= about the total revenue transactions. She stated that it the office was self-supporting for another year. She talked about goals achieved for= the office.

Commissioner Warren Taylor and Lizabeth Roupe talked about all of the land re= cords are now online.

Lizabeth Roupe explained that electronic recording will be coming soon.

Chair Ken Richardson thanked Mrs. Roupe for her report.

Mary Walker, Tax Administrator, came to present her annual report for the Tax Office. She reviewed the acti= vities of the Tax Office including billing and collections, audits performed, revaluation and the Board of E&R and online property records. She talked about special projects including billing/collections software.&nb= sp; She explained that Fred Sides developed software that they just began using. She stated that the Tax Office will begin collecting taxes for the Town of <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Sparta. She explained that she hopes to start using the debt set-off program= , begin accepting credit cards and would like to have access online to pay taxes. She explained what the collection = rates are for real property and vehicles.

Commissioner Milly Richardson stated that the Tax Office does a good job and a lot of ha= rd work.

County Manage= r Don Adams = and Mary Walker discussed that the software costs $35,000. They also discussed that the prior software package was in excess of $280,000.

Commissioner Warren Taylor and Mary Walker = discussed that the data is backed up daily.

Chair Ken Richardson asked the Commissioners for dates for the Board of E&R.<= o:p>

Mary Walker reminded the Commissioners of the rules for the Board of E&R.

The Board discussed dates for the meetings.&nb= sp; They decided on April 8, 22, 29.

Mary Walker talked about the date for advertising tax delinquents. She explained why she picked the m= iddle of May. She talked about the process to get to the actual advertising.&= nbsp; She explained that letters will be going out on March 17 and the ad = will run on May 8.

County Manage= r Don Adams = talked about reasons to have this in early May.

Commissioner Warren Taylor made a motion to grant permission for Mary Walker to run the = ad on May 8. Commissioner Doug Murphy seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.

&= nbsp; Genia George presented the annual report for the Arts Council. She stated their appreciation to t= he Board for their continued support. She talked about the programs they offered during the last year incl= uding activities for the students and the community as well as upcoming summer activities. She expressed the= ir appreciation for all of the help that the Commissioners give them.

&= nbsp; Commissioner Warren Taylor stated his appreciation for all they do with the programming.=

&= nbsp; County Manager Don Adams presented budget ame= ndment General Fund #24 in the amount of $50,000 to budget for the PEG grant that = goes towards Channel 50. He explai= ned the breakdown of the revenues, and this budget amendment is for equipment f= or Channel 50 and this conference room.

Commissioner Warren Taylor made a motion to approve budget amendment General Fund #24 in the amount of $50,000. Commissioner Doug Murphy seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.

= County Manager Don Adams updated the Board regarding the stat= us of having a license plate agency in Alleghany County. He stated that it is the intention= s of DMV to open a tag office here. He explained that they have accepted applications, reviewed them and conducted interviews. He further explai= ned that a decision should be made soon. He stated that once an applicant is selected they will have six week= s of training and time associated with getting the lines in place.

County Manage= r Don Adams = stated that he invited the Sheriff back for this next discussion, but the Sheriff declined the invitation stating that he would comply with the Commissioners’ decision. He reiterated that the Commissioners have ma= de all facilities smoke-free with the exception of the = Law Enforcement Center and the smal= l area behind the court room.

Chair Ken Richardson stated that he thinks the entire courthouse should be made smoke-free.

Commissioner Milly Richardson asked didn’t the Board discuss the Law Enforcement Center’s publ= ic areas.

= County Manager Don Adams reviewed conversations with the Sher= iff regarding the Law Enforcement Center.

Commissioner Milly Richardson stated that the complaints she receives are about the publ= ic area.

Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to include the courthouse and the public are= as of the Law Enforcement Center<= /st1:PlaceType> as smoke-free.

= County Manager Don Adams asked for clarification on what are = public areas in the Law Enforcement Center<= /st1:PlaceType>. He further asked are we talking ab= out the lobby area and the hallway to DMV or everywhere to the secured areas. He stated that currently there are= no smoke-free areas in the L= aw Enforcement Center.

Commissioner Milly Richardson talked about making the public areas excluding the Jail ar= ea as smoke-free.

Commissioner Warren Taylor and County Manager Don Adams talked about the new law allows the Board of Commissioners to make faciliti= es smoke-free.

Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded the mot= ion on the floor. Vote 5:0.

County Manage= r Don Adams = talked about scheduling a budget planning session.

The Board and the County Manager discussed d= ates for the meeting. They decided= on March 19 at 6:30pm.

County Manage= r Don Adams explained that the Department of Transportation is requesting dates to sche= dule the secondary road public hearing. He explained what the meeting is.

Clerk to the Board Karen Evans reviewed dates available for the meeting.

&= nbsp; The Board discussed the dates and decided on April 16 at 6:30pm.

&= nbsp; County Manager Don Adams reviewed the economic development deal with Charleston Forge having two deeds of trust and their purposes. He talked about one= deed of trust was satisfied in 2006 and now the second one has been satisfied. He stated that the County Attorney will file papers to release the second deed of trust.

&= nbsp; Being no further business, Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to adjourn= at 7:26pm. Commissioner Warren Taylor seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.

Respectfully submitted, &nb= sp;

Karen Evans &= nbsp; &nbs= p;

Clerk to the Boar= d &= nbsp;

Attest:

Ken Richardson

Chairman