Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Christa Price

 

POLK COUNTY—On Monday, May 19, at 5 p.m., the Polk County Board of Commissioners held its regular meeting to discuss various agenda items and hear citizen comments.

The meeting was held in the Bryant H. Womack Justice and Administration Building at 40 Courthouse Street in Columbus.

The board began the meeting by proclaiming May 18 to May 25 as Emergency Medical Services Week, followed by citizen comments largely opposing a bill in the NC General Assembly that would limit local governments’ abilities to control development. A formal resolution opposing the bill was approved during the meeting.

Next, a public hearing to review and discuss the approval of the text amendments to the zoning ordinance was scheduled for June 16 at 5 p.m. The ordinance can be viewed at www.polknc.gov/ordinances.php.

The board also heard a proposal from Nathan Clapsaddle with the NCDOT on granting permanent and temporary easements for access to the Highway 9 bridge over the Green River.

The easements will support cleaning up the Green River, replacing the bridge, and developing recreational access. The county accepted the right-of-way agreement for the property NCDOT will receive for $37,525. Construction is set to begin in January 2027.

“We are excited that the bridge replacement project is happening on NC 9,” says County Manager Marche Pittman. “We look forward to a successful completion of the project.”

Commissioners also approved reimbursement to the Public School Building Repair and Renovations Fund. The funds are to replace kitchen hoods at Tryon Elementary School and Polk Central Elementary School, replace the roof at Tryon Elementary School, and fund a complete replacement of the fire monitoring system at Polk County High School. The reimbursement comes from the repair and renovations lottery fund and not the local capital budget.

Additionally, tax refund requests for White Oak Manor through April 30 in the amount of $73,955.53 proposed by Tax Administrator Melissa O’Loughlin were approved.

Volunteer board applications for various boards were also approved, with Teresa (Terri) Morrin being nominated to the Board of Adjustment. Adrienne Reilly was nominated to the Equalization and Review Board, with Morrin nominated as the alternate at large. Randy Ingle and Andrew Roddy were nominated to the Green Creek Fire District Tax Commission. David Bradley, Marshall McGuinn, and Harold Odell were nominated to the Sunny View Fire District Tax Commission. Dalton Putnam was nominated to the Tryon Fire District Tax Commission.