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The Vance County Board of Commissioners met Monday evening, and Chairman Gordon Wilder and the full board administered two public hearings.
The first was a pre-budget public hearing in which suggestions and priorities could be voiced by residents. The only people who actually spoke were Frankie Nobles, Chief of Vance County Animal Services, and Michelle Wood, the Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society’s rescue coordinator.
Overall, their remarks were to demonstrate the continued success Vance County is seeing as a result of the “outstanding partnership between the shelter and RCAPS,” Nobles said.
Wood told WIZS News that the Ruin Creek Animal Protection Society “pulled 760 dogs and 686 cats for a total of 1,446 animals in 2019. Fifty-five were medical cases averaging $1,000 per medical case.”
There is an obvious opportunity for Vance County to allocate more towards animal services, given the tremendous benefit and results being enjoyed as a result of the public-private partnership presently at hand.
The second public hearing resulted in a unanimous vote to add the town limits of Middleburg to the Vance County Zoning Jurisdiction.
Middleburg Mayor Ray Bullock addressed the commissioners and said Middleburg’s old zoning ordinance was created in 1974, a time he said a handshake would really take care of things and when “neighbors looked after each other.” He said, “We appreciate you all looking at this.”
Vance County Planner Angie Blount and Interim Vance County Planning Director Sherry Moss told WIZS News the result would be zoning enforcement, code compliance, subdivision ordinances, zoning permit, building permit and perc testing among other things that Vance County will now administer for Middleburg.
The board also approved proceeding with the NC Department of Transportation to clear the way to construct a turning lane on Warrenton Road at the manned waste management site, a location that dates back to a time when such locations were referred to as “the green box.”
While the price tag of more than $300,000 would tend to raise an eyebrow or two, the board’s actions actually are expected to introduce a savings of about $100,000 to the county, with $81,000 expected to be out of pocket for the turn lane itself and the balance to additional site development.