The Carroll County Board of Supervisors have decided not to merge the Sanitation Department and the Carroll County Tax Assessor’s office.
During their Monday meeting, Tax Assessor Wilton Neal went before the board in Vaiden to again request the supervisors to consider the merge of the two offices. However, the board had already made its decision.
“We’ve talked about it and we decided that we’re just going to leave it the same,” Board President Rickie Corley said.
Neal suggested that the supervisors merge the two offices since Sanitation Clerk Dorothy Prewitt is retiring at the end of December. Neal said the move would have saved the county money because they wouldn’t need the things that are currently needed for the Sanitation office, such as internet, phone lines, or the salary that is used to pay Prewitt.
Currently, the Sanitation department is budgeted for $45,000, and Neal said it would have only taken $18,000 to complete the merger.
In other business, Warden Brandon Smith asked the board if he could hire another nurse at the jail.
“This COVID thing is getting the best of us, and one nurse can’t handle it alone,” Smith said.
He said the jail has had one lone nurse for 20 years, but an additional one is needed. Smith said the additional nurse would be a permanent position, and the money was there this year to pay the nurse’s salary.
“Next year, we’ll have to budget it in,” he said.
Smith did not recommend a candidate for the position.
Supervisor Jim Neill gave a report on Delta’s Edge Solar Farm. Neill said Renewable Energy Solutions officials said they were having problems with an investor, but things were back on track.
He said the work is ongoing, but he but he didn’t have a start date as of yet. Neill said because of weather and COVID-19, the project was pushed back for a few months but it is still set to take place in Carroll County.
The board also:
• Approved payment to jurors who served on the grand jury in Vaiden and Carrollton.
• Appointed Tracy Robertson to the Library Board for Beat 3
• Approved travel for Chancery Clerk Casey Carpenter and Circuit Clerk Durward Stanton for two separate chancery and circuit clerk conferences.
• Approved payment for GovEase for holding the online auction and amended the Tax Assessor’s budget for the payment.
Supervisor Claude Fluker asked Neal if the auction went better than holding it traditionally.
“It did,” Neal said.
“Did it happen simultaneously?” Corley asked.
“No, I think they went one item at a time down the list,” Neal said. He said traditionally the county makes about $7-8,000 in overbids but this year, they made over $20,000.
• Approved a payment for County Prosecutor Lori Bell
• Approved to re-hire Mary Jane King as a part-time justice court clerk for the Southern District.
Corley said both Judge Tinesha Erve-Earnest and Justice Court Clerk Frances Williams asked if it would be okay to rehire King to replace Miriam Dockery.
