Richmond County does not want the old Hoffman School building.

Richmond County Board of Education has declared the school site to be surplus property as of July 1.

Commissioners had the first right of refusal on acquisition of the property.

Commissioner Pam Dillman made a motion Monday night to refuse the property, and after a second by Commissioner Jimmy Maske, commissioners gave a unanimous vote to do so.

County Manager Jim Haynes said the board of education intends to offer the school and site to the Town of Hoffman for $1 on the condition the town would not operate a school on the property.

The property contains 4.516 acres at the intersection of Thompson Street and Butler Drive.

The board of education will still own some 23.5 acres in the area which is a pinestraw tract on which it harvests and sells pinestraw.

County Manager Jim Haynes said the building needs $200,000 worth of repairs to the roof and has an annual maintenance cost of at least $22,000.

He said perhaps the Lumber River Council of Governments could assist Hoffman with taking over the building. He said the county staff would help Hoffman with seeking help.

School matters

To be able to receive sales taxes for construction, the county will take ownership of the new Chalk Road Elementary School Property as agreed upon by vote of the commissioners Monday night.

The county will lease the property to the schools for construction then deed it back when the school is ready to be occupied.

Commissioners also agreed, under similar prior arrangement, to re-convey to the board of education deeds to:

n Rockingham Middle School

n West Rockingham School

n Fairview Heights School

n Mineral Springs School

n Cordova Elementary School

These school sites were conveyed to Richmond County during the process of construction and renovations.

Now that the work is completed, the properties will be conveyed back to the board of education.

Other items

Other items on the agenda Monday night include:

n Commissioners approved $13,896 worth of change orders on the new judicial building construction. That leaves $164,053.49 in the contingency fund balance. In response to a question from Dillman, B. K. Jones, Richmond County director of community services, said the contractor is using as much local labor as possible on the project.

n Rick Sago, county manager appointee, said he would continue to pursue a “plant managers’ association” and will see if Richmond Community College and the Richmond County Chamber of Commerce can assist in the effort.

n Sago said Big Rock Sports was planning another job fair and is working to staff a second shift. Inquiries can be made through the N.C. Employment Security Commission at its office in Rockingham.

n Haynes said the tax collection rate for the 2008 to 2009 fiscal year was set at 95.21 percent, down from 95.64 the previous year. He said it was a decrease of some $47,000.

n Property tax bills are due to be mailed by the end of July. A one percent discount will be offered for payments made in August.

n The environmental review is holding up progress on the new Fox Road area water line for another 30 days or so. Haynes said otherwise everything was in place to move ahead with the project.

n An application will be sent to the Golden LEAF foundation this week for money for the Rockingham to Ellerbe sewer line, Haynes said. And, he said they will be looking for more money through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Center.

n Commissioners approved an application from the Richmond Interagency Transportation for money from the Rural Operating Assistance Program for $193,982. Dillman said the state has money to provide transportation in rural areas.

n Hudson Paving was awarded a contract for $799,285 for paving the runway and providing new signs for the Richmond County Airport. Jones said the bid was good now that the price of asphalt has gone down. “It would have been $1.1 million a year ago,” he said. New signs will mark the runway as 14/32 (degrees) instead of the current 13/31. The county share will be 10 percent; the federal, 90 percent.

n Commissioners approved expansion of the insurance district for Cordova Fire and Rescue from five to six miles. It was approved earlier by the N.C. Insurance Commission.

n Lovin Road off Ledbetter Road, Rockingham, was removed from the state maintenance system.

n Dublin Court in Parish Glen Subdivision off McDonald Church Road, Rockingham, was added to the state maintenance system.

n E. L. “Butch” Greene was re-appointed tax administrator for the next two years.

n Dillman volunteered to represent the county as a voting delegate to the N.C. Association of County Commissioners’ Annual Conference in Catawba County from Aug. 27 to 30. There is a registration fee of $169 if paid before July 27. Hotel room costs are extra.

n Contact reporter Tom MacCallum at 997-3111, ext. 15; e-mail tmaccallum@yourdailyjournal.com.