Out of the 36 items on the agenda Monday night, simple change orders were some of the most talked about by the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.

The board approved two, tabled one and denied another.

The board approved the first change order put forward by Community Services Director B.K. Jones, because it’s the kind most boards hope for — when the county gets money back. The change order was because Hudson Paving didn’t need as much material as originally thought for runway pavement rehabilitation.

The second change order asked for the addition of a stone base and lighting for the main entry sign of the new judicial center building and to delete landscaping along the retaining wall. There also was a slightly controversial part of the change order that dealt with a request to install an exhaust system into the evidence presentation room on the fourth floor of the building which would be used for crime recreations for juries.

This evidence presentation room would be the only room like this in the state and the change order would cost the county $5,080, which made the board hesitant to sign off on it.

The District Attorney’s office said this room would be a great tool in getting murderers convicted and would be a useful resource for Richmond Community College students in the criminology programs. The special room, equipped with the exhaust system would allow for any sort of reenactment involving the angle in which a gun was shot plus fog to demonstrate smoke or fire, etc.

Commissioner Thad Ushery said he wanted more research done on the subject to see how much of a difference a room like this would make in convicting criminals, and also wanted to see if the community college would utilize such a space.

“I know it’s not a lot of money considering what we’re spending on this project, but we’re at the point now where people are questioning what we’ve spent,” Ushery said. “It’s hard for me to prove now if we need this.”

“I think it’s important,” Commissioner Pam Dillman said. “If it’ll take one murderer off the street it’s worth it. I know we need to save money, but we need to let people know the safety of their family and community is what we’re all about — trying to keep people safe.”

The board agreed to table the change order until the January meeting. It also denied a third change order for lighting for the front of the building, and stairs and railings for the rear of the new judicial center which would have cost about $8,246.

Also during the meeting, the board was presented with a revised tower code, which the county planning board had been working on for months, and the board decided to send it back to the planning board to amend the code to include all towers and a one-to-one height ratio for guy wires.

The planning board had suggested that the fall area for guyed (six or more) towers could be 75 percent of the height and for self-supporting towers (less than six guys) 100 percent of the height. But the board of commissioners wanted the fall area to be 100 percent of the height for both kinds of towers.

The amended draft had also provided an exemption for ham radio operators and AM/FM radio towers, but the board didn’t feel it was appropriate to discriminate any towers, that they should all be under the same rules and guidelines.

So the planning board will revise the ordinance again and it bring it back before the commissioners at a later meeting.

The board also approved two incentive packages — one worth $150,000 for Richmond Specialty Yarns and one worth $24,000 for Knit Rite — the two companies who announced last month they’d be expanding their operations and job force in Richmond County.

The board also set a public hearing for January to decide whether or not they should accept letters of credit or bonds before granting someone a demolition permit, in order to avoid situations like Safie Mill, which the board voted Monday night to declare a nuisance and declared and order of abatement.

The owner of the Nordstrom track at Safie Mill now has 15 days to clean up the site. At the end of those 15 days, if the site is not cleaned up, it will be handed over to the county and any costs associated with the abatement will be attached as a lien against the subject property.

The board approved a transfer of property to the city of Hamlet to help enhance recreation in the city and Commissioner Peggy Covington said she was excited with the board’s decision.

“This is huge,” she said. “The City of Hamlet and it’s partners have done a terrific job of revitalizing this area ... this will do so much to improve this area.”

The county also approved a contract for the Fox Road waterline project.

“This has been a huge effort,” said County Manager Rick Sago.

Commissioner Pat Dillman asked if by this time next year, Fox Road would have running water.

“I’m sure,” County Manager Rick Sago said. “There are no guarantees, but I feel happy we’re getting close.”

During the manager’s report, Sago said he and the tax department are working on creating a more user-friendly web site so customers can pay their taxes online using their credit cards, checking accounts, etc., and can access their information without having their bill in hand. He said it should be up and running in the next few months.

The board also approved giving Sago contract authority. All this does is define his role as manager a little more by allowing him to appropriate designated funds in the budget without going before the board for every little thing. The board of commissioners has to approve the budget annually so they will still know how the money is spent.

A revolving loan request of $75,000 to the Electronic Services Company (ESC) to build two new Internet towers was also approved by commissioners Monday night. ESC has had loans with the county in the past and has been on schedule with all of it’s payments, Sago said.

During a brief presentation, the board received it’s audit report from CPA Alan Thompson and while there were no major significant finding, Thompson did point out that the county’s general fund has been shrinking every year for the past five years and that they really need to continue to tighten debt as much as possible and watch the revenues.

“I don’t have a magic answer,” Thompson said. “But the general fund balance will pose some challenges for you as you go forward.”

And on the topic of money, the board held a closed session during the meeting to discuss a personnel matter, and upon reconvening the meeting, the board voted to set the newly elected sheriff’s salary at $74,000. Sheriff Dale Furr has been in his position for 15 years and was earning $97,000.

In other business, the board voted to keep Chairman Kenneth Robinette as chairman of the board, and elected Commissioner John Garner as vice chair and voted to keep Stephen Futrell as the county attorney; voted to appoint planning board alternate William Cipriani as a regular planing board member in place of Diane Honeycutt who had to resign due to her election to the Hamlet City Council and appointed Tim Hayden of Rockingham as alternate; approved the naming of a private road located off of McDonald Church road to Back Gate Church Road; voted to allow county staff to change over their 457 plans to Prudential, which is what the state has it’s 457 plans with and authorized the supplemental 401K options through Prudential for county employees.

The board also approved fire protection contracts; denied a request to purchase property from the Richmond County School Board; voted to designate the county Department of Social Services as the county agency to assume administration of N.C. Child Support Enforcement beginning July 1, 2010; approved appointments to the county board of health and county development team and also accepted grant funds from the N.C. Department of Environmental Health to help increase recycling participation in Richmond County.

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.