(Left to right) County Commissioners Andy Grooms, Robin Roberts, Jeff Smart, Chairman Rick Watkins, Justin Dawkins, Jason Gainey and Jamie Gathings.
                                 Screenshot via Richmond County Government Television

(Left to right) County Commissioners Andy Grooms, Robin Roberts, Jeff Smart, Chairman Rick Watkins, Justin Dawkins, Jason Gainey and Jamie Gathings.

Screenshot via Richmond County Government Television

ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a proclamation last week designating Jan. 20, 2025, as a county holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“I’m asking the board to consider approval of that proclamation honoring Martin Luther King Jr. in designation of Jan. 20 of 2025 as a county holiday in memory of the life and work of Dr. King,” said County Manager Bryan Land. “It has been customary of this board to adopt a proclamation in honor of Dr. King for several years. I’m asking you that you approve the proclamation as read.”

The motion to approve was made by Commissioner Robin Roberts and seconded by Commissioner Dawkins, with all commissioners voting in favor.

Following the adoption of the proclamation, Chairman Rick Watkins invited Land to present the county manager’s report. Land began by commending the tax department for its efforts. “First and foremost, from our tax department, we would like to take the opportunity to thank our citizens that have already paid their taxes for this year and remind those remaining citizens and county that county property taxes were to be fully paid by yesterday, as of Jan. 6, to avoid paying a late penalty. Those 2% penalties have been added. It’s 2% for the first month, and three quarters of one percent after.”

He highlighted an increase in collection rates compared to the previous year. “Our collection rate percentage finished December out at a 66.54% compared to a 65.75 from December of 2023, which was our highest month on record. So once again, we breached that record.” Land expressed optimism about reaching the county’s 2025 goal of a 98% collection rate.

Land also provided updates on the Richmond County Animal Shelter under the leadership of Tessie Caulder, who took over operations in October. “I wanted to briefly touch some updates from our animal shelter. Mrs. Caulder has been over the shelter operations for three months now. That started on Oct. 1, and I’ve got some stats from the end of the calendar year, and intake numbers were around 78, and she did receive 14 new ones on top of that today, which will obviously go into the January numbers. Euthanization numbers are extremely low. She had 8 dogs and 4 cats that she did have to euthanize. Most of those were either aggressive or very sick. Adoption numbers have been very strong. She adopted out 33 animals so far in her 90 days that she’s been there. She returned 11 to their owners, transferred out to rescues—that’s another strong number—35 animals. And an important fact to remember is we’ve still got 15 protective holds out in the shelter that are taking up a good percentage of our space, and those animals have been in there for over a year now, and she is trying hard, working through the court process to get those animals out of the shelter.”

He emphasized the importance of spay and neuter programs for the county’s animals. “Briefly touching on spay and neuter, a reminder that all of those animals that are eligible leaving that shelter, having that procedure already performed or having an established appointment for that procedure—some of those animals, puppies or kittens are too young to have it done when they leave, but they are leaving with a voucher and an appointment set up. Most of those are funded through sponsorships, rescue groups, humane society, our local spay and neuter program—Dr. Sauders is helping tremendously with—and also Operation Fix, that you guys have funded considerably through county appropriations.”

Land shared results from a state inspection conducted at the shelter on Dec. 9. “The state did come in and visit the shelter on Dec. 9 for a follow-up inspection, and according to that report, some of the comments and verbiage directly from the report were as followed: ‘The new shelter operator has been in contact with the state inspector regularly since licensing to ask questions and ensure compliance since issuing the new license. Housing areas were clean, odor-free and well-maintained in a safe condition. Animals housed at the Richmond County Shelter appear healthy and well-cared for. Random records were pulled by our staff and reviewed; all records were easily located and in compliance. Your license for 50 dogs and 30 cats, a total of 80 animals at Richmond County Shelter.’”

Land also detailed progress on several infrastructure projects. He noted that work on the Consolidated Services building is ahead of schedule, with major steps completed on the parking lot and new interior walls. The magistrate parking lot, graveled for over a decade, was recently paved. The demolition of the old locker plant building in downtown Rockingham is nearly complete, and the Health and Human Services parking lot rehabilitation is expected to begin soon, weather permitting.

The long-anticipated 73-74 bypass corridor is scheduled to open to traffic on Jan. 21. “They did have an inspection in mid-December and The Department of Transportation (DOT) is optimistic and they’re scheduled to open traffic to that road finally on Jan. 21,” Land said.

He concluded his report by praising the success of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP). “As you know, that’s our program that helps fund one-time vendor payments to eligible households to pay their heating bills through the winter—it has certainly come in handy on these awful cold weeks we’ve been having. So far, Theresa and her team have done an outstanding job getting those funds out. We were budgeted for $405,334, and as of Friday afternoon, our remaining obligations that’s left in that coffer is only $89,534, so they’ve done a great job at getting those funds out. Our priority group that she’s targeted on is households containing the elderly folks over 60 and above, households containing persons with disabilities that are receiving services through the Department of Aging Services and Adult Service Protection were eligible and were able to apply Dec. 1 through the 31, and then beginning on Jan. 2, the program was opened to everyone else that was wishing to apply.”

Reach Ana Corral at acorral@cmpapers.com