WINDSOR – The Bertie County Board of Commissioners may not have convened a regular first monthly meeting for July, but it was not done in order to take a long holiday weekend.

The Commissioners, fresh off adopting a new budget for the brand new, days-old fiscal year, did hold a special meeting session last Wednesday to discuss upcoming business on their regular agenda for later this month.

Following a special closed session meeting – allowed under state statute for the discussion of confidential information – that was held with the County Attorney, the Board then held a review and discussion session on the approval of a U.S. Department of Agriculture application.

“It (the discussion) had to do with a capital improvement plan for (county) Water District 3 that addressed some of the improvements the county was committed to when it merged with the South Windsor water system,” said County Manager Scott Sauer.

The South Windsor system was absorbed into the county’s water system in spring 2014.  Lewiston-Woodville’s transition from municipal to county water came earlier this year and Roxobel’s system has been evaluated by Green Engineering.   A contract with the engineering firm was agreed upon last winter regarding the county moving forward on acquiring that town’s water system, including updating the Roxobel system’s hydraulic model and assistance to the county in locating a booster pump station to improve the town’s water pressure.

In early February, the Commissioners had a two-day planning session; and in the July 1 meeting they talked about expanding on what was begun last winter and how some of those ideas banded about then could be implemented within the new fiscal year.

“They talked about goals, they talked about budget, they talked about what projects they want to look at in the future,” Sauer said. “They want to sort of have a review and status (update) of where they are on some of those things.”

The County Manager says the board will get together at an all-day event at the end of this month (July 30) at the Cashie River Center beginning early in the day.

With the cancellation of the first Monday meeting, the Commissioner’s meeting for July 20, to be held at the Blue Jay Fire Department in the Indian Woods community, will have a packed agenda.  In addition to the regular agenda, preliminary items include presentations as varied as the state Department of Transportation to a proposed faith-based leadership summit at the Bertie Correctional Institution.  Sheriff John Holley will also update the board on the electronic monitoring-home detention system as a jail alternative.  These items are in addition to the Commissioner’s regular agenda and, for now, are subject to change or alteration.