WINTON – During the May 1 Hertford County Board of Commissioners meeting, the board questioned Mike Barnette of McDavid and Associates (contracted by the Mid-East Commission) about the progress of the Community Development Block Grant scattered site program.

Commissioner DuPont Davis questioned Barnette concerning potential contractors for the sites. Barnette stated in a letter to the county manager that “any bidder (contractor) must have a general contractor’s license to bid, contract or work on any scope of work to be completed by a licensed subcontractor.

“There is nothing in the statutes that support this,” County Building Inspector Paul Vaughan said.

“This statement wasn’t accurate,” Bryant Buck of the Mid-East Commission said. “There is no documentation to back this up. As long as the (contract) is under $30,000 they do not need to be a licensed contractor.”

Barnette admitted he had no documentation to prove this license is required to perform work estimated at under $30,000, but was going on the word of Mike Brown, the eastern regional field investigator for the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors.

“There seems to be some miscommunication in your office,” Davis said.

The board agreed to table the issue so the county could continue to accept bids on the projects based on the new information.

Davis stressed the need to complete the projects as soon as possible because the people living in these residences are low-wealth and their homes are in desperate need of being repaired or replaced.