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JACKSON – The Northampton County Board of Commissioners approved a list of several items during their meeting on April 21 which were first discussed earlier in the month.

At their April 7 meeting, several department heads made presentations to the board on different requests. Because the first meeting of the month is typically a non-voting meeting for the commissioners, they included the requests in the consent agenda on April 21, unanimously approving everything all at once.

One of those items included a lease agreement with Rich Square Volunteer Fire Department.

Northampton EMS Director Casey Griggs presented the information, explaining that they have an EMS crew utilizing space in in the Rich Square VFD building, but they needed to put a lease agreement into place to continue. The proposed agreement would be a one-year term for a total of $20,000 (which is monthly payments of $1,666).

According to the lease agreement, Northampton EMS will use one truck bay in the building and also have access to common areas, including parking, restrooms, lounge, and dining areas during the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

As previously reported by the News Herald, Northampton EMS has a similar agreement with Garysburg VFD to utilize part of their building as well, in order to provide faster response times to more areas of the county.

Another item on the agenda concerned solid waste curbside and dumpster pickup.

The county put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) earlier this year seeking companies who could provide trash pickup for residents. County Manager Julian Phillips said three companies were initially interested, but only two completed the RFP request. Those two companies were GFL (the current provider) and Unity of Carolinas.

At the April 7 meeting, Phillips recommended moving forward with GFL who quoted a cheaper price than Unity. If approved, they would continue on to negotiating a new contract with the company. Phillips also stated that they may be able to reduce the trash pickup fee for citizens with this new agreement.

Last August, the commissioners approved an increase in the trash pickup fee to make up for a shortfall in the county’s solid waste fund during the previous fiscal year.

Proposed increases to Code Enforcement’s building inspection fees were also included in the consent agenda.

Derrick Bennett, who was serving as Northampton Interim Code Enforcement Director, explained that the proposed fee increase was to help keep the department from operating “in the red.” He also noted that Northampton’s fees were lower compared to several neighboring counties.

The fees affected by the increase include plan review fees/technology fees, new residential construction and modular building permits, residential additions/remodel, manufactured homes, trade permits, non-residential construction, and miscellaneous fees.

Bennett stated that the trade permits were the largest increase, going from $52 to $75.

Health Department Director Megan Vick requested an update to the county’s Tobacco Free ordinance to include a ban on e-cigarettes as well.

Vick explained that the ordinance was first passed by the commissioners in 2012, and the Tobacco Free ordinance covers all county grounds, facilities, and vehicles. Since then, e-cigarettes have been added to the market and have grown in popularity. The Board of Health recently recommended updating the ordinance to align with new state regulations.

Other items in the consent agenda included a copier agreement for the new administration building, an increase in the Department of Social Services attorney fees, reappointments to the Turning Point Workforce Development Board, and ad valorem tax appeals.

All those matters were unanimously approved without further discussion at the April 21 meeting.