On Monday, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners approved a formal interlocal agreement with the city of Locust to provide water and sewer services to locations within the city’s corporation limits which are not within Stanly’s borders.

County Manager Andy Lucas noted the proposed agreement was received Nov. 15 by his office. Lucas and the county staff made some changes to the agreement which he went over with Locust City Administrator Cesar Correa and the town’s attorney. According to Lucas, neither had any objections.

Lucas asked the board to approve the proposal with a provision which would allow and authorize the county staff to make changes to the agreement “in the best interests of the county.” Changes would mostly be grammatical in nature, Lucas said, adding there would not be changes to the substance of the document.

“We just need to tighten it up,” Lucas said.

Vice Chairman Gene McIntyre moved to approve the agreement, seconded by Commissioner Jann Lowder, and the motion passed 7-0.

Grant Contract Approved

The board also approved an incentives grant administration contract with Hartigan Management Services regarding a project in the Norwood area.

A new food processing manufacturing operation will soon make a $500,000 investment and create 12 new jobs. The project has tentative approval to apply for a $250,000 forgivable CDBG loan from the North Carolina Commerce Rural Infrastructure Authority.

Both Stanly and the town of Norwood are responsible for the $30,000 required to cover the administration of the grant and environmental assessment fees. The 65 percent of the fee ($19,500) was previously included in the county’s Economic Development Commission budget, according to County Manager Andy Lucas. Norwood will be the lead applicant for the grant.

Commissioner Scott Efird moved to approve the contract, seconded by McIntyre, and the motion passed 7-0.

Consent Agenda

The Commissioners also approved the consent agenda; the motion was made by Commissioner Bill Lawhon and seconded by Lowder. The agenda included:

• the sale of surplus equipment including a 2008 Dodge Charger on govdeals.com;
• updating budget amendments on the fire marshal’s office and airport;
• approving the disposal of information technology surplus equipment; and
• adjusting a budget to include a donation to animal control from the board.

Final Board Comments

During the board comments portion, three of the commissioners who were participating in their final meeting took time to thank county staff and employees.

Efird said he “could not believe the past four years had gone by so fast.” He thanked the county staff and employees, along with fellow board members. Efird said his parents imparted in him the idea of leaving things better then you found it, which he thought the current board had done.

McIntyre echoed the sentiments of Efird, saying he has enjoyed being a county commissioner. Part of the reason he has are the people with whom he has worked, he said.

Chairman Joseph Burleson commended his fellow commissioners, adding “we don’t always agree on everything but I think we’ve over the last four years been able to make some good decisions and point Stanly County in a good direction.”