Homeless individuals and how they arrive in Albemarle from surrounding areas were topics of discussion at the Feb. 18 meeting of the Stanly County Board of Commissioners.

Commissioner Peter Asciutto asked for a change in the minutes of a recent work session meeting to reflect statements made regarding homeless using the Greyhound bus line to come to Stanly.

Asciutto asked for the addition to the minutes in the general discussion area on homelessness in the county, adding the following sentence: “Commissioner Asciutto asked Commissioner (Brandon) King and Commissioner (Patty) Crump if they would still like Greyhound (Bus Lines) to stop service in Albemarle. Both replied, ‘Yes.’ ”

Crump seconded Asciutto’s motion, and during a discussion on the motion, King said, “If I had my wishes, we would stop that bus immediately. There would be no more Greyhound bus in Stanly County. I am very clear and firm on that…the safety of Stanly County residents is my utmost importance.”

“I don’t think we’ve heard anything but bad things about that bus stop,” King said. “I don’t think it’s brought anything good to Stanly County.”

Crump said she was in “total agreement” with what King said.

Greyhound “serves a good section of our community,” Asciutto replied. “What do you want to do about the citizens that utilize the bus that have family members coming in? Without the Greyhound bus (stop) here, they would have to take off more time from work and pick up the person from Charlotte or Salisbury.”

He said Greyhound was “no different than Amtrak or Delta. They get people from point A to Point B.”

King said when he and Crump came on the board, they asked Asciutto for statistics about Stanly residents using the bus “and you couldn’t provide those. If it’s such a good service, there should be statistics showing that.”

Crump said she attended a recent Albemarle City Council meeting regarding homelessness. She said downtown business owners “talked about how scary it is to walk outside their business. There were people defecating in their presence in the parking lot area. There was a man walking around with a hatchet.”

The motion to change the minutes passed unanimously.

This is a developing story. The Stanly News & Press has reached out to Greyhound for a response and more information about their service in Albemarle.