Anderson wants commissioners to beef up agendas
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on September 23, 2007 2:00 AM
A member of the Wayne County Commission protested a trend toward brief meeting agendas at the group's most recent meeting.
"In the last few years, our agendas are getting shorter and shorter," county Commissioner Andy Anderson said. "There's lots of things that we need to talk about that are going on in this county."
Anderson said he took a trip to Colorado that "cleared out the cobwebs" and made him realize commissioners needed to tackle more during their twice-monthly meetings.
Specifically, Anderson said, he wanted to see more input from employees and directors of various county offices.
"Sometimes we think they're kind of out by themselves and doing their own thing," Anderson said. "We're all a piece of a large puzzle."
To that end, the commissioner said, he wanted to see members of other groups "at least one every meeting ... so we have better knowledge of what's going on this county."
The commissioner also said he would like to see more of the Sheriff's Office and the school district.
"We probably ought to have them at least once a month, to make sure this puzzle comes together. If we don't know what's going on in this county, then we can't be proper managers of the county," Anderson continued.
Commissioner J.D. Evans said he agreed with Anderson, and said the same principles of teamwork would help to make sure the county's strategic plan -- which gives guiding principles for the next two decades -- is implemented correctly.
One item the commissioners did take action on during their short meeting Tuesday was a decision to move on an option they were holding on a piece of land near the Mount Olive Industrial Park.
Purchasing the nearly 66-acre site from Paul C. Garrison Jr., the board agreed to pay half now -- $328,795 -- and half later. The cost is $10,000 an acre.
Located next to a currently vacant shell building, the land was originally projected to be the site of a bio-diesel production facility. Despite those plans falling through, the county decided it was in its best interests to go ahead and acquire the property.
"This will give us plenty of room to expand down there," Commissioner Jack Best said.
-- Staff writer Matthew Whittle contributed to this report.