Highland County Board of Supervisors January 2021 Meeting
The Highland County Board of Supervisors held it’s first monthly meeting of 2021 on January 5th. The Board took care of organizational items for the new year. Harry Sponaugle was elected Chairman for 2021 and John Moyers, Jr. was elected Vice-Chair.
The Board adopted Rules of Procedure with no changes from last year. The meeting schedule was set with no changes. Meetings will be held monthly on the first Tuesday at 7:30 and work sessions will be held monthly on the third Wednesday at 7:30 at the Highland Modular Conference Center.
The Board approved the schools request for third quarter appropriation funding of $1,208,858.
The Board also approved a Department of Social Services request to add to its budget $5,935.83 for foster care. That money came from state funding.
The Board appointed Christoph Herby to the Tourism Council to serve a four year term.
A joint public hearing with the Planning Commission was set for January 28 on a conditional use permit application for Adam Yoder to operate a small restaurant at the bakery on Jackson River Road.
County Administrator Roberta Lambert reported on the CARES Act funding. She said the county will soon have exhausted all the funding it received, but there are still a few outstanding items. She said the deadline for reporting on expenditures was extended to December 31, 2021.
The county is looking into getting a ZOOM account so all county agencies can offer their meetings virtually.
During public comment, Vicki King spoke about her objection to the county’s Emergency Medical Services fee. She said she felt the fee is not being collected in the way the legislation intended. She questioned how the costs for EMS were calculated to come up with the fee amount. She said some taxpayers are having to pay the fee twice. Supervisor David Blanchard responded that there are issues that need to be addressed and the board will be having an ongoing discussion about it. He said it does need to be made more equitable. Chairman Sponaugle said the board will be taking a hard look at the EMS fee before doing the budget.
Story By
