Martin Fiscal Court holds special meeting

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

INEZ — The Martin County Fiscal Court held a special meeting Sept. 1 during which members approved a resolution to obtain Flex funds and also appointed a board member to the Riverside Housing Authority.

Martin County Judge-Executive Victor Slone said that there are two separate Flex funds and that magistrates have $16,000 in each of them available to blacktop roads. He also said they couldn’t co-mingle the two funds and had to maintain records for both so that they know where the money is being spent.

“BTI got the contract to do the blacktopping,” Slone said. “As soon as we get this back, we can contact them.”

Slone read the resolution, which was approved by a motion made by Magistrate Mark Blackburn and seconded by Magistrate Jared Goforth, with all in favor.

Magistrate Junior Hunt was unable to attend the special meeting due to another job.

Slone pointed out that Groundhog Hollow had been submitted but that it had been rejected, so he submitted it again and it was still rejected.

“Barry Davis is our representative, and he said he is going to work on it,” Slone said.

Slone also told the fiscal court that Long Branch, Davella Road, Trace Fork and Big Lick would each be getting one-half a mile of blacktop.

In other business, Slone said that a new board member needed to be appointed to the Riverside Housing Authority and that the previous member had been a tenant that lived there, so the new member also needed to be a tenant.

Slone said Gabrielle Ray is who should be appointed and that she was good to help. A motion was made by Goforth, seconded by Blackburn, with all in favor to appoint Ray to the board.

The financials consisted of a small business, a tree service that couldn’t wait two months to get paid and reimbursement for a room for travel for a magistrate. The motion approving the financials was made by Magistrate Roger Preece, with a second by Magistrate Derrick Stepp and all in favor.

Blackburn asked about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) blacktopping projects that are planned, and Slone said they had bid out the project and would be opening the bids at the next regular fiscal court meeting scheduled for Sept. 16.