The Moore County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 7 approved multiple routine and substantive actions, including calls for public hearings on planning items, distribution of capital apparatus funds to five volunteer fire departments, a reimbursement plan for radio purchases, a change order for the county courthouse project and an interlocal inspection agreement with the town of Pine Bluff.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda: Motion to approve the consent agenda (motion made on the record). Outcome: approved (voice vote). Details: mover/second not specified in the transcript.

- Call for public hearing (Jan. 21, 2025) — Conditional rezoning from Rural Agricultural (RA) to Neighborhood Business Conditional Zoning (B‑1 CZ) for a proposed 116‑unit mini‑warehouse at 1280 Lehman Road (owner: Linda Dunlap). Outcome: motion to call public hearing carried.

- Call for public hearing (Jan. 21, 2025) — Text amendment to Chapter 6 (Unified Development Ordinance) to set maximum accessory structure size in RA‑20 and RA‑40 to 10% of lot area and related edits; planning board recommended approval. Outcome: motion to call public hearing carried.

- Call for public hearing (Jan. 21, 2025) — Conditional rezoning for a 259‑foot wireless communications facility at 9739 NC Highway 2427 (owner: Jordan 3 LLC). Outcome: motion to call public hearing carried; the presenter noted there is local opposition and that at least one resident remains opposed.

- Call for public hearing (Jan. 21, 2025) — UDO amendments to treat personal workshops as a principal use (changes to Chapter 6 and Chapter 8). Outcome: motion to call public hearing carried.

- Capital apparatus funding distribution — Approved distribution of remaining capital apparatus funds to five departments (Aberdeen, Carthage, Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Whispering Pines). Financial impact (as stated in the agenda): "16,000,755" total (transcript language); line items cited in the meeting included Aberdeen $100,121; Carthage $27,828; Pinehurst $42,253; Southern Pines $6,988; Whispering Pines $1,955. Outcome: approved.

- TDMA VIPER radio reimbursement plan — Approved reimbursement to the five volunteer fire departments up to Kenwood pricing under contract. Financial-note language in the presentation: county portion max payout $161,411; the presenter described an "actual payout amount" figure in the transcript (reported as 9,300,417) based on department documentation. Outcome: approved.

- Change Order No. 10, New Atlantic Contracting Inc. — Approved a change order increasing the courthouse contract by $550,561 and extending substantial completion from July 29, 2024 to May 1, 2025; revised contract sum cited as $42,573,904 and the additional amount was described as within the capital project ordinance (Fund 432). Outcome: approved.

- Interlocal agreement with the Town of Pine Bluff — Approved an agreement for the county to provide building inspection support services to Pine Bluff while that town rebuilds inspection capacity. Outcome: approved.

- Appointments — Reappointment of John Ritter (term expiring this month) approved. Appointment of the Moore County Fire Commission chair and vice chair were tabled to a later date by motion of the board.

Why it matters: The actions advance planning tasks (four public hearings), move county capital and equipment funds to volunteer fire departments under the county’s funding formula, add $550,561 to the courthouse construction contract and formalize inspection support to the town of Pine Bluff.

Notes on votes and recordkeeping: Several motions were carried by voice vote and the transcript did not record individual vote tallies or named movers/seconders for every item. Where the transcript lacked specific vote tallies or mover/second names, this article notes that those details were not specified in the meeting record.

Ending: The board set the public‑hearing date of Jan. 21, 2025 for the planning items and instructed staff to proceed with required notices and documentation; commissioners approved the funding distributions, reimbursements, the change order and the interlocal agreement during the meeting.