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Avery County approves park repair grant, temporary register-of-deeds hire and a new audit contract; broadband grants update provided
Summary
The board accepted a $25,000 Carolina Hurricanes Foundation grant for Schultz Circle Park repairs, approved a temporary deputy register-of-deeds position to train a replacement, authorized a county audit contract (not to exceed $41,500) and received an update on broadband grant awards and pending applications.
The Avery County Board of Commissioners approved several finance and recovery actions and heard updates on broadband grant awards.
Finance staff asked the board to accept $25,000 from the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation to repair Schultz Circle Park storm damage and to approve a matching budget amendment to record the grant revenue and capital outlay. The board approved the grant acceptance by voice vote.
The finance officer also requested authorization for a temporary full-time deputy register of deeds position to train a new employee ahead of a planned retirement in the registered deeds office. The requested budget amendment included $6,145 for salary and $471 for FICA/administration for a total of $6,616; the board approved the request.
The board authorized Blackburn, Childers & Stegall to audit the county's financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2025, at a price not to exceed $41,500; the finance officer said the increase represented $1,850 over the prior year and that the audit includes the fire commission audit. The audit is scheduled to begin in May 2025 with a report due by Dec. 31, 2025.
Separately, County Manager (Speaker 3) updated the board on broadband-recovery grants after Hurricane Helene. He said the CAB grant for $9,900,000 is in process and that the county was awarded an additional CAB 2 award with Skyline/SkyBest covering approximately 805 locations with an award of $1,889,000. Staff said they will apply for further state grants (including stop-gap and other rounds) as they open.
The board also reviewed and placed on the agenda a resolution supporting North Carolina Senate Bill 248, which would authorize local register-of-deeds offices to issue birth records for adopted individuals; copies were to be forwarded to the county's state legislators and the register-of-deeds association.
