Alleghany County departments report on staffing, IT, facilities and exploratory housing plans

County department heads briefed the commission on routine operations and exploratory projects.

Tiffany Bowyer, human resources, said Alleghany County has 138 active full-time and 50 part-time employees. Since Jan. 1 the county recorded 49 new hires, 33 terminations and seven retirees; staff filed four workers' compensation claims and logged 18 FMLA instances. Bowyer noted the county provides health insurance at no cost to full-time employees and that premiums had not increased in six years, crediting employee participation in wellness programs.

Chris Miller, information technology administrator, described steps to improve request tracking, maintenance of county computers and email, an antivirus vendor change, replacement of devices reaching end-of-support, and management of the county website, Facebook page and online calendar.

David Slasher, senior project operations, updated the board on building repairs, recycling and transfer-facility activity, and animal-control statistics. Slasher said the transfer facility had several material loads (commingled, cardboard, scrap metal) that generated $1,462.40 in scrap proceeds. He also reported coordination with TRC on design and permitting for a new sewage system and plans to seal and restripe the county parking lot in a future budget year.

Commissioners discussed longer-term initiatives: staff are compiling information on tiny homes as potential senior housing, starter homes for young people, or vacation-style properties; sizes discussed ranged from about 700 to 1,100 square feet. Commissioners also said they expect a recycling update at the January meeting. Several commissioners thanked staff for recent work and praised the county’s new grant writer for quickly pursuing funding opportunities.

No formal votes were taken on operational items during the reports; several items were noted for future action or follow-up.