Retirement an early gift to county employees
Frank Bradley Publisher

The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners have decided to offer an incentive to all county employees with more than 24 years of employment. If they choose early retirement before January 31, 2008, the county will pay for their health insurance benefits until they reach Medicare eligibility, County Manager David Badger told the Sentinel on Tuesday.

The county already provides this benefit for employees who have served more than 30 years, but this offer allows employees with fewer years of employment to enjoy the benefit if they choose to retire next month.

In other matters, the board is getting a jump on the holiday spirit, making and passing resolutions before December winds down and January 1st is upon them.

Meeting in the new courtroom on the first floor of the courthouse, they handled some routine business including passing three resolutions and making appointments to the Child Fatality Prevention Team before going into closed session to discuss personnel matters and details of a current law suit.

The first resolution concerned procedures for the disposal of personal property, which designates the county manager and purchasing officeras authorized to dispose of surplus property valued at less than $30,000. Sumpter said it was important to make sure that proper safeguards were in place and that procedures were in accord with North Carolina General Statutes.

The second resolution dealt with the option to use electronic advertising regarding disposal of surplus property, which could be done free of charge. The third resolution dealt with encouraging the state legislature to reconsider including Juvenile Crime Prevention Funding (JCPC) in the 2008-2009 budget as it had been removed. This funding provides for Pacesetters and other programs to the tune of about $80,000 from the state. The county matches the funding at a 15 percent level, according to Badger. The board passed all three resolutions.

As requested by Sheriff Keith Lovin, the board transferred slightly more than $28,000 from unappropriated funds to capital outlay for a new canine unit.

Appointments made to the county's Child Fatality Prevention Team included Sheriff Keith Lovin for Law Enforcement; Jeff Ledford for EMS, and Vickie Taylor representing Parents of a Deceased Child.

The purpose of the board is to prevent child abuse and neglect of children in Cherokee County. The board also expressed a view to having this volunteer board's appointees reviewed every four years, shortly after each county officeelection.

Sheriff Lovin gave the board a brief update on progress of the new jail, saying that it is more than 72 percent complete with significantelectrical work recently done. Afterwards, Lovin said he expects the jail to be completed, ready for occupancy by mid-April to May, which is ahead of the August date required of the contractor.