Meeting Notes: Grantsboro housing approved

**Corrections: Taxes collected so far by the county during the current government year (July 2024-June 2025) is $11 million. This is 91% of the taxes that will be collected for the time span of the current year.

**Building the new library does not cost the county. The county will only fund the library’s operational costs, as it always has.

We added basic notes about county government meetings to our coverage. If you have additional story ideas, please send them to reporter and photographer Eleazar “El” Yisrael at (252) 258-9434 or [email protected]

The Pamlico County Board of Commissioners held a meeting Feb. 18, 2025. About 20 people attended. The next regular meeting of the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners will be Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at the Pamlico County Courthouse Annex.

• It’s official, the Pamlico Grove Apartments will be built in Grantsboro.

• The Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 in favor of approving a sub-recipient agreement between the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) and Pamlico County regarding Pamlico Grove Apartments.

• The county itself will not put money into this project.

• For more information on apartments, visit Down in the County’s previous meeting notes.

• Sidney Phibbons, the Pamlico County Library branch manager, and Katherine Clowers gave a presentation on the county’s new Library.

  • The current library is around 6,000 sq.ft. and in a shared space with the current high school. The new library will be 10,000 sq.ft.

  • The majority of funding of the new library is not from the county budget.

  • Ownership of library will be transferred from the non-profit, Pamlico County Friends of Library to Pamlico County.

• The Pamlico County Health Department gave a presentation.

  • Commissioners approved a telehealth contract with Duke.

  • Commissioners approved State of the County Health Reports (SOTCH).

    • County’s Health Departments are required to create an assessment evaluating the community’s Public Health and submit it to the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation Program.

  • Commissioners approved a provider’s request to go from working 16 hours to 8 hours for the same hourly rate. Another person will work the other 8 hours.

  • Commissioners approved a form that the Health Department will use for evaluating contract employees.

• Commissioners approved the agreement from the NC Board of Instruction for $12 million, already allotted, pre-approved and built in budget through the Need-Based Public School Capital Fund.

  • The original grant was $50 million and then the county applied for another $12 million because the state wanted to accommodate inflation and invited counties to apply for more funding.

    

    Sidney Phibbons, the Pamlico County Library branch manager, and Katherine Clowers gave a presentation on the county’s new Library. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

• The commissioners approved budget amendments.

• The commissioners approved Board Releases, which are taxes that were charged in error.

• The commissioners approved members appointed to the Board of Equalization, which assess property tax appeals.

• The commissioners approved member reappointment for the Pamlico County Voluntary Agricultural Advisory Board, which is dedicated to preserving farmland in Pamlico County.

• The commissioners approved an extension of the tabled Board of Commissioners (BOC) Boards & Committees appointments. The extension is a list of all that currently sit on on the board by the county manager.

• The commissioners approved the 2024 County Commissioners Annual Settlement Report on how taxes were levied/filled out (sending people property tax bills) and collected. (Taxes collected so far by the county during the current government year (July 2024-June 2025), is $11 million. This is 91% of the taxes that will be collected for the time span of the current year. More on agenda page 94.)

• The commissioners approved the Pamlico Soil and Water Conservation District Supplement pay request for an employee to have a 5% salary increase due to the performing of extra duties as a result of another role not currently being filled. The increase totaled around $2,000.

• The commissioners approved a North Carolina Amateur Sports Youth Association Grant in the amount of $15,757.00. This was awarded to Pamlico County to buy sports equipment and improve facilities specifically for youth in the county.

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