The Hoke County Board of Commissioners met Monday and started by addressing a series of rezoning and waiver requests on several different property developments.
The first hearing was a continuation from last month for a rezoning of 31.2 acres of property on Lally Circle from RA-20 to Industrial.
The board approved the request after an agreement was reached between the property owner and local neighbors for a 120-foot, industrial-free buffer zone from the southern boundary with 30-foot buffers on the east and west sides as well.
The second hearing was for a special use permit for the use of a convenience store on 0.52 acres of property located at 2512 Blue Springs Rd, however the request was denied when the applicant did not show up.
“In the past, when someone didn’t show up, we generally gave them another month,” said commissioner Tony Hunt. “It’s neither here nor there for me, but I’m just saying, that’s generally been our consensus as far as I can remember.”
A preliminary plat was approved for a 68-lot major subdivision named Upland Trace, on 47 acres at 192 Wedgewood Dr.
Finally, the board held a hearing for the final preliminary plat approval request for an 80-lot phase one of a 411-lot subdivision named Neill Sinclair Road Subdivision located on 383 acres of property located on Neill Sinclair Road.
The board approved the request on the condition that the allowable number of lots in phase one will be contingent on what the utility director says that the current water system can support.
“Our priority is to make sure that every household that is already in Hoke County has water first,” said Board Chair James Leach. “So the priority for our water right now, is to make sure that every household in Hoke County has water and plenty of it. The site is good. We’d take the land and all, but we’re talking about maybe $5 million more to build a well and put in the water tank and all that stuff. So the land is the least bit we’re worried about.”
The board also approved a change to the electronic health record vendor for the Hoke County Health Department from Patagonia Health to CureMD.
“We’ve been with Patagonia for 10 years since we started on the electronic health records and one of the things that we’ve had a problem with is just the increase in cost every year,” said health director Helene Edwards. “Patagonia is going to cost us $58,000 a year. If we get any new additional users, new staff, new providers that come in that we want to add to the list, that’s $1,200 a year for that provider or person to have access.”
CureMD will instead cost $35,364 a year, but with one-time costs and other fees, the total amount of the contract will be $49,619 and according to Edwards, will be funded through expiring state funds.
In total, the county will save around $23,000 per year with this move according to Edwards.
The Hoke County Board of Commissioners will next meet April 15.
