Commission approves voting machine buy

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners agreed on a 4-0 vote to pay $53,775 from its general fund in the upcoming budget year to purchase 28 new voting machines for the county. Commissioner Graylen Blevins was absent.

The figures were released Monday; state contract negotiations had held up the process of getting the final documents to the county. Monday was the last day that Alleghany could sign up to get the machines and be guaranteed delivery in time for the May 2 primary.

The total cost of the machines was set at $196,565, with federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds paying a total of $142,790 of the cost.

The state recently released an additional $30,000 to each of the state’s 100 counties to help pay for the machines — that amount is included in the overall HAVA funds.

County Manager Don Adams noted that the county will not be required to spend any money on the machines during this fiscal year, but will be required to come up with the funds for the upcoming budget.

Other expenses related to the new machines include a $15,000 per year software maintenance agreement and a $4,000 per year hardware maintenance agreement. Both of those costs will be new annual expenses for the county.

Pool Funds

The commissioners agreed Monday to fund $8,155 in work at the Duncan Recreation Center to help make the pool ready to open this year.

At an earlier meeting, concerns with the pool had prompted the commissioners to ask Recreation Director Amy Pardue to investigate whether or not the pool could be safely opened.

Specific costs related to the renovation includes a thick rubber flooring materials that is designed to prevent slips and falls, known as aquatic matting.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back