One of the great selling points of Surry County for both those visiting, as well as ones who may be considering relocating to the area, is the natural beauty of the county.
However, along some of the county’s secondary roads including ones traversed by Mayberry Squad Car Tours the eyesore of roadside litter can mar what is otherwise a lovely view.
To combat that issue, the Surry County Board of Commissioners has continually taken a strong stance regarding roadside little — and it’s not a groundbreaking proposition. The five members of the board share the same response as do many county residents who feel a range of emotions when spotting a pile of trash whether it be a bag of fast food waste or something unseemly like a mattress or sofa.
Monday evening the board agreed to continue contracting the services of BCA Fencing to manage roadside litter collection along a set list of secondary roads while North Carolina Department of Transportation handles litter collection along the Interstates and major highways.
A compensation plan to encourage collection of litter by civic groups or clubs has drawn little interest in the past several years, even prompting the board of commissioners to increase the per bag rate paid to groups which organize a roadside litter collection effort.
Chair Van Tucker has asked Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt and his Chief Deputy Larry Lowe repeatedly about developing an inmate litter collection program to address the ongoing blight. This year the prospects of such a program seem closer than ever to coming to fruition which will make the board, and Tucker specifically, happy as the commissioners have previously requested Hiatt and the sheriff’s office create and implement a litter collection program.
Tucker has said such a plan would serve the dual purpose of getting the litter off the roadways in a cost efficient manner but would also serve as a passive reminder to those driving by that “crime does not pay.”
With a misdemeanor confinement program at the new Surry County Detention Center now up and running, the workforce for such a litter collection program may have been found. That program allows counties to opt in to offering beds at county detention centers to inmates convicted of misdemeanor crimes, so they are not held in a state detention center.
In the meantime, the county expressed gratitude for the service of BCA Fencing, its crews, and owner Ben Puckett for their work.
Surry County Public Works Director Jessica Montgomery said since BCA Fencing took the county contract in April 2023. “They have been very efficient at roadside cleanup. They are quick to respond to requests and work well with all parties.”
“We would like to extend the contractual agreement for another year with BCA Fencing at the same rate of $173 per road mile,” she said. The contract year would begin on July 1 which would keep it in line with the start of the new fiscal year.
In recent board action:
- Assistant County Manager Sandy Snow informed the board that Parks and Recreation Director Daniel White had been given $70,000 to purchase Burch Station. However, she said, “because he received an award from the state, he only has spent a small portion of it and has about $64,000 left.”
White was granted approval by the board to reallocate the remaining unused portion of those funds to purchase a mini excavator. “He thinks he can get it for $45,000 and can get it and pay for it in the current fiscal year,” she advised.
“He is doing a lot of trail work on the Mountains to Sea Trail” Knopf advised. Snow added that in the past White had tried to use equipment belonging to Public Works for projects such as these, “but they are using it a lot, so it’s hard for him to get it.”
- Surry County Emergency Service Director Eric Southern was approved for a pair of rate changes for calls run by EMS crews. He reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated their recommendations. He reported that EMS Management & Consultants, which handles billing for the county make, “recommendations every year on where we need to have our rates. We try to keep our rates as low as we can because we are serving the citizens of Surry County, but we do want to try to recoup our costs.”
“Two areas they recommended this year were ALS Emergency and BLS Emergency,” he explained. The rates for Advanced Life Support — Emergency calls would change from $550 to $600 and Basic Life Support — Emergency calls would also increase $50 to $500. Southern said the fee changes are to offset fuel costs and the expenses of medical supplies.”
CMS define those two types of call as immediate responses to patient need. “Emergency response that has been provided in immediate response to a 911 call. An immediate response is one in which the ambulance provider begins as quickly as possible to take the steps necessary to respond to the call.”
- Surry County Health Director Samanatha Ange received approval to increase two sets of fees charged by her department. First the board agreed to increase the mobile food unit review plan fee from free to $200 per application. Mobile food unit is a fancier way of saying food trucks and county manager Chris Knopf said there has been a “historically significant increase in the number of these applications and plan reviews, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The board also approved a fee change regarding bacterial sampling of well water from $35 to $65 per incident as a result of increasing materials costs.
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