LAURINBURG — For the first time in history, the Scotland County Board of Commissioners on Monday held its monthly meeting in an unusual and unconventional way.
Due to the COVID-19 virus and attempting to slow the spread of the virus, Scotland County residents had the option of tuning in via Facebook live feed or live feed on the board’s YouTube page in order to keep up with county business.
“The commissioners passed a resolution last night urging people to stay at home,” said Jason Robinson, public information officer for Scotland County. “They also passed a proclamation recognizing the week of April 12 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Scotland County.”
Most of the topics during Monday’s meeting circled back around to the COVID-19 virus.
“The board also passed a policy in response to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” said Robinson.
Discussion among the board also included changing the rules of procedure for the board itself to include the language about electronic meetings.
“They also made a change to the emergency operations plan to delegate authority to the county manager to modify a state of emergency after it has been declared by the chairman,” said Robinson. “This has been done in other counties and allows declarations to be modified in a more timely manner.”
In other business, the board reappointed John Ferguson and appointed Mary Helen Norton to the Board of Equalization and Review.
“They also appointed Walter Brown to the Scotland County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Aging Advisory Board,” said Robinson.
The Scotland County Board of Commissioners holds its monthly meeting the first Monday of every month. Under normal circumstances, the meetings are open to the public. However, for the time being, the meetings will continue to be streamed online for residents. The board meets at the Scotland County Emergency Operations Center on West Boulevard.
JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected].