By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
County commissioners honored Jamima DeMarcus Monday night with a moment of silence and the North Carolina flag draped in black.
DeMarcus, the first woman elected to the Board of Commissioners, died Feb. 5 at the age of 85.
Tina Hall, the third woman elected to the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, read a Post editorial praising DeMarcus as a force in her community, the county and the Democratic party statewide.
DeMarcus was elected in 1982, the same year Hall was named principal at Landis Elementary. At that time, Hall was the third woman principal in the county.
Hall said Monday night she remembered thinking after the 1982 election, “Wow, the sky is the limit.”
Hall said women now routinely run for the board as Republicans and Democrats. And she said about half the principals in the county are women.
In other matters, the board:
– Approved buying a mobile, lateral, high-density filing system for the Social Services Department from Patterson Pope of Charlotte. The firm submitted the low bid of $159,196.
The system will go in the new location on Faith Road and is expected to handle the massive files the department is required to maintain.
– Approved an application seeking $60,000 from the Fit Community Grant, a state program.
The project is a joint effort of Millbridge Elementary School and the local Cooperative Extension Service.
The grant would be used to create an outdoor classroom ó a discovery garden at the school which would provide opportunities for live research and interactive classroom connections for students and teachers.
The grant, if approved at the state level, would not require local funding.
– Approved a request that three roads in the Grand Oaks Subdivision in China Grove be added to the N.C. Department of Transportation road system for maintenance. The roads, which meet state requirements, are Manor Oaks Lane, Holland Oaks Drive and Oakrun Way.
– Approved budget amendments including a $4,858 cut in state funds to buy books for the library and an increase of $2,100 to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program recognizing gifts of $2,000 from Wal-Mart Foundation and $100 from Ralph Ketner.
The board also budgeted $30,000 in profits from the Rowan-Kannapolis ABC System for distribution to municipalities.
The county recently received a check for $50,000. Under the distribution formula, the county must share 60 percent of profits with municipalities.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.