Government - Randolph Record

15 Sep

Fire Marshal’s Office to start charging for specific services

Ryan HenkelGovernmentFire Marshal, Randolph County Board of Commissioners

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday, September 6, with the Fire Marshal’s Office’s request for a new fee schedule, the fire district reformatting, and the purchase of property for the I-74 Industrial Site; the key items on the agenda for consideration. The Fire Marshal’s Office brought forth a request before the board to add a fee schedule to some of the services that the office provides. “Since the inception of the North Carolina Fire Code in the early 1990s, Randolph County Fire Marshal’s Office has provided permit consultation, plan review, and specialty inspections services free of…

16 Aug

Sunday early voting removed in Randolph County

Bob SuttonGovernment, News, PoliticsElection Day, Melissa Johnson, primaries, Randolph County Board of Elections

ASHEBORO – There will still be weekend early voting in Randolph County for the 2022 general election, but there will be a slightly different twist. The Randolph County Board of Elections voted to nix a Sunday early voting date for this fall. Instead, there will be three Saturdays when early voting is conducted. Melissa Johnson, who’s director of the county’s Board of Elections, said there was interest from some citizens to restore a Sunday date at last week’s August meeting. However, that decision had been made nearly a month earlier and needed to remain in place based on the board’s…

10 Aug

Asheboro Council to engage with Piedmont Triad Regional Council for support on two projects

Ryan Henkel, North State JournalGovernmentAsheboro City Council, Piedmont Triad Regional Council

ASHEBORO — The Asheboro City Council met Thursday and authorized engagement with the Piedmont Triad Regional Council, the annexation of property into city limits, and the approval of a contract for turf on the Zoo City Sportsplex. The council approved authorization to engage the Piedmont Triad Regional Council for two different projects. The first project is for grant services related to the construction of the David and Pauline Jarrell Center City Garden. “At the last council meeting, I informed the council of our intention to work with the Regional Council to pursue grant funds for the construction of the…

03 Aug

Local state of emergency officially terminated in Randolph County

Ryan Henkel, North State JournalGovernmentRandolph County Board of Commissioners, state of emergency

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday where the local State of Emergency was officially terminated, and the board approved multiple financial items. One of the first items of action that the board took was for Chairman Darrell Frye to officially terminate the local State of Emergency in Randolph County that had been enacted in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic following the end of the statewide State of Emergency in North Carolina. “Looking back, they always say hindsight is 20/20, but I think we did about as good as we could do through that process,” Frye…

20 Jul

Asheboro City Council approves change order for Zoo City Sportsplex

Ryan Henkel, North State JournalGovernmentCity of Asheboro Council, Zoo City Sportsplex

ASHEBORO — The City of Asheboro Council met Thursday, where they approved a budget amendment for unexpected costs related to the Zoo City Sportsplex, as well as held multiple public hearings for rezoning requests. The council approved a $2,674,019 budgetary amendment to account for a change order with Terry’s Plumbing and Utilities, Inc. regarding the Zoo City Sportsplex Project. “This work includes $940,953 of additional rock removal from the site,” said City Engineer Michael Leonard, PE. “The estimated excavation was for 10,000 cubic yards, and we ended up encountering approximately 24,500 cubic yards, most of which was in phase two.”…

08 Jun

Four Fire Districts officially restructured to remove fire tax cap

Ryan HenkelGovernment, NewsRandolph County Board of Commissioners

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday, June 6 where they officially approved the abolishment and subsequent restructuring of four of the county’s fire districts. The County closed the final public hearings for the fire tax district restructuring for Climax, Franklinville, Guil-Rand and Westside fire departments and passed the resolution to officially change all four of them. The four fire departments will still cover the same areas, the only change is that they will no longer be held to a 15 cent fire tax cap, albeit the departments still would have to get approval by the Board…

07 Jun

Some county schools will see new start times this fall

Griffin DaughtryGovernment, NewsRandolph County Schools

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County School Board met Monday and approved a tiered bussing pilot program. The new program is intended to mitigate the current bus driver shortage and meet the State’s Department of Public Instruction efficiency ratings. County bus routes were more than two hours this school year, with pickup times starting before 5:30 am. In some cases, students were being dropped off at home after 5:30 pm. By focusing on elementary and middle school routes, the county expects to significantly cut down route times and limit the number of necessary drivers. This pilot system does not come without…

26 May

Most highway construction on hold for Memorial Day weekend

Randolph RecordEntertainment, Government, NewsMemorial Day

RALEIGH – The Memorial Day holiday weekend is the unofficial start to summer, and many people will kick it off with a road trip. AAA predicts nearly 1.2 million North Carolinians will travel at least 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend, which is a 7.2% increase over 2021. The N.C. Department of Transportation will be shutting down major construction that could affect travelers because of lane closures along interstates, U.S. and key N.C. routes from this Friday morning until next Tuesday night. There are some exceptions where construction conditions do not allow for the opening of…

17 May

Biggs tops Hurley to claim GOP nomination to NC House

Randolph RecordGovernment, News, Politics2022 Elections, Brian Biggs

ASHEBORO — A Randolph County School Board Member topped an eight-term Republican incumbent in the 2022 primary Tuesday. Brian Biggs defeated Rep. Pat Hurley to claim the GOP nomination for House District 70. Biggs ran a grassroots campaign focused on protecting religious freedom, pro-life values and private property rights. He ran a sustained campaign against Hurley that ultimately garnered him over 52% of the primary vote. Biggs will face Democrat Susan Lee (Susie) Scott in the general election. Scott was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

17 May

Seabolt rolls as local incumbents hold in GOP primary

Bob SuttonGovernment, News, PoliticsElection 2022, GOP Primary, Randolph

ASHEBORO — Greg Seabolt, the incumbent Randolph County Sheriff, fended off a couple of challengers to win the Republican Party primary Tuesday with a majority of the votes. Seabolt received 9,417 votes, with Timmy Hasty next with 6,196 and Robert Graves third with 2,788. Seabolt garnered over 51 percent of the Republican vote. There were no Democratic primaries in Randolph County this year. In other local races, incumbents held on to their re-election hopes by winning contested GOP primaries. Randolph County Commissioners A pair of incumbents received stiff challenges but ended up ahead in Republican primaries. David Allen’s 8,898 votes…