A public hearing for the increase on excise tax on priviliege of transferring real property was presented prior to the Greenbrier County Commission meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

The tax increase, authored by Senate bill 433, was passed to amend the state code in order to generate funds for the county when someone buys property, Commission President Woody Hanna said. The funds collected can be used for any purpose, he added.

“This is not a burdensome tax,” Commissioner Mike McClung said, “It’s only a small amount when transferring property. This is probably an easy call since the public has demonstrated no opposition.”

With the unanimous vote to approve, the excise tax increase will take effect on Nov. 1, 2017.

In other business:

• Various department heads in the courthouse are seeking to fill employee vacancies, beginning with the county clerk’s office. Amanda Groves was approved as a new full time employee to fill a vacancy in that department. The circuit clerk’s office also sought approval to hire Laurie Palmer to fill a vacancy.

Greenbrier County Sheriff Bruce Sloan requested that the commission approve hiring Paula Dunkirk, recently from the county clerk’s office, to fill a vacancy in the sheriff’s tax office in Rupert. Sloan also requested the commission approve a contractor’s bid to do interior renovations at the Rupert office, which at $5,750, was one-fourth the amount of a previous bid on the job.

• Sloan said that Day Report clients are cleaning, painting and doing landscaping work as part of their duties. They have been very helpful not only in Ronceverte where the Day Report Center is located, but also at the sheriff’s office in Rupert, he said.
• Commissioner Lowell Rose said the board of health requested assistance with roof replacement costs at the health department’s county-owned building. The commissioners agreed to cover half of the bid for the job, which came to $18,260, by approving their contribution of $9,130 for new architectural shingles.
• Tom Oxley and Amanda Smart of Thrasher Engineering requested a release of funds for the Greenbrier PSD#2 Sam Black Water Line Extension Project to cover incurred expenses for technical and accounting services, legal ads, administration costs and legal fees. The total came to $386,638.

Thrasher is assisting the PSD in signing up property owners for pipeline easements before their self imposed deadline of October 31, Oxley said. They need to have 90 percent signed up before they can advertise for bids, which must be awarded prior to March in order to fit construction schedules. The project has had its environmental review and a public health review, Oxley said, but getting property owners’ written permission has been a difficult process. Holding a public meeting was suggested as a way to gather more sign-ups.