Bryan County District 4 Commissioner Carter Infinger announced his resignation from his seat Tuesday so he can run for Board of Commissioners chairman.
Near the end of the commission’s meeting in Pembroke, Infinger said he “regretfully and respectfully” resigned in order to pursue the chairmanship in this year’s election. Current Commissioners Chairman Jimmy Burnsed will not run for another term.
State law says one cannot hold an office and run for another office, Infinger said.
“Respectfully, I resign from District 4 commissioner and hope to see y’all back in January,” he told the board.
Infinger was first elected to the Board of Commissioners in 2010. He said after Tuesday’s meeting that his seat probably will be filled by an appointee until a special election can be held. He said the election probably will be part of the November general election. The person elected would serve the rest of his term, which expires in December 2018.
Also Tuesday, the commissioners heard the first reading of a zoning-code amendment that would make it easier for landowners to place more than one dwelling on a lot in an agricultural district. The current ordinance allows one dwelling per lot regardless of parcel size. The amendment would remove the necessity to pay for a survey or get plat approval.
County Zoning and Planning Director Eric Greenway told commissioners that the amendment would give more flexibility to citizens in the rural areas who own larger tracts of land.
No action was taken on the first reading.
Also Tuesday, County Engineer Kirk Croasmun told the commissioners that bids for construction of the Henderson Park tennis courts will be received March 29. Construction will take three to four months, he said, with a time frame of the end of July to the beginning of August for completion.
In action items Tuesday:
• Commissioners approved a three-year contract extension with Republic Services for waste and recycling collection. Solid-waste collection cost per household will stay at $10.27 per month, but the cost for recycling collection will rise 25 cents from $2.98 to $3.23. Randy Dixon, municipal services manager for Republic, told commissioners the demand for recycled materials has changed worldwide. He said economic conditions in China have especially affected the demand. The increase reflects greater costs for Republic to dispose of the material.
“We’ve gone from being able to take a load of recycling, drop it off at a material-recovery facility and get either zero disposal or rebate, it now costs us from $45 to $90 per ton to get rid of recycling, which is more than it costs to get rid of household garbage,” he said.
Dixon said Bryan County has good participation in recycling, and he does not think it was something his company wanted to stop because of that.
• Commissioners approved the reappointments of Thomas Haynes and Bob Floyd to the Board of Assessors. Each term is for three years. Haynes has been on the board since 1997, while Floyd was first appointed in 2009.