The Cumberland County Commission unanimously approved a resolution to add a plaque to the Vietnam Memorial in War Memorial Park. Last February, the Building and Grounds committee heard a request from the President of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1015 to add a descriptive plaque to the back of the current Vietnam memorial.  The plaque will be approximately 2 x 3 feet wide, made of bronze, and funded through donations made to the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter.

In other actions approved by the county commission:

Commissioners updated the residential and commercial building codes schedule of permit fees. The previously approved fee schedule for the county Codes Department did not include a fee for the inspection of life safety and fire codes issues. This is an inspection required at times by a third party when property changes hands and a Certificate of Occupancy is needed. For example, at times insurance companies require the inspection, or one may be needed because of lawsuits, etc.  The standard Life Safety/Occupancy Inspection Fee of $250 was added to the Schedule of Permit Fees for county properties.

The county commission appointed Jennifer Phillips-Cross to a two-year term and Felicia Hedgecoth to a one-year term as judicial commissioners.

Members approved several routine budget amendments.

In a financial update presented to the commission, the new Cumberland County Codes Department has issued 78 building permits for residential construction since January of 2024 when it first began operations.  This does not include mechanical/HVAC/gas, or plumbing permits.  A total of $86,128 in fees have been collected that previously would have gone to the city codes department.

Emergency medical services (EMS) collections were $306,348, which is below the budgeted monthly amount of $366,667. Year to date, EMS is $41,914 ahead of budgeted projections with total collections of $2,975,246. Sales tax for the Board of Education was $1,630,073 which was $69,863 above budget. These were the December cash register receipts. Year to date, collections are $200,419 below budget. Property tax collections are at 95.52 percent of the budget year to date compared to 95.63% at this time last year. Hotel/Motel collections are $791,719 and were $787,092 in the prior year. Prisoner boarding collections from the state stand at $231,440 (seven months of revenue).