To the Editor:

The recent letter written by Commissioner Melton has several points that Id like to respond to. I was at the meeting because of the agenda item stating, Naming of the Proposed Human Services Facility.

Im sorry but it said the building was to be named. We certainly understood that and attended the meeting to honor the person it was named for. It was a terrific choice and we were happy to have attended.

As to Commissioner Melton being left in the dark, I dont agree with being left but I do see where certain commissioners are often in the dark. One of my pet peeves with some of the current commissioners and most of the previous board was that they come to the meetings woefully unprepared. They seem to be seeing the agenda for the first time and have done nothing to educate themselves on the items on the agenda. Quick seat-of-the-pants decisions are then made which result in wrong choices, wasted money and delayed decisions. I encourage all voters to attend a BOC meeting and see for themselves which commissioners come in prepared and which ones dont. It is eye opening!

Commissioner Melton complained that they were going to have seven empty offices in the new building. The argument that they should be working to shrink the Department of Social Services and not thinking about growth is ridiculous. If we were building a new fire house where three bays are currently needed should we limit the space to three or should we build four or even five for future growth. I guess Commissioner Melton would argue that we are working to reduce the number of fires so three bays is all we will ever need.

We all know that it is much cheaper and more efficient to include extra space when we build than by adding it later. Our county is both growing and aging so anticipating growth in DSS is just proper planning. We should be thinking about what is the right thing to do and not partaking in political posturing.

Commissioner Melton complained that we are already over budget. It was clearly explained at the meeting that a preliminary grading budget had not been set so they are not over budget. There had only been a preliminary estimate for grading. The low bidder along with the engineer representing the county had reworked the bid down to the lowest amount that was thought possible.

Everyone was happy with the reworked bid except Commissioners Melton and Watson who wanted to delay and rebid. The other commissioners had already done their analysis and felt there was nothing to be gained from rebidding.

Delaying the bid acceptance would have pushed the grading from a fall project, when the weather is the best for this type of work, to sometime later when conditions for getting ground cover going quickly would be worse. This would add additional expense. As our local construction industry continues to recover, prices are more likely to go up than down. Moving ahead now should save money.

I think there can be little debate that the DSS building should have been replaced long ago. It is falling apart, needs expensive repairs and is unsafe. The three commissioners who voted to proceed should be thanked for working so hard and doing what is best for our county.

Jerry Hardvall