The Iredell County commissioners had a diverse array of matters come before them for action at their first board meeting of the new year Tuesday night.
The commissioners approved a request by the Iredell County Sheriff's Office to purchase what is known as a 3-D scene digitizer for the county's crime lab.
Chief Deputy Rick Dowdle told the commissioners that the $51,200 piece of equipment will help expedite crime scene investigations.
"It will help us get in and get out," Dowdle said, and explained that the device would also be helpful during criminal trials.
"It will give juries a virtual tour of the crime scene," he said.
The digitizer will be purchased with federal equity sharing funds, which largely derives from cash seized during drug busts.
The commissioners also:
+ Voted to allow the county Department of Social Services to accept $30,000 from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
The DSS received the funds for playing a significant role in the adoption of two "hard-to-place children," according to Don Wall, the department's director.
Wall said the funds would be used for legal services related to getting birth parents of children in foster care to terminate their parental rights (TPR).
Wall said TPR is a necessary part of the process in allowing foster children to be adopted permanently by loving families.
+ Gave the green light to the county's Parks and Recreation Department to pursue a "Fit Community" designation and to apply for $60,000 state grant to be used to spruce up Scots Rosenwald Park.
If approved for the grant, the funds would be used to build a 2,000-foot trail, develop wellness programs and purchase exercise equipment at the Scots location.
+ Heard a report from Deputy County Manager Tracy Jackson about the possible creation of a centralized addressing system for the county.
Jackson said there is no single database that contains all the county's addresses, and that could create problems, particularly for emergency workers.
Jackson estimated that such a system would cost about $120,000 and require $12,000 worth of annual maintenance.
He said, "This cleans up the existing data base."
Jackson and County Manager Joel Mashburn are hoping to use funds earmarked for the Emergency 9-1-1 system to pay for the project.
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