Register of Deeds Office gets boost in automation


The Vance County Board of Commissioners moved the Register of Deeds Office a big step closer to the 21st century Monday night by approving nearly $50,000 in spending on automation.

The commissioners passed a $49,950 expansion of a contract with Logan Systems for the computerization and automation of the register’s office. The expansion, County Manager Jerry Ayscue said, will pay to scan the record books dating back to Jan. 1, 1993, as well as all of the plats. The scans will create computer files of the documents. The money also will increase automation of the office’s functions.

The files will not be available online for now, Ayscue said, but the contract will bring the Register of Deeds Office much closer to that point. The immediate benefits, he said, include security, through the creation of off-site backups, and the preservation of the paper records, through the use of computer copies.

The money comes from an automation fund created under legislation the General Assembly passed in 2001. The legislature increased user fees in the state’s Register of Deeds offices as of Jan. 1, 2002, with 10 percent of the fees set aside in each county for automation.

Ayscue said the extension of the Logan Systems contract will consume about 60 percent of Vance County’s reserve automation funds.

The county manager said Vance is a little behind other counties in automating the Register of Deeds Office, but that’s because Register of Deeds Cathy Abbott has crafted a cautious, deliberate, long-term plan before acting. He praised Abbott and said the office is in good hands.

“We’ve got an excellent office,” Ayscue said. “You’ve got an excellent Register of Deeds Office.”

Spending money now will allow the Register of Deeds Office to be ready for the computerization work as soon as the fiscal year starts July 1.

Commissioner Danny Wright asked whether the $49,950 will get everything on computer.

“It’s a major step in doing that,” Ayscue said. The books before 1993 will still exist only in hard copy, but the books since 1993 are the most used. The older books will be scanned as time and money are available.

The commissioners approved the contract, then passed a budget amendment to cover the plan. As with everything else during the night, the votes were quick and unanimous.

That lack of dissension helped the commissioners whip through the public portion of their meeting in 51 minutes Monday night.

Before moving into a closed session to discuss personnel shortly before 7, the commissioners had no problems handling their brief agenda.

They approved contracts for work on seven houses on Julia Avenue as part of the county’s Community Development Block Grant concentrated-needs program there. The contracts total $157,748, exceeding the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Government’s estimates by about 15 percent. Dera Adair, the COG’s grant administrator, attributed the higher bids to the rising cost of construction materials.

Robert Hargrove of Hargrove Home Service in Henderson was the only Vance bidder to get a share of the work. He won two contracts totaling $28,681, although a change order to one of the contracts could add up to $800 to the value.

Commissioners asked about the small number of bidders in general and from Vance County in particular during a period of high unemployment. Adair couldn’t explain the lack of interest in the project, which must be completed by August.

Adair reported that the Julia Avenue project overall is going well. Monday night’s contracts should just about take care of the housing work, with the exception of one house that must be rebid because only one contractor originally sought the job. State law, Adair said, requires at least three bidders.

Contractor H.G. Reynolds is blasting on Julia Avenue this week to clear the way for water and sewer connections. The natural gas is shut off during the blasting, Adair said, and she has heard no complaints.

The COG’s Rick Seekins brought a related matter before the commissioners: a revised Section 3 plan for the county. The Section 3 plan aims to ensure that as much of the work involving Department of Housing and Urban Development money as possible goes to local contractors.

Seekins said Vance’s existing Section 3 plan limited the types of HUD grants involved. With what Seekins called a “technical correction,” the commissioners approved a revamped Section 3 plan that applies to any kind of HUD or CDBG funding. Without that change, the county could have been barred from applying for some grants.

“Will this get us more money?” Commissioner Tommy Hester asked.

“It’s not going to get you any less,” Seekins said.

In a final matter involving HUD and COG, the commissioners approved a resolution Adair presented that declares May to be Fair Housing Month in Vance County.

In other action, the commissioners:

* Passed five other budget amendments. Only one, $4,600 from the contingency fund to buy a new air-conditioning unit at the Henry A. Dennis Building, involved county money. The others, involving social services and senior services, covered federal and state funds.

* Allowed the Social Services Department and the Fire Department to fill two positions each, the Board of Elections to take the steps necessary to hire a full-time deputy director who will start July 1, and the Planning Department to fill a part-time position and add a full-time senior zoning officer.

* Approved the fireworks permit for the Independence Day celebration at Kerr Lake on July 2.

* Increased the loaded mileage rate the county ambulances charge patients to $9 per mile from $8.50. That will allow the county to maximize the reimbursements it gets from Medicare, which Ayscue said now pays 80 percent of ambulance charges up to $8.94. The new rate goes into effect July 1.

* Reappointed Commissioner Deborah Brown and Tommy Dale to three-year terms on the 911 Advisory Board, City Council member Bernard Alston to a four-year term on the Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees, and Commissioner Terry Garrison to a three-year term on the Social Services Board.

The commissioners also sat as the Board of Equalization and Review to handle any tax appeals, but no one appeared for that purpose.