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GATESVILLE – Two items added to the agenda of the April 16 meeting of the Gates County Board of Commissioners gained the approval of the county’s elected leaders.

Both items were added per the request of Commissioner Dave Forsythe.

The first dealt with a suggestion that would assist the county’s Public Works department in catching up on a list of needed repairs.

In as much as Gates County continues to suffer numerous problems with its water system and as line cuts continue and workmanship on repairs continues to fall below what many consider as acceptable standards, Forsythe repeated his suggestion from a February work session conducted by the board of commissioners that a one-time contract be procured to repair the outstanding broken, cut and leaking water lines in order to reduce the excessive system wide water loss and thereby reduce the overall water demand.

Additionally, the contactor should be engaged to repair or properly backfill the numerous sand backfills that have washed into ditches where repairs have already been made.

Forsythe motioned to hire a contractor to assist the Public Works department. Board chair Emily Truman offered a second and the motion was approved without objection.

Forsythe’s second order of new business was a financial matter. Saying he felt a strong sense of financial restraint during these difficult financial times and due to the entire county potentially experiencing financial impacts due to the reevaluation of homes and property, Forsythe said it was important to set financial constraints on county government. He made a motion, calling for all department heads and all staff with current annual salaries above $80,000 to be restricted to a one percent cost of living increase and no other salary adjustment in the upcoming fiscal year budget.

In the case of a contractual requirement, those individuals will receive the minimum amount of raise contractually.

Berryman offered a second to the motion.

Commissioner Jonathan Craddock said before he could consider agreeing to the proposal, he would like to be further along in the ongoing budget building process for FY 2025-26. That budget must be approved and in place by July 1, 2025.

“When you have good people, they deserve what they deserve,” noted Commissioner Brian Rountree. “If they’re good, you better retain them because another county might be after them.”

The motion passed 3-2 with Forsythe, Nathan Berryman and Truman voting in favor while Craddock and Rountree voted no.