The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners discussed the possibility of installing GPS tracking devices on county vehicles at its regular meeting last week.
Board Chair Jeff Harding opened the discussion.
“This tracking system is used in other counties, by large and small businesses,” Harding said. “We probably have an excess of $2.5 million worth of vehicles.”
Commissioner Dale Blevins said he thought tracking county vehicles is a good idea if executed carefully and thoughtfully. “There’s a lot of businesses… that do this,” Commissioner Lee Ellis said.
Commissioner Harley Masters said she would like to discuss the issue in budget workshops and wait to implement it during the county’s next fiscal year if the board agrees that tracking county vehicles is a priority.
Extension update
Brandon Pitman, director of the Mitchell County Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension, gave the com-missioners an update on the extension’s work.
Pitman said that in 2025 the extension office had “$503,000 of economic impact,” and that for every dollar that the county government invests in the extension’s services the county as a whole experiences a return of $1.19.
“The state average is $1.18,” Pitman said.
Pitman noted that the extension works with a number of other organiza-tions, including the Mitchell County Senior Center and local schools.
Pitman noted that the extension began offering a fitness program targeted at people with mobility and balanceissueslast May, called Enhanced Fitness.
“(We) had one individual that signed up to participate that was dealing with a neurologicaldisorder,” Pitman said. “She actually didn’t complete the program because by the time she got well into it, she got a job and was back in society. … It not only improves physical wellness, but self-confidence.” Extension nutrition pro-grams have also been a success, Pitman said.
And although the office has added other types of programs, the extension is still focused on helping farmers.
“(Extension staff) was able to work with a small-scale hobbyfarmerthattransitioned into a sustainable, full operation, and today that farm generates about 75 percent of the household income,” Pitman said. “There is still agriculture in Mitchell County — it may not be what it once was as far as … tobacco … we may not necessarily have the same number of livestock farms that have significant numbers of heads of cattle, but all that is changing is where there are ways that people can still be successful.”
Farms with multiple streams of income are becoming more common.
“We see a lot more diversified operations including goats, eggs, honey (and) produce,” Pitman said.
Travel and Tourism Week
The commissioners voted to proclaim May 3 – May 9 as Travel and Tourism Week, which matches the dates for National Travel and Tourism Week.
County Manager Allen Cook read the proclamation. “The travel industry is essential to the success of every industry and will continue to be a critical part of Mitchell County’s econ-omy,” Cook yet. “Travel enables success for all industries … by driving sales growth (and) innovation.”
The proclamation further noted that income from tourists saves citizens on average more than $150 on their local taxes.