A new penalty for driving under the influence (DUI) went intoeffect today, forcing the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors tobegin looking for a vehicle impound location.

A new penalty for driving under the influence (DUI) went intoeffect today, forcing the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors tobegin looking for a vehicle impound location.

The new law states that on conviction of a second offense DUI,any vehicle registered to the defendant is to be impounded orimmobilized while the driver’s license is suspended, said ChanceryClerk Tillmon Bishop.

There is not a designated impound area for Lincoln County, sosupervisors discussed what they could do when such cases arise.

“We may just have to park them along the streets out here untilwe can find a place,” said District Two Supervisor Bobby J.Watts.

Supervisors discussed the possibility of using the fenced-inareas of local wrecker services until they were able to come upwith a more concrete idea.

They are unsure of the amount of vehicles that will be impoundedbecause the new law offers the option of allowing the defendant touse an ignition interlock system on the vehicle.

“They can put it on their own place with an interlock system ifsomebody else in the household needs to use it,” said Bishop,explaining that the system will not allow the defendant to use thevehicle.

The costs for the interlock system and the impoundment will bepassed along to the defendant.

The law also requires second DUI offenders to serve five days injail. These days cannot be suspended, as they could under theprevious DUI law. There also is a requirement for 10 days ofcommunity service.

Other matters discussed during Thursday’s meeting included areport from Lincoln County Tax Assessor-Collector Nancy Jordan onthe improvement efforts to city maps, which have been calledinaccurate.

“The assessor (currently conducting property reappraisal)notified me that my maps have been wrong for three years,” saidJordan. “He said there’s no way someone could take a map and foundthe property they were looking for.”

Jordan asked the supervisors to increase payment for the personin charge of developing new maps because the job description becamemore extensive when it was discovered that Brookhaven maps are notcorrect.

Supervisors did not make a motion or decision on the matter, andlittle discussion followed her request.

During the meeting, bids for several pieces of equipment,including five new dump trucks, a back hoe and two new front-endloaders, were accepted.

Another equipment matter involved the possible purchase of thepothole patching machine, along with its storage tank and trailertank.

“We rented this pothole patcher and storage tank for two monthsto see if we liked it. . . and now we need to advertise for bids sowe can buy one,” said Board President and District Four SupervisorDoug Moak.

Supervisors also discussed the progress being made on countybarns in preparation for return to the beat system.

“In the beat system, every supervisor has to have a localizedplace to house the things they need to operate,” said Bishop,adding that districts two and four have facilities, while the restneed major improvements.

Some of the barns will be built from the floor up, while atleast one district will use a pre-existing building.

Supervisors without a county barn expressed dissatisfaction inthe building process.

“We’ve been dragging our feet,” said District 3 Supervisor NolanWilliamson. “It hasn’t changed since January.”

Moak decided to help “get the ball rolling” by compiling a listof tools needed for the barns.

In other matters, supervisors decided to grant a request for agrave to be prepared at a home site in Lincoln County, pendingproper procedure is followed.

“They’ve got to file it in writing and sufficiently describe theproperty so that it will be known that it is a cemetery,” saidBoard Attorney Robert Allen.

Another topic of discussion during the meeting was an update onwhat type of progress is being made with the area proposed for aparking lot site at the corner of First Street and ChippewaStreet.

“We’re waiting for drawings of how the parking lot will look,”said Bishop.

The next board meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5,in the board room on the first floor of the courthouse.