At their first meeting back under beat system of government,Lincoln County supervisors Monday took several steps aimed atmaking county operations as smooth and as efficient aspossible.

Supervisors agreed to have the county lease one acre of propertyfrom District 1 Supervisor Cliff Givens as the site of his countybarn. There are no financial considerations in the transaction andthe lease expires at the end of his tenure in office.

Givens said the barn will located on Mallalieu Road. He said anoffice on the site will not be elaborate and will be able to bemoved elsewhere when needed.

“I’m going to be as cheap as I can,” Givens said about countybarn plans.

Supervisors in the other four districts already have countybarns.

Givens also moved ahead with plans to have a telephone installedin the office and, at the suggestion of District 4 Supervisor W.D.”Doug” Moak, the board voted to have county barn telephone numbersadvertised in some local publications. Telephone numbers for thecounty barns are:

* District 1 – 835-1306, effective Thursday.

* District 2 – 833-0905.

* District 3 – 835-4159.

* District 4 – 734-6774.

* District 5 – 835-1338.

In financial matters, supervisors elected to bypass the purchaseorder number and requisition process for purchases under $100.

“I personally think it’ll take care of a lot of the paper workif we don’t have to do that,” Moak said in lobbying for thebypass.

District 2 Supervisor Bobby J. Watts agreed the quicker processwould be handy, but he did question the potential for public”backlash” and questions about money management. Other supervisorssaid the public had elected them to be trustworthy in handlingmatters such as purchasing.

The receiving clerk will still have to officially sign to accepta product, but Moak said supervisors could initial receipts.Supervisors are to turn in receipts by the 25th of each month.

In other business, Civil Defense Director Clifford Galeyinformed the board that a burn ban for the county has been lifted.A state burn ban was lifted last week, but the county’s banremained in effect until Monday.

Galey cautioned, though, that officials will still be monitoringthe heat and drought situation closely.

“Due to the lack of significant rainfall, the drought situationis still very near the danger level here in Lincoln County,” saidGaley, who urged residents to use extreme caution with any outsideburning.

Also Monday, supervisors formally acted to sell over $700,000 ingeneral obligation bonds to finance improvements to the LincolnCounty Public Library and cover cost overruns with new county jail.Of the total, $500,000 is for the library and $200,000 to thejail.

After no protests were filed by Monday, the county will sell thebonds Oct. 16, said Board Attorney Bob Allen. Debt service on thebonds next year is about $93,000.

The library bond money is matching a state grant to build a newchildren’s area, installation of an elevator and upgrading ofentrances and other areas for handicap accessibility.

In road matters, County Engineer Carl Ray Furr expectedadvertisements on work to redo County Farm Road to go out inJanuary or February and the work to be done later next year. Plansare also under way to have a Dunn-Ratliff Road project done nextyear, Furr said.