The Weldon Fire Department will return to its old fire station once repairs are made to fix the damage done during Hurricane Irene.

Interim Finance Officer David Odom told town commissioners tonight a bid opening would be held December 28.

Overton said following the meeting the precise cost of the repairs wouldn't be known until the bid opening. He said the repairs will bring the building up to code.

Fire Chief Rusty Bolt said unofficial estimates place damages from $120,000 to $175,000.

The fire department has been using the old Basnight building on Highway 301 as a temporary replacement for Station 1.

Asked if he would have liked to continued using that building, Bolt said, “We just want a place to call home.”

Clark is sworn in.

In other matters tonight Mayor Julia Meacham swore in incumbent Walter Clark Jr. and new town board member Susan Smith.

Smith and Meacham shake hands.

Meacham also read a resolution honoring former town Commissioner Earl Smith, who chose not to run this year.

Susan Smith said she was pleased to be serving. “I'm excited about the challenges. I've been a proponent of Weldon for a long time. I felt the town needed some young blood,” she said, and hopes with the changes being made in the town it can draw in younger people.