Halifax County commissioners today accepted the recommendation of Oakley Collier Architects for the Lincoln Heights Community Center project.
J. Michael Scott of PRO Inc. told the board that a selection committee reviewed and scored responses from two firms as a result of an RFQ the county advertised in July with an August 9 submission deadline.
He said the committee determined that the Rocky Mount-based firm would be the best. Part of that decision was for its previous work in the county and it was qualified to take on this type of work.
In the RFQ the county noted it received a $750,000 Community Development Neighborhood Revitalization Block Grant from the department of commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division.
Approximately $375,000 of those funds is earmarked for the design and the construction of the center, which will be built on 20 acres of land on Branch Avenue.
In addition to those funds, the county received $500,000 as a grant-in-aid from the state General Assembly and $950,000 in congressionally-directed funding through USDA Rural Development.
Smith resolution
In another matter today, the board honored Commissioner John Smith, who has opted to not seek another term after he was appointed in September of 2021 to fill the unexpired term of his son, the late Marcelle O. Smith.
He won election for the term and was sworn in on December 5, 2022.
The resolution honoring Smith says “he has represented the citizens of Halifax County in the most efficient and exemplary manner while serving on the Choanoke Development Association Board, the Halifax County Board of Adjustment, and the Solid Waste Advisory Board.”
The resolution says, “During his service as an elected official, Mr. Smith demonstrated wisdom, creativity, and community spirit, all tempered with exceptional common sense and (an) engaging personality, which gained him the admiration and respect of his fellow commissioners and the citizens of Halifax County.”
Smith told his fellow board members, “It took the loss of a son to serve on a broader basis.”
He said going into his appointment he never claimed to be a politician. “I came with no agenda. The only promise I made was a promise to listen to all sides.. It wasn’t for District 2, it was for all 40,000 citizens of Halifax County.”
