Good news for county workers, as the Board of Commissioners unanimously voted New Year’s Eve as a paid holiday in addition to Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

The Board of Commissioners had a combined in-person and virtual meeting on Feb. 5, with around 30 people physically attending.

The first issue on the agenda was the eclipse, expected to be on April 8 around four in the afternoon. “It’s going to happen whether we like it or not,” Commissioner Jerry Pittman said. “We are going to try to be prepared (for) when it gets here.”

Pittman said his concern for Brown County during the eclipse is the capacity.

“We are expecting quite an enlarged number of people to visit Brown County to see it, so a lot of things to be considered there,” Pittman said.

Kayla Roberts, planning director, said that private viewing parties might be an issue.

“The special exception for primitive camping takes months to get obtained, so that doesn’t seem like it’s something that could happen for all these folks who want to have private viewing parties,” she explained.

“It’s going to be a different type of experience than we have ever had in Brown County, it’s going to take patience on everyone’s parts,” Commissioner Ron Sanders said. “Emergency services are going to be very much overwhelmed and unable to get to many places they need to be. We are hoping that neighbors will take care of neighbors … if you have any disputes, save them for another day.”

The Brown County Music Center was another hot topic at the meeting. Sanders asked about the potential benefits behind selling the venue. Pittman and Commissioner Blake Wolpert both said that selling the Music Center would not be in the town’s best interest for the foreseeable future.

Sanders said that all money borrowed for the Music Center has been paid back completely. The Music Center is now bringing in excess and Sanders said that would be a good reason to sell. However, Pittman and Wolpert were unconvinced and put a stop to the idea.

The board discussed some upgrades in other areas. There was a discussion about putting $3,000,000 toward the courthouse and its new construction, $500,000 toward the Emergency Management building and $300,000 on the veteran’s building. They also are planning on adding more than $21,000 on the courthouse security doors, camera, entrance and garage. Of that, $4,000 will be coming from re-allocated money that was over-budgeted from construction projects last year.

“Unfortunately in this day and age, security is a big issue,” Pittman said. “If people were honest, we wouldn’t need any of this, but that’s not the world we live in folks.”

Michael Magner, superintendent of the Highway Department, told the board that the Highway Department will repave all of Gatesville Road from State Road 135 in Bean Blossom, to Hoover Road in Sweetwater. Magner said that the next expected projects will be repaving Bear Creek, Beech Tree and Sprunica roads.

Another discussion was filling other board and committee seats. Melissa Stinson-Waddell, administrate assistant for the commissioners, explained that the process to begin applying for various openings starts with the newspaper. Vacant seats are advertised in the newspaper. If someone is interested in a position, they can either send a letter via email or paper mail explaining why they are applying.