COURTLAND
The Southampton County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 to approve Southampton resident Keith Munroe’s conditional use permit request to keep livestock on his property in the R-1 Residential Zoning District, and accepted a bid to replace the Southampton County Office Building roof at their regular scheduled board meeting, held on Nov. 28.

Munroe made his initial request to the board in October, asking to be able to keep chickens and goats on his property as therapy animals for his children. Vice Chairman Ronnie West, representing the Berlin/Ivor District, was the dissenting vote. The board voted at the conclusion of a public hearing on the matter.

Following approval of Munroe’s permit, the board also approved a bid by Custom Roofing to replace the Southampton County Office Building roof. The board awarded the Ashland-based company the contract for $183,800.

The board also approved an agreement with the City of Franklin to hire a full-time human resources director, who will divide his or her time between the city and county on a 60-40 percent basis, spending three days every week in the city and two days in the county. According to County Administrator Mike Johnson, the city will be taking the lead in the hiring process, but one or more representatives of the county will be included during the interview process.

The board also announced that Southampton County is now a full member of the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Commission, which expanded its metropolitan area boundaries into portions of Southampton County and Franklin east of Route 258 earlier this year.

The next Southampton County Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Monday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.