More fun from Thursday night
Billy Yow wasn't the only commissioner mixing it up Thursday night (see the previous post). Steve Arnold also got into the mix earlier in the evening.
Here's the full version of an item concerning a juvenile detention facility that the commissioners (sans Mr. Arnold) supported Thursday. (It was trimmed before making it into the paper).
In other business, the commissioners:
George Sweat, the head of that department, told the commissioners that the state's new $5 million, 32-bed center would look like a treatment center but would be secured like a prison.
It would be near the Department of Transportation maintenance yard on Sandy Camp Road. The state legislature must approve the funds next year.
So far this year, Sweat said, 23 Guilford County youths have been committed to state facilities. He and Guilford County Judge Joseph Turner said that the new facility would allow the children's families to participate in their rehabilitation.
"Keeping these kids close to home...is imperative," Turner said.
Yow and Arnold voted against the project.
At one point, Arnold suggested that the county and state could save money by sharing detention centers. He also added a sarcastic suggestion.
"Would it save on transportation cost if you put it over at Andrews High School, thus saving the long trip," he asked, referencing a spate of violence problems at the county's high schools, particularly Andrews.