HALE COUNTY – Hale County residents can expect much road reconstruction and repairs in the next few weeks.

At the Hale County Commission meeting Tuesday morning, Wallace McAdory, county engineer, informed commissioners many road widening and reconstruction projects will soon begin or are in progress.

Plans for Hale County Roads 2. 10 and 38 among others will cost the county about $2.805.

Commissioner Yolanda Watkins said the county also needed to find a way to fix Greenleaf Road.

“It is in desperate need,” Watkins said.

McAdory said he will look into it.

Judge Leland Avery suggested to commissioners they let the roofing company that is currently doing work on the DHR building fix the leaky roof on the jail while they are available.

“We don’t know the next time we will get a roofing company in town, so I think we should go ahead and let them fix it,” he said.

The jail is currently being used as a county storage facility and will cost $6,300, which commissioners agreed to invest in the project.

Commissioners accepted a bid from Thompson Tractor Company for a $174,068 wheeled excavator.

They are also looking at the idea of purchasing a chipper for the county to aid in times when tree and limb pickup is needed.

“The city of Greensboro and everywhere is a mess,” Judge Leland Avery said. “We can look into it.”

The chipper would handle trees up to 12 inches in diameter and cost the county $25,000.

Commissioner Walter Allen said the purchase would be both an interesting and good idea.

“There is still trash and logs on the side of the roads,” Allen said. “The mulch could be used in people’s gardens.”

Two contracts, for S&W and the long-term detention subsidy, were approved.

Although commissioners spent most of the meeting talking about spending money, Commissioner Allen suggested putting the money earned from selling the county’s old motorgraders into a savings account to earn interest.

A motion was put on the floor and all commissioners agreed to the idea.

Although Allen abstained from the vote, commissioners agreed to permit Maddox Deli and Grocery to sale beer for off- premise consumption.

“I belong to a church and I try to do my Christian duty, so I am against alcohol,” Allen said. “But we need the tax money.”

The next Hale County Commission meeting will be 9 a.m. Tuesday, September 27 at the Hale County Courthouse in Greensboro.