LAURINBURG — The fee for those wishing to file for a seat on the Laurinburg City Council will remain at $25.

The Laurinburg City Council voted Tuesday night to keep the fee steady after City Manager Charles Nichols recommended council leave the fee the same as in years past.

The council seats open for the November election are City Council At-Large, currently held by Dee Hammond; City Council District 1, currently held by J D Willis; and City Council District 2, currently held by Drew Williamson. The terms for city council are four years.

Filing for the 2017 election will begin on July 7 at noon.

In a related matter, council discussed the Scotland County Board of Elections request to use the South Laurinburg Fire Station as the temporary Precinct 4 polling location.

The National Guard Armory has been closed indefinitely to the public due to lead being detected in the building. Officials with the North Carolina National Guard said that no airborne lead had been found at the National Guard Armory at 1520 S Main St, but that traces of lead were found on surfaces. Members of the National Guard will still work on-site.

“The county has obviously run into an issue with using the armory as their Precinct 4 voting district,” Nichols said. “They need to plan and go ahead and get ready for it and everybody hopes the armory is cleaned up and fixed prior to that.

Nichols added that if there was still an issue in 2018, he hoped elections officials would consider another option. City officials said they were concerned the fire station would be unable to accommodate voters during an event like a presidential election when interest in casting a ballot is higher.

“I think our main concern was if this was a non-odd year election that the crowds being a little bit more, if it would impact our usage of the south fire station, but think that after we discussed it and talked with them, with it being a 2017 municipal election, staff and I haven’t seen any issues with this,” Nichols said.

The Board of Elections has discussed the possibility of using the gymnasium of Sycamore Lane Elementary as a polling location for the precinct’s estimated 3,447 registered voters.

The council voted unanimously to allow the use of the fire station for the upcoming 2017 elections.

There is no timetable for the armory being cleared for use by the public and under state law, any building or organization that receives government funding is required to allow the board of elections to use its facilities for voting purposes.

Nolan Gilmour | Laurinburg Exchange Charles Nichols, Laurinburg city manager, next to Mayor Matthew Block, discusses using to Laurinburg South Fire Station as a polling location for the 2017 municipal elections, due to the National Guard Armory’s closure forcing precinct four to find a new home.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_IMG_8859-1.jpgNolan Gilmour | Laurinburg Exchange Charles Nichols, Laurinburg city manager, next to Mayor Matthew Block, discusses using to Laurinburg South Fire Station as a polling location for the 2017 municipal elections, due to the National Guard Armory’s closure forcing precinct four to find a new home.

By Nolan Gilmour

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Reach Nolan Gilmour at 910-506-3171