By Karen Hall

Staff Writer

School board members met briefly Friday morning to pass a new budget that includes money from the county for school roof repairs.

This paves the way for a public hearing on the county budget to be held Tuesday, Sept. 11. Following this, a favorable vote on the county budget is anticipated at their monthly commission meeting on Sept. 24.

"They will give us $300,000 for the roofs," explained schools director Jackie Abernathy to the board members. "If the sales tax revenue does not come in as projected, the money would come from a tax anticipation loan. It would not come out of our fund balance."

The votes to rescind the previous budget and approve the new one were unanimous. Departing board members Ann Tears and Sam Smith were not present at the meeting, but Curt Denton attended.

Abernathy explained after the meeting that the money will be spent to apply a product called "Hydro-Stop" to the roofs of Marshall Elementary and Westhills schools. If there's any money left over, she said, more work would be done on the roof of Lewisburg Middle School. While Hydro-Stop is expensive, it's considerably cheaper than rebuilding a roof. According to the company's Web site, HydroStop's PremiumCoat system is one of the highest quality roofing and waterproofing systems available. It provides a long lasting, energy-efficient surface that, when properly installed by a certified applicator, provides a 10-year warranty. When managed through a proper maintenance schedule, the warranty can be extended every 10 years.