Commission chairman Danny Yearwood on Thursday changed the time of Friday's called meeting to vote to hire the new chief of emergency services. The meeting will be at 5 p.m., according to an official notice distributed minutes ago.
On Wednesday afternoon, Yearwood said the meeting would be at 7 p.m. However, that was before he had discussed the matter with the entire board.
The agenda includes two items. First is the adoption of the job title, job description and pay grade for the chief. The second item is about hiring Dennis Merrifield of Statesboro.
Yearwood said Wednesday that he knows of no board opposition to the appointment of Merrifield, the former Statesboro fire chief. He said Wednesday that he did not want to delay the vote until after the federal holiday Monday. The holiday commemorates the birth of the late Martin Luther King Jr.
There will not be a second called meeting next week to address other items on the Jan. 11 meeting, which was canceled due to snow. The rest of the items will be on the agenda of the regular Jan. 25 meeting, Yearwood said.
Friday's meeting will be in the Board of Commissioners meeting room.
To read more about the county's new fire chief, check out this week's edition of the Barrow Journal. Because of weather-related production delays, copies will arrive in mailboxes on Friday. 
