County Manager Tony Brown said the price of the building is $555,000 and will replace the current Halifax County EMS station on Julian R. Allsbrook Highway.

The county already has $150,000 set aside for the project, money the county planned to allocate to the renovation of the old Riverstone building.

The Roanoke Valley substation, Brown said, “Is a better building. The location has quicker access to Interstate 95 and Roanoke Rapids.”

Repairs to the current building, which goes back to the days of the old Halifax Emergency Services Authority — called HEMSA for short — are needed. “It needs a lot of work,” Brown said. “Renovation would be as expensive as replacing or buying.”

The county will probably not close on the American Legion Road building until early next year, Brown said.

Portela speaks to the board.

In another matter today the board tabled a request from Gilbert Portela of Angel's Closet, who appealed to allow a late application for tax exemption be approved for 2013, thus waving that year's tax bill $1,646.

“Angel's Closet is a charitable organization and could have (or should have) filed their application for property tax exemption in January 2013,” the county tax office said in supporting documentation included in today's agenda packet. “A timely filed proper application would most likely have been approved for 2013 by the assessor. However, the application was not filed until after the tax bills were mailed in August 2013. Applications for property tax exemption or exclusion must be filed during the listing period.”