A lot of people have already begun phoning it in until after the holiday season; however, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is still working hard this week before kicking back and enjoying the festivities.

In fact, the commissioners have called a special jam-packed year-end work session for Thursday, Dec. 21 – just four days before Santa arrives – in order to handle pressing business, even though the board also has a regular meeting scheduled for that evening.

The work session agenda is packed with a wide variety of items for the board to address and discuss, including a major change in the way the county’s mental health services are administered. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, citing a need to streamline the public sector’s mental health care system across the state, is forcing regional behavioral health management companies to merge – and that will mean changes in the way Sandhills Center in West End, NC handles those operations in Guilford County.

That will be one area of discussion at the commissioners’ year-end Thursday  work session.

Other topics of note at the work session will include the ongoing Guilford County Comprehensive Plan – the county’s latest attempt to create an effective long-term strategic plan.  Previous attempts by county leaders to come up with a strategic plan – at least in this century – have not amounted to much at all.  In fact, they have been largely forgotten.

Other topics at the meeting will be interlocal agreements that cover tax collection in the county, as well as Guilford County’s cash management and investment policies.

If anyone wants to take a break from Christmas shopping and watch, they are more than welcome to attend or view the meeting online.

It will take place on December 21 at 3:30 p.m. in the Carolyn Coleman Conference Room on the first floor of the Old Guilford County Courthouse at 301 W. Market St. in downtown Greensboro.

The work session will also be broadcast on Zoom at https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1610993088, and, in addition, will be livestreamed on Guilford County’s Facebook page.