Cashion keeps Council gavel as Church joins BOE

Metro Council sets leadership, fills vacant District 1 school board seat, and approves appointments, rezoning requests

1:37 p.m. Sept. 22, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Metro Council members reelected Amy Cashion as chair Monday, named Dexter Golden chair pro tem, filled the vacant District 1 School Board seat, and handled a full slate of appointments, rezonings, event closures, and meeting rules.

Council members chose Cashion to serve another year as chair, giving her eight votes to three for Golden.

Arvis Bobo, Bradley Dye, Jayson Estfon, Golden, Brady Goodwin Payton Keller, Sunny Rae Moorehead, and John Oosting voted for Cashion.

Peggy Sue Blackburn, Robert Bracewell, and Cashion voted for Golden.

Regina Adcock, Douglas Carson, Brandon Ross, and Shane Taylor were absent.

The chair and chair pro tem are elected each September. After Cashion retained the gavel, Council selected Golden as chair pro tem.

Church takes District 1 school board seat

After being nominated by Bracewell, Bruce Church was appointed to fill the District 1 seat on the Moore County Board of Education.

He fills the seat of Ed Cashion, who chose not to seek reelection this year.

Church will not serve a full four-year term. He will hold the seat until the next general election in August 2028, when it will again go before voters.

• Council also appointed Brady Goodwin to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

• Tony Binion, Jacob Byrom, Alice Fleming, and Brenda Hannah were approved to serve on the Historic Zoning Board

• Cindy Cregier, Larry Hatfield, Larry Moorehead, Gordon Millsaps, and Shane Taylor were named to the Solid Waste Board.

Meeting rules updated

Council adopted two recently enacted state provisions affecting local government meetings.

Public Chapter 599 deals with the adoption of Robert’s Rules of Order, while Public Chapter 620 addresses public comment.

During discussion of the public-comment provision, Bracewell clarified that speakers may be asked to provide their names and affiliations but are not required to do so. Both measures were approved by voice vote.

• Council also approved a five-year lease covering copy machines for Moore County Schools.

Square closures get approval

Council approved Lynchburg Square closures requested by the Chamber of Commerce for the Jack Daniel World Invitational BBQ and Halloween in the Hollow.

For the barbecue, the Square will close around 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9. Vendors will begin moving in around 5:30 p.m. along Short Street, Hiles Street, and Main Street.

Those three sides of the Square are expected to remain closed until around 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, or until Sheriff Tyler Hatfield determines it is safe to reopen them. Mechanic Street will remain open for buses, along with the stretch from Farmers Bank to the Lodge Store.

The Square will close again at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, for Halloween in the Hollow. With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, the Chamber plans to add activities throughout the afternoon and evening.

A full schedule will be announced once plans are finalized.

Two rezonings move forward

A one-acre tract at 30 Arbor Lane, owned by Michael Williamson, received approval to move from C-1 to R-2 zoning.

A public hearing on the request is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. next month.

Council also gave first-reading approval to a request involving 3.75 acres at 969 Preston Ridge Road. The property, owned by Jeffrey D. Bowen, would move from A-1 to R-2 and contains two lots.