Arthur "Artie" Barber was sworn in last week as a Carthage town commissioner.

His wife, Shannon, held the Bible as Moore County Clerk of Court Catherine Graham administered the oath of office.

The Town Board appointed Barber to fill the seat vacated by the death of longtime commissioner Sherwood Lapping.

Barber's dad was a well-known figure around the county seat. His son grew up loving the town of Carthage. Artie Barber works out of Pittsboro as a fire marshal, but still lives in Moore County. He and his wife are expecting their first child and have recently bought a home in Carthage.

"I want to make sure growth is managed so that Carthage will keep its small-town character," Barber said after joining the board. "We are going to grow. We are growing. We will need improvements to the town's infrastructure so that its fire department, its water and sewer capacities, are ready as needed. We also need to have our zoning and other regulations in place."

Barber takes his seat on the town commission at an opportune moment for that concern. At its Oct. 20 session, he joined the others in calling for a public hearing at the Nov. 17 meeting on a revised Carthage zoning ordinance.

Barber has no particular agenda, he said following the meeting. He said he wants only to protect and improve the hometown where he grew up, where he wants to live the rest of his life and where he wants his children to grow up.

In welcoming Barber to the board, Commissioner Milton T. Dowdy said the board could use Barber's younger perspective. Barber is a youthful 43, the next youngest commissioner after Mayor Ronnie Fields.

The board took a brief recess for refreshments and personal greetings after Barber took his oath and signed the official documents making him a town commissioner.

Following the recess, the commissioners appointed Tommy Stewart as a second member to sign checks, a task formerly done by Lapping. They adopted the Moore County Animal Control Ordinance as proposed by the county commissioners.

They also took the first steps to accept a request for noncontiguous annexation of property by calling a public hearing for the Nov. 17 meeting.

Contact John Chappell at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.