Fayette County

Commissioner Harold Bost is spending more time out of town these days,

too much to be effective as a commissioner, he said.

Bost Thursday

submitted his resignation from the Board of Commissioners.

"I can't

do anything halfway otherwise I feel extremely guilty," Bost told

The Citizen Friday.

He and wife

Evelyn own a second home on the Gulf of Mexico near Appalachicola, Fla.,

and now that he is retired from his work as owner of canvass goods manufacturing

firm Estex Corp., the two spend about half of their time there, he said.

He also is

vice president, soon to be president, of the American Bonanza Society,

a worldwide organization of owners of Bonanza aircraft, and those duties

also interfere with his service to the county, he said.

"I could

certainly have gotten by, just going to meetings and doing the surface

work," he said. "But that wouldn't be fair to the citizens."

Still, he added,

"It leaves a real hard knot in my stomach to walk away."

His resignation

is effective April 20. "I'd have liked to have stayed to help with

the budget for this year," he said, but haste was required in order

to meet the next available date for a special election to replace him.

State law stipulates

four dates when counties can call special elections, and the next one

of those is June 19. The commissioners Thursday unanimously voted to ask

the county Board of Elections to call a special election for that date.

The board's next meeting is April 24 at 5:30 p.m.

In remarks

during Thursday's meeting, commission Chairman Greg Dunn credited Bost

with bringing about a sharp change in direction for county government.

Bost, 64, was

elected in 1996, promising a more conservative approach to zoning and

business development issues. During the first two years of his term, there

were frequent sharp divisions in which he accused fellow commissioners

of having ties to special interests.

In the 1998

elections, Linda Wells and Dunn were elected, bringing views to the board

that were more closely aligned with Bost's. He was named chairman of the

commission in 1999 and in 2000.

"There

are few people in this world that I would trust more than Harold Bost,"

said Dunn, adding that Bost "came along at a critical time in the

history of this county."

Among accomplishments

he is most proud of, Bost said, is the fact that growth in the unincorporated

area has slowed down since he has been on the board. New building permits

dropped 11 percent from 1998-99, and 23 percent from '99 to 2000.

Commissioners

also changed directions on plans for a new county jail and courthouse

during Bost's tenure. Plans had been to build completely new facilities

on a site the county owned near the current site, but Bost and current

Chairman Dunn had different ideas.

The group set

about buying land to tie the new site with the old one, creating a parcel

large enough for not only the jail and courthouse, but also a future administration

building a government complex all on one site. And by combining the properties,

the county was able to add to the current jail rather than build an all-new

one, saving money.

"That

all came together," said Bost. "I understand some of the opposition

(neighbors argued for moving the jail out of downtown Fayetteville) but

I'm glad we were able to work through it. We made the right decision in

acquiring the property that we did and doing a master plan for that whole

area."

In addition

to the other advantages, the plan will one day free the county to sell

off the current Administrative Complex, originally built as a shopping

and office center.

"It was

built at the wrong time, and that's why it never worked," he said,

adding that in ten years or so when a new complex is being contemplated,

the property should be valuable. "That should help us pay a heck

of a lot of a new administrative complex."

Bost also is

proud that impact fees for fire services are on the verge of approval,

and added he feels residents' confidence in their government has improved

in recent years.

Recently elected

Commissioner A.G. VanLandingham also had words of praise during Thursday's

meeting. "He's had some difficult times but has stood right in the

middle and been a guardian of the county," said VanLandingham.

In 2000, Bost

had announced said that he would not run for reelection, citing the same

reasons that he now resigns, but he was unable to find someone of like

mind to run for his post, and at the last minute jumped back in the race.

Now that he

is leaving, he said, he still worries about who will replace him. "My

biggest fear," he said, is that special interests will get their

foot back in the door and, over a period of time, get back in control."

So far, a former

Bost campaign worker is the only announced candidate (see related story).