Dr. Chante’ Baker Martin was selected as the Liberty County Board of Education’s vice chair.

Donita Strickland, the District 6 board member, nominated Dr. Martin for the spot. No other nominations were forwarded and Dr. Martin, the District 5 member, was approved.

Dr. Martin has been on the school board for six years, and will run meetings in the absence of chair Verdell Jones, who presided over her first meeting January 10.

“I’ve been here 14 years,” Jones said, “but I am new to the position.”

Signature Lawn Care now will take care of landscaping for all the school system’s property after being awarded the bid to perform ground work in the system’s west zone schools.

Signature Lawn Care was awarded the work for the east zone of the school system, and C.A. Sittle was awarded the landscaping bid for the west zone. C.A. Sittle declined to seek the bid again. Four firms, including Signature Lawn Care, submitted bids for the west zone work.

There are eight schools in the west zone, totaling 78 acres of property. Signature’s total contract is for $225,346.

School board members also approved a contract for replacing the carpet at Liberty College and Career Academy. System officials cited the carpet as worn and in poor condition, and United Grounds Maintenance Service won the contract with a bid of $39,750 for nearly 4,200 square feet of carpet. Funding for the new carpet will come out of ESPLOST.