Call to order by Chairman Andrews at 9 A. M.  Invocation by Commissioner Andrews followed by the pledge.

 

     Roll call showed all members present with the exception of Commissioner Byrd.

 

     The agenda and previous minutes were approved by unanimous vote.

 

Payroll/Personnel report:

     There was one separation from the jail during this period.  There were no new hires.

     1.5 hours of overtime from the Probate Office was approved.

     Ms. Leigh noted that participation in the wellness program is only running at 40%.  She encouraged the commissioners to have county people attend and take the exam at the end of the class.  This will be an overall help to the county by lowering the insurance rates.

     Ms. Leigh had some questions about the call out list and pay associated with others not on the list being called out.  Commissioner Millender stated that anyone being called out and working deserved to be paid.

 

Claim Approval:

     There were no over the limit charges in either the gasoline or general fund.

 

Conecuh County Safe Room:

     No one on hand for any report. 

     Commissioner Millender pointed out that the safe room had been designed to accommodate other venues.  He suggested the commission body hold a meeting and establish procedures to be followed when the safe room is rented/leased out.  This issue will be discussed at the next meeting on 6 August.

 

John Lett, concerned citizen:

     Mr. Lett stated his concerns had already been met and he did not need to speak to the commission body.

 

Odessa Wallace, property purchase proposal:

     Ms. Wallace spoke to the commission about a portion of land located in Repton.  She stated that approximately 1.5 acres with road frontage was located in Repton.  She also noted the property was in a state of being ignored with overgrowth and washouts in it.  She also noted her sister was interested in opening a bakery at the site and she was approaching the commission about selling it. 

     The consensus was to take the proposal under advisement and render a response at a later date.

 

Walter Lewis, Bond Update:

     Mr. Lewis noted he was just visiting the area and thought the commission body might want an update on how things were going with the counties bond issues.  Mr. Lewis pointed out that interest rates are the key to refinancing and his company is keeping a close eye these.  He noted that should there be a drop in interest rates his company will work out a program that is best for the county and then talk about rerfinancing.

 

Jimmy Bell, Revenue Commissioner:

     Mr. Bell presented his required annual report on the errors and omissions report.  This is a required annual report with little to no change from last years report.

 

Johnny Brock, EMA Director:

     At the last meeting Mr. Brock conducted a bid opening dealing with courthouse camera installation.  After opening the one bid received Mr. Brock asked for a delay until this meeting to review all the paperwork.

     Mr. Brock noted the only bid received was from Miller Alarm Company in the amount of $17,760.20.  His review of the paperwork showed all requirements were met and he recommended the commission body accept the Miller Alarm bid.  This bid, by the way, is well under the amount of the grant given to do this work.  The work must be completed by the end of August and Mr. Brock has been assured that deadline can be met.

 

Stephanie Brown, County Administrator:

     Ms. Brown pointed out that the chairmanship at ALATOM was due rotation.  This chairmanship is typically held by the commission chair.  Motion to appoint Chairman Andrews to the ALATOM board was approved by unanimous vote.

 

Anthony Bishop, County Attorney:

     Mr. Bishop reminded the commission body that there was to be a 10:30 appointment with two people dealing with economic advisers for the county.  He also encouraged the commission body to consider going into executive session for most of the discussion.

 

Commissioners Comments and Announcements:

     It was determined to withhold any discussion on the arena until the full board of commissioners could be on hand.

     Commissioner Millender gave a report on the animal shelter.  He noted that he had negotiated an agreement with a contractor that included the county purchasing the material and paying for labor.  This negotiation did not include the repair of the vent system.  A go to work motion was made and passed unanimously.

     It was brought up that a lot of equipment was being kept at the engineering department and not being used.  Some of this equipment included talk about a generator and some other items.  A proposal to place these items on the surplus list and get rid of them was suggested.  EMA Director Johnny Brock pointed out that a great deal of the unused items were put in place by the state and cannot be gotten rid of.

     Commissioner Millender noted the polling places were not being cleaned up at the end of the day.  He suggested sending the Probate Judge a request asking him to direct the poll workers to clean up when they finish.  Also, pick the voting machines up in a timely manner after the vote.

 

Get ready now, it’s gonna get kinky and hard to keep up with.  Toss out any Robert’s Rules of Order and anything else that seems to make sense.  I’m going to try my best to report this as it happened.

     The commissioners comments and announcements were completed at approximately 10 AM.  It was noted that the perspective economic developers were due in at 10:30.  Chairman Andrews asked for a motion to recess which was made and passed.

     It was then noticed that there was no spot on the agenda for a meeting with the people.  The motion to recess was reversed by the person making the motion withdrawing the motion. 

     A motion to amend the agenda was made and approved.  Then another motion to recess was made and approved.

     Recess started at 10:02 AM

     Return to regular meeting 10:34

 

Executive Session:

     At 10:35 a call for an executive session was called for (not on the agenda either).  Motion for executive session passed by unanimous vote.

     10:58 return to regular session.

 

     10:59 a call to recess again.

     During this recess two representatives of our Senator, Doug Jones gave a presentation.

     Mr. Al Stokes and Mr. Donald Dees were on hand to talk with the commissioners about what their needs and concerns were and see if there were any issues Senator Jones might be able to help with.

     These two gentlemen work out of the Mobile office and cover 13 counties in southwest Alabama.

     This session lasted for approximately 20 minutes and was just a meet and greet session.

 

     Return to regular session at 11:51 AM

 

News Media Comments:

     Mr. Andy Gladwell was on hand representing the Monthly View.  He had a question aimed at Commissioner Riley dealing with repairs to C. R. 32.  It dealt with C. R. 32 not being as wide now as before the repairs began and there is no yellow land separation line on it.

     Commissioner Riley noted these questions would be better asked of Winston Foshee, County Engineer.  He noted that the work is not performed by the county but by a contractor who followed the guidelines of the contractor.  He also told Mr. Gladwell that Wiregrass Construction was the contractor.

 

Adjourn:  11:55