County Commission Agendas - Regular Meeting

that we will go through, and we do have two items to discuss in our next session. We will go into an executive session tonight for good night and care. So with that, I'd like to ask Ms. Turner, our county administrator, please call the roll to establish a quorum.

Commissioner Bowley?

Present.

Commissioner Kenimer?

Present.

Commissioner Buckner?

Present.

Commissioner McBride?

Present. We do have a quorum. Please offer our invitations and please be our president.

That's great. God, our Father in heaven, we are truly blessed to be citizens of this great county and this great country. We're so thankful, God, for the privilege of self-governance that we have in this country and the ability to speak out and discuss matters in an open public forum. God, we realize that this form of government is not perfect, but we pray that you will lead us to perfection and so that the rights of all citizens can be protected at all times. We're thankful for the men and women who serve us each and every day in a public way. We pray for discernment and guidance and compassion, strength and courage for them as they do their jobs on a daily basis. Always, God, for the best interests of the people of this county and of this country. Pray you watch over us and guide us every day. In Christ's name, amen.

Blue Pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We do not have any awards or presentations tonight, but let me back up first to our agenda for our August 10th meeting. We have added a few items since we released the notice of the agenda last Friday. First of all, item six, new business. The motion is changed to read, motion to nominate and appoint member for unexpired term for the Jackson County Port Authority Board. And also we'll add a new business item, H, a motion to approve resolution for recognizing service to Delphine County.

You do have a copy of that proposed resolution on the desk.

So with that, do I have a motion to approve the August 10th, 26th agenda for the review of the changes? Do we have a motion? Do we have a second? Do we have a second? All in favor say aye. Motion carries. Thank you very much. We also do not have public comments tonight, so we'll move directly into the new business portion of the meeting. In your packet, you do have the minutes from the July 13, 2026 meeting, and also the minutes from the budget hearings of July the 22nd and the budget hearing for July the 24th. I'll give you a minute to take a look at those minutes before we proceed to the next one. So do I have a motion to adopt the minutes for the July 13th, 2026 meeting and the work session and the July 22nd budget hearing and the July 24th, 2026 budget hearing? I'll make that motion. We have a motion. We have a second. Second. I'm sorry? Second. We do have a second. Any questions or discussion? If not, all in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. In the last meeting, we had a discussion in the work session about a contract with BMSS as it seems to be time to help our county administrator as we prepare financial statements and also to look at our 26, 25, and 26 financial information. your packet, you do have the contract that they have sent us a proposal. Mr. Ford has reviewed the contract. They do have with this what they call a national service engagement letter, and then they have the statement of work for their support for Jackson County. You will note in the last page of the statement of work, But the items that are included in the specular work include provide client accounting solutions with general accounting assistance, assist with the preparation of financial statements and related supporting schedules, proposed general ledger entries identified and approved by management, financial information for audit preparation, assist the commission with preparing schedule, reconciliations, other information requested during the audit process. Their services are based upon an hourly rate, based upon the individuals that will be used as proposed in the sheet that we had in our work sessions. In the master services engagement letter, they discuss the conditions of statement of work. Also, they do provide the typical contract information regarding client responsibilities, their responsibilities, the appointment of a client, that is us, Jackson County, personnel that would operate with them. They then discuss matters of corporation, the independents that we operate, both as the client and the service providers, independent contractors, and the time of schedule. Then they also discuss indemnity prevention in the contract. And they do have an area in here called tax preparation. We're not using them for tax preparation. So that is the proposed contract that they have provided to us for their services. So let me open if there are any questions regarding that. If not, do I have a motion to approve and sign the contract with BMSS for Jackson County Commission? I move. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

I'll second that.

We have a second. If no further discussion, all in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. Also, in the last work session, we had a discussion about surplus and also our equipment lease program. So I'm going to request that our county engineer, Mr. Campbell, if you have any questions regarding this, we do have in the packet, you do have the items listed that are for surplus, as well as the items listed that would be for extension of the government equipment lease program. John, do you have any comments?

Is there any questions? The one question that I have, and it's just out of curiosity, for the replacement equipment, You have three different options, option A, B, and C. Are those that we, I mean, I'm assuming we advertise for this, or do you seek these? That's the first question. They're all source well-processed. Okay. So explain that to me like I'm...

So SourceWell is a joint bid program that is supported by our Department of Finance and Audits. And it is a volume tiered, ceiling priced, government, nonprofit, municipality only platform for purchasing.

So it's- This is a process they go through to be eligible for us to be able to purchase right? Yes, sir.

Any other questions? So do I have a motion? First, we will deal with the surplus equipment that is recommended. Do I have a motion to surplus equipment for public parks? I'll make the motion. Do we have a motion? Do we have a second? Yeah, I'll second that. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Motion carries. Thank you. J.M. Wood dated July 23, 2026.

Do we need to add that to the motion?

Okay.

Proposed change to the motion, Jonathan. Motion to surplus equipment.

Yes, it's a J.M. Wood proposal dated July 23, 2026, and that includes the list that you referred to, I believe, of all the pieces. I would like to amend my motion to include that.

So we will include the J.M. Wood, what?

Please state that. The J.M. Wood Auction Company proposal. So J.M. Wood proposed. Dated July 23rd, 2026.

It's true, if you can think. OK, thank you. So do we have a motion to surplus the equipment that the requirement works as well? Do we have a motion? Do we have a second? Second, yeah. Do we have a second? All in favor say aye. Aye. Okay. The next item is the government equipment lease program for public works. That was discussed in the fact that there's wealth. We discussed it in our last work session. Would I have a motion to approve and sign the government program for public parks?

I'll make that motion.

Do we have a motion? Do we have a second? Second. Do we have a second? Any questions or discussion? It was the one we recommended. Yes, our work session did. Any further questions? All in favor, say aye.

Aye. Thank you all.

We do have two board positions that we need to fill tonight. The first is for the Jackson County Attorney Board. At our last meeting, we had a We made note that we had advertised for three weeks, but we did not have any candidates that submitted a request for consideration. We do now have a candidate that has submitted a request. So this is to fill an unexpired term. The expiration of the term will be September the 30th, 2027. The applicant, Mr. Thomas Turner, Again, in the packet that you have, we see a letter that is submitted that is requesting consideration. The state has experienced plans over four years, first in service to the country with the United States Navy and then in the private sector working in the power industry within the mechanical engineering field. And he is currently working for TBI as an implementation manager out of the Chattanooga office. Mr. Turner lives in Scottsboro, Alabama. He then has a resume that is attached. And we briefly covered that resume. He's currently from July 2022 to August 2025. He worked for Revolve Energy in Humboldt, Alabama as a facility manager. From 2017 to 2022, he worked for APR Energy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a plant manager from 2016 to 2017, he was a maintenance specialist in the contract. And from 2007 to 2016, he worked for Talent Energy, Susquehanna LLC, as a maintenance supervisor. And he has previously also worked as a nuclear instructor with Talent Energy. His education includes a bachelor of science in chemical engineering technology from Alameda University. They're training in nuclear pump training, nuclear plant systems training. He has spent time with the United States Navy, Great Lakes, where there's a gas federal consortium that has in various famous fields. So with that, do I have a motion to nominate and appoint a member for the unexpired term on the Jackson County Health Care Authority Board? To nominate Thomas Turner. We have a nomination for Mr. Thomas Turner. Do I have a second? I'll second. We have a second. So at this time, if we need to have a roll call vote, please.

Commissioner Gulley?

Yes.

Commissioner Kenimer?

Yes.

Commissioner Buckner?

Yes.

Commissioner McBride?

Yes. So with that, as unanimous, we will appoint Mr. Turner to fill the unexpired term. The next starting board that's going to is the Port Authority Board. We have an unexpired term, Mr. Thomas Gamble from Google. A changing job was requested to be removed from the board. We do have a request for appointment, as well as an applicant that has submitted a request for consideration. That is, we filled the unacquired term, and this term will expire October the 31st, 2027. The request is from Ms. Karen Ridley. She is the Google Site Operations Manager at Willis Creek Data Center. She has submitted a letter of resume that states that she lives in Phoenix, Alabama. And her resume states she is the infrastructure and site operations leader. She has over 15 years of leadership across global technology infrastructure, municipal utilities, and regional community outreach. She is currently serving as the Site Operations Site Lead of the Server Operations Site Lead at Google Space Port Data Center. The Board of Governors Committee lets on site emergency response and safety, Global Operations Manager, Data Center Technician Promotion Committee, Global Decisions, Fleetly Affairs, and Organizational Education and Training, And she is also a member of the Northeast Alabama Community College Foundation. With her experience, she is currently serving, as we said, with Google at the Bridgeport Data Center. With that, do I have a motion? We nominate and appoint a member for the unexpired term to the Jackson County Port Authority Board.

Make a motion to appoint Ms. Ridley.

We have a motion to appoint Ms. Ridley. Do we have a second? I second that. We have a second. Roll call, will it come?

Commissioner Goley?

Yes.

Commissioner Penimer?

Yes.

Commissioner Buckner?

Yes.

Commissioner McBride?

Yes. So with that unanimous... The vote we will appoint to Ms. Ridley can fill this hand-expired time. Recently, we had an issue at the county jail when the heating and air conditioning system in the jail kitchen failed. And so we had to make an emergency purchase. And so tonight, we need to ratify that service. So let me turn it over for comments for Chief Harkin.

Yeah, the unit went out. Actually, I think they said it was going to run on part of whatever it is. I'm not a mechanic. And the replacement was going to be nearly $10,000 to replace the condenser or whatever was in there. And it's such an old unit, it just makes more sense to replace both of them. And so they replaced it with one that would fit into the existing spot for it instead of getting a different type unit.

They did look at two types of units, and so you see the bids for the proposals to each of those units. They are commercial HVAC systems, 15-time carrier units, and so one proposal is for $30,842, and the other one was proposed at $36,107. The jail staff opposed the cheaper of the two as recommended. And so we did approve that in the medical situation to get that system back up and operating. So we just want to let you know they did look at various system types. So with that, I have a motion to ratify the purchase of the TV and air conditioning unit for the jail kitchen. We have a motion. We have a second. We have a second. Any questions?

And so, again, thank you all for dealing with this, because I know I'll get asked, were there other companies that were requested for? So the other bid I think they had was for a different type unit, which would not fit in the existing area. It would have been much higher and harder to maintain according to our work.

And so they chose to go with that one, which is actually the cheapest of the two that they got.

I'm not worried that they look better now. They're a good-looking local company.

OK. I would recommend that the minutes reflect that it was an emergency purchase. Yes.

OK. Any further questions? If not, all in favor say aye. Aye.

Motion carried.

Okay. Last item in our new business portion of the meeting is a motion to approve a resolution for recognizing the service of an individual to Jackson County. You do have a copy of that resolution. I will give you time to read that. Any questions? If not, do I have a motion to approve the resolution for the recognition of the service of a Jackson County? We have a motion. We have a second. Second. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. We do have a resolution available for everybody to sign tonight. That's the last item in the new business portion of our agenda. We will now move to the work session. First item up is a recommendation for surplus, the radio tower. So let me turn it over to our director, Josh Wood, EMA director.

We purchased a portable radio tower probably five years ago to create surplus for $1,500. And we've explored several ways of trying to provide grants over the last few years to do some of this tower. We finally got some subject matter experts to look at the tower, and it's going to cost at least $30,000 to fix it. And they recommend with the current state that it's in, it's not worth doing that. I would like to surplus that equipment and donate it to Jackson County Amateur Radio Club, who can use that tower as part of our amateur radio network as a permanent fixture versus a portable tower.

Any questions?

I do. When you say the tower, it's the equipment on the tower, not the tower itself. The tower is sound. The tower is sound.

It's all the hydraulics, the cables. It needs a generator and a lot of work to it. And it's current state. That's not anything that we could do something productive with it right now. But if we give it to the amateur radio club, they can put that in their hand network and support our ARIES network for emerging backup communications as a fixed tower.

So, again, this is something I know very little about, so correct me. Is this tower something that we could have a radio station utilize or one of these TV stations for radio? camera up there for weather. I'm just wondering if there's any potential for this to be used for something as opposed to just a single use.

With it only being a 100-foot tower, I don't believe so. I don't think it's tall enough for any radio station to be able to use. But they can link it into their network with their other towers that they have.

So they'll be responsible for moving it? Yes. Will we pay anything for anything that we release on our buildings?

Are we able to surplus and donate, or do we have to?

Well, you can serve a surplus if it has a value, if it has any economic value. And the only way it could be donated to a private entity would be for there to be some type of public service that it be utilized some way, as Mr. Whitcomb has said, as part of the emergency backup system or something. Are they going to take the tower down?

It's already down. It's at public work. It just has to be transported to where they can then set it up.

Okay. Yeah. If it is donated for a public purpose to support the public emergency notification system, then I think that would be appropriate.

So, Josh, is that the case? Yes. Are they sort of a backup support for your operation?

They are. Our ham radio That's what they used in North Carolina during Hurricane Eileen II to do a lot of disaster communications.

When the world goes sideways, that's the guys who are still going to be able to talk. Okay. And from a citizen standpoint, is this an organization that somebody interested can join? I mean, tell me a little bit about Shortwave Radio.

The Amateur Radio Club is their own When we have a severe weather activation, we activate ARIES, which is everybody from the Amateur Radio Club that comes into the emergency radio system that we communicate with here locally and the National Weather Service.

Cool.

Thank you for this.

And we set this on your business. Absolutely. And when we write this, it sounds like we need to include comments. Mr. Porter had that is donated to an organization that provides public service. Nice. Thanks. Appreciate it. Next item on the agenda is the public works and then I'll turn the floor back over to Mr. Deere. This has to be able to be up by the 26th of September. It's going to be a transportation plan. And you do need to borrow the list from the visit. It is back.

These sheets should look like this. And it is titled the FWAS 2027 County Transportation Plan or CTP. As part of our agreement for receiving funds for the Rebuild Alabama Act, there's a transparency requirements that exist for our reporting. And this is the first step in the upcoming fiscal year part of that. So this is where we take the step to show our transportation plan on our intended use for the funds Rebuild Alabama funds and Federal Lake Exchange funds. And we are probably the only county in a unique situation of utilizing 100% of our funds as Federal Lake matching funds for SS4A projects. So we've taken these steps. And as you recall, prior to this, there are two tracks happening right now. One is all the environmental diligence that must take place that we've talked some about on getting these projects to construction. The other are planned preparations that are taking place to where we can go to bid for these projects in phases as planned. So what is driving the selection here is It's simply these are the ones that our consultants feel we can get to construction first. So that is primarily due to the environmental requirements and the cleanliness of these two as well. On their advice, we represent County Road 43 and County Road 92 as phase one of the projects. And then it's pretty much information about those projects that you've probably already seen. The scope is included there in that description of work. The total project estimated cost, that is the county portion of that whole project. So that's our match portion. And then they will be all competitively bid. So these will go in phases and let each project will be let competitively bid. And you'll see an allocation there of federal aid exchange funds. So as you recall, I know we are obligating federal aid exchange and Rebuild Alabama funds. However, both of these are major or minor collectors. So they qualify for federal aid exchange funds outside of this program. So we are adhering to those guidelines and utilizing federal aid exchange funds for those projects based on the guidelines as if we were funding the project in its entirety. So you'll see the County Rebuild Alabama amount there remains unchanged from the balance. The federal aid exchange fund, those are current balances at the top, plus the revenue that we anticipate. minus the expenditures that we are planning based on these projects. And then the totals at the bottom should reflect that after phase one of the remaining balances of each of those projects.

Any question?

Not a question, more of a statement. One of the important things about these roads that were selected was because of the nature of safety in them. And so I just wanted to make sure that when we talk about this next meeting, if you could talk about some of the safety measures that are going into these roads, because this is not just a paving. This is to widen and put the rubbles and the ditch work and all that extra stuff. because I don't want anybody to see these paving numbers and assume that this is just a normal paving process. This is actually putting these roads the way you'd like all our roads to be, as safe as possible. So if you don't care, just some little highlights on what we're actually getting with this paving as opposed to our normal paving.

Yes, sir. Thank you for that. So they will become essentially equal to a standard As you navigate a state route where you see the lightened shoulders, pavement markings, the rumble stripes, centerline markings, in some cases, the rumble stripes, appropriate signage, it will be a drastic improvement for safety. And it looks like I went to projects, but please notice that one of those is, you know, over seven miles long. And it's one of the busiest routes in our county.

And I was going to say that I don't think people realize just how much traffic is on 43 now because that is very much a major cut through. And with a lot of the construction going on on 59, if you're coming to Scottsboro, they don't send you from Gadsden to Fort Wayne. They exit you and send you to 43. So it's been a big increase on that road.

If we need to make changes, I'll just mention that we are required to And it is required as a majority vote for the members of this commission. And then once approved, these projects must be displayed in all conspicuous areas. They consider that the county commission office, our county highway department, and other places that are appropriate by the commission, and then also on our website. So I just want to mention that.

So we will put this on our new business portion to approve our next meeting, which is in time for August 31st. I'd like to add to a comment that Commissioner Buckner said. It was a reminder to folks. We're looking over the next couple of years, inclusive of these, nine roads across Jackson County. And these nine roads were selected based on the fact that they are the roads in our county that has the highest incidence of accidents that have injury or fatality. And that is why we are working to improve these roads, to improve the safety of these roads. So thank you very much for what you guys are doing. Let me ask one question. This is just sort of a timing question. As you look at these roads, do you have a projection of a I don't mean an exact, but an approximate time that you think you could get started with the operations to rebuild these roads.

Thank you for asking that. So the track I mentioned, the two parallel tracks, they're know all three of those were pointed at first the operation was let's find out which projects we can get to bid first then all three of those were pointed at working on those projects and then the rest of the package to figure out what's here in order the other part that's plan development the environmental section will likely be the plans are scheduled for to be ready to go to bid by fall is is the information we're receiving and all indicators are that the environmental portions will be the same the wetlands um that is planned to be done um hopefully within a month month and a half the hazard material evaluation like i mentioned is almost complete with And this is the critical stage, as you know, because once we get to construction, then we automatically have time because we're working in the background, the design and environmental things are working also.

Okay. Any other questions on this? I would like you to do a different subject. You guys have done a great job transitioning to asphalt pavings. I'll ask the question. I believe we are now, as the county, we're transitioning that we are servicing all of our local roads with a paving program that's asphalt paving. True or not?

That's correct. That's a true statement. So with your investment in the equipment of the asphalt paving machine and the ability of the county employees, you know, I've always said they can literally do is another example of that. None of those folks have ran an asphalt paving machine before. And if you are in the neighborhood and would like to visit County Road 184, that's about their third go at it this year. So you can kind of see, if you looked at roads last year and where they are this year, the difference they can make. We are extremely proud of them and their ability and their eagerness to do the work. Thank you for the investment and the equipment and the belief and patience in us. And the end result will be a better product at the end of the day, a longer lasting product, a better investment in offing asphalt purchase versus chip sales. So we thank you all for that.

Okay. Okay. Jonathan, thanks. Thanks for your folks. That's the last item we have in the... We will now move to reports from the staff. County administrator? I do not have one. County engineer, anything else, John? Nothing else, thanks. Sheriff, do you have anything? No, sir. Josh, anything from you? Okay, thanks very much. County attorney? No, I'm fine. Okay, great. So we'll now move to comments from the commission. District 1, Commissioner Billing.

Oh, it's a pleasure to serve. I really don't have anything to add. I'd like to thank all the employees for their hard work and all of the folks. Well, all the folks out in this heat. Extreme heat we've been in, and they serve us well, and I'd just like to thank everybody for their hard work and dedication to the county.

Mr. Kuhn, Commissioner Kuhn, I'll repeat what he said. In this heat, I'm surprised we haven't lost some employees. I would say that sometimes that's a Reason why some leave. I don't know. I'm grateful to serve myself and not be a Jackson County resident.

District 3, Commissioner Butler.

I just want to echo everything that's been said and appreciate and want to encourage my fellow commissioners and everybody else to hydrate. Don't take it lightly out there now. Let's make sure we drink lots of fluids. Thank you.

always thank you to all our county poets for their hard work dedication um echo what my my fellow commissioners have said um really been a pleasure working with you guys and being able to see our county move forward and everything that we do is for the better better interest of our county and i just want to commend everybody for being part of that thank you

I would just like to make the comment. This morning we had our annual bid opening project. It really is run by our county engineer, and that is the bids we get for all the material that is used in our public works programs across the county. But the reason I want to raise this and acknowledge is that the Jackson County Commission has approved years ago, and not as late as last year, But the municipalities in Jackson County are able to use the annual GID program for the road projects that they have in their municipalities. And that was the approval of the commission a number of years ago. And I think that that helps service our municipalities. So thanks to the commission for that and continued consideration of that as we go. Our next meeting date is August 24th. It will be here in this conference room. At this time, we do need to go into an executive session to discuss field management character. So do I have a motion to go into executive session? I'd like a motion. We have a motion. We have a second.

Second.

We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carried. I do need our county...