Remarks by Billie Jo Underwood
212 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 4 of 9
I would like to make some further discussion. I would like to clarify that I was a part of this body that approved the conditional approval for the RV in 2019. The commission has went through a lot of explosive growth over the years, including the last seven years since this happened. And for this PRD to request to do nothing that really a PRD is there for, which is to improve. All we're doing is being asked to change it up so that you can put some manufactured housing in there and not make any of the improvements that were so painstakingly brought forth. And anyone else that will be walking…
I just like to make a statement I mean I appreciate you showing us what your your desire is but I do not want the public to be confused that we're here to approve what you've presented and I think that that's why that we usually don't present sketch plans with rezoning cases because all we're doing right now is changing your zoning from rural agriculture to our or or what that's what your request is so I I do want people to understand that even though it's nice to see this it's It can be confusing to the public that we've approved a subdivision. We are not approving a subdivision. So I just…
I'll make a motion that we approve this request based on the consistency with our
I thought you were going to say you're going to miss me.
Thank you, and this is the last meeting in Fairhope for this commission. And I will miss the commission I'm working with now. That is true, although sometimes we have to move on. And I want to... I've been sick for two weeks, so I've been really tired. But everything that went down with the hurricane, I'm so thankful and grateful that we did not get a direct hit. And if we had to have a live exercise, so be it. But thank God we didn't get hit. And thank you to the staff and to the commissioners and everyone for everything that you guys did. Tom, EMA, Highway, everybody that stepped up. I…
Everyone, if you will bow with me, please. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We thank you for all the many blessings you bestow upon us here in this wonderful place we call home, Baldwin County. And Lord, we just ask you to be with us today as we conduct the business of Baldwin County Commission, Lord. Give us the strength, the wisdom, the courage to do things that are pleasing to you, dear Lord. And we ask all of this in Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.
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.
Yes, I'm good. And I think there's several people here that may want to speak about that. Yeah, but they signed up for public comment, so we'll let them speak. So just to clarify this, if all three are in agreement to put this on consent, the resolution would be on consent, which is, I think, what you want.
Mr. Chairman? Yes. May I speak? Yeah. I just want to say that for those of you, especially Kathy and Cindy and everyone, you've dedicated your lives to this cause and this purpose, and I know it hasn't been me intricately involved, but I know that those who have been, and I applaud you guys for not allowing this to just happen, and and fight for it because I've never heard anything but good things about what you guys do for the intellectually challenged members of our community. I remember when you guys built the group home for the men, the Bertola home in Locksley. I know that, I know ones…
You talking about that thing out in the Gulf? Yeah. Okay. Just kind of keeping our eyes on the Gulf.
And I want to make a shout out to the highway department particularly. I was out of town this weekend from Thursday through Sunday so my husband was calling me telling me how much rain we were having and we experienced nine inches where I live but I don't believe one county road had to be closed or was flooded or anything. And that's a testament to all of the work that we have done over the past few years in drainage projects to try to make our county more resilient. And I know we would catch all kind of grief from people griping about detours and all that. And I hope that people realize you…
Amen. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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. Thank you.
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Okay, Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we approve item BA2, the ratification of interim payments as allowed by policy 8.1. And this report includes 116 invoices and distributions totaling $5,507,000. $5,465.88. Boy, I screwed that up. Let me do that again. $5,577,465.88. They even printed it out for me. Okay, that's a motion.
Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we approve our consent agenda excluding item CF1, which will be put on other staff.
And I'll read the proclamation, and then I'll let you speak, and then we'll do the photos, okay? I'm not quite wearing purple, but it's in the color. It is, it is, definitely. All right, and that's the color for domestic violence. So, proclaiming October 2026 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Baldwin County, Alabama, whereas domestic violence is a serious crime that affects people of all races, ages, genders, and income levels, and whereas domestic violence is widespread and affects more than 10 million Americans each year, and whereas one in three Americans have witnessed an incident…
As always, thank you. When I first learned about the Lighthouse, it was even before I become elected as a commissioner. And so many times you don't really even realize, because some people will not talk about what happens to them. They don't report it. They don't, you know, it never comes to surface. But for those who get help with you guys, it's amazing. It's like, you know, they talk about these people who get help from recovery, like from addictions and things like that. And I think the people who can face these things and get help and for the lighthouse being there I was coming home was…
I'll make a motion we approve item GA-1.
And I'll second it. And I do have some discussion.
Well, I mean... We'll be here for the next four years, thankfully. And I want to take a moment to explain why I believe this 180-day moratorium is very important. I have consistently mentioned this, not just in the last few months, not just in the last six months, but I've even asked about this over probably the last couple of years because our current flume is on a GIS and it's hard for people to read. in my opinion, but they've got better technology. There's all kinds of things. I have consistently asked for this, but there hasn't been a better time, I think, because, you know, I campaigned…
I thank everybody, so I do want to thank everybody. Oh, come on.
Thank you. If you would bow your heads with me, please. Dear heavenly father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We thank you for all you do for us here in this wonderful place. We call home in Baldwin County. And Lord, we just ask you to be with us today as we conduct the business of the Baldwin County Commission. Lord, give us the strength, wisdom, and courage to make the best and right decisions for the people of Baldwin County. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
I just want to say how far that this commission has come and the staff are the ones who have made that happen, and I wanna thank the people, the commissioners that I have worked with over the past eight years for getting out of the way and allowing the people who knew what to do in these departments do the job and remove a lot of the politics out of this process so that we can do what's the best thing for the people. You said a while ago, let Wesley run the animal shelter and not worry about the cars, and that was one of the things that's like, you know, When I first came in, that was an…
So I say one more, can I say one more thing, please? Mr. Chairman. Yeah. I love the graphics. I love the gears. Did you do that or did Lindsay do that?
I love the way it all, you know, even older people like us, like sometimes I love to see things more than just bar graphs and spreadsheets and things like that. So like it, even it's all here. It looks good. Whoever did that. Lindsay, Lindsay did that. Lindsay.