Commission

County Engineer Chris Howell told the Fayette County Commission during its Jan. 11 meeting that the city has approached him about a mutually beneficial paving project between the city and the county. The city is proposing that the county use federal money that is at their disposal to pave a portion of County Road 21, County Road 38 West, a portion of 8th Avenue and 25th Street.

The Fayette County Commissioners donated $250 out of their personal funds to the Joey Day program in Fayette to buy Christmas presents for children in Fayette County.

The Fayette County Commission discussed its plans for the future of the aging program in the county, following the retirement in November of its long-time program director, Fay Meharg. All commissioners were present for the Nov. 26 meeting. Commissioner Barry Corkren said that he is certainly not against having an aging program in the county, but added that now by be the appropriate time to evaluate the way the program is funded and staffed to ensure that the program runs more efficiently and economically.

The Fayette County Commission hired Holly Duckworth as the new payables clerk during its Oct. 22 meeting. All commissioners were present for the meeting.
 More than 40 applications were received by the commission for the payables clerk position and after interviews were conducted, the selection committee reccommended that Duckworth be hired for the position. The payable clerk will work with County Administrator John Gordon’s office.

The Fayette County Commission hired two new employees for the county road crew during its Oct. 8 meeting. Billy Rodgers was absent from the meeting with all other commissioners present. County Engineer Chris Howell requested that the commissioners approve the hiring of the two new employees, as was discussed in previous meetings. The employees would fill vacancies on the road crew staff, and the money for the employees was allocated in the recently passed budget for fiscal year 2019.

The Fayette County Commission approved its fiscal year 2019 budget and bid requests at its Sept. 24 meeting. Commissioners Barry Corkren and John Underwood were absent from the meeting. County Engineer Chris Howell asked the commissioners to re-classify Max Miller from a Flagman to Equipment Operator 1. He said that Miller would remain a part-time employee, but his pay would increase from $9 per hour to $10.50 per hour.

The Fayette County Commission voted to post a new accounts payable position and two road crew operator positions during its Sept. 10 meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, Commissioner Barry Corkren asked that the agenda for the meeting be amended to include the addition of “open and re-alignment positions.” The commissioners unanimously approved the agenda with the requested change added. Corkren said that the road crew has been understaffed and needs two equipment operators hired to fill the needs of the department.

Fayette County Engineer Luke Porter again discussed his equipment needs and concerns with the Fayette County Commission during its May 15 meeting. Porter reviewed his priorities for equipment needs for the county road crew. He said that a 1/2 ton truck is needed for the superintendent, a one ton truck for the pipe/ditching crew, a mini-excavator, chip spreader, distributor truck, asphalt spreader, grader, tractor, and Bush-Hog. He said the total estimated cost for all of this equipment is approximately $945,000

The Fayette County Commission voted to purchase the former Shop & Save Supermarket located across from the annex building during its April 9 meeting. Commissioner Barry Corkren said that the commission had an opportunity to purchase the supermarket property for the assessed value of $220,000 if they voted now to make the purchase. He said that the property would be put on the market if the county commission chose not to make the purchase.

WAR Construction of Tuscaloosa, the construction manager for the proposed new jail, updated the Fayette County Commission on the bid tabulations for the jail during the commission’s March 9 work session. Andrew Jackson, vice-president of WAR, said that the bids for seven tray packages were recently received and that the bids were under the budgeted amount for the jail. Bids were received for the following tray package components of the jail: general, detention and security, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, concrete and masonry.