[3:06] Good morning and welcome to the Russell
County Commission meeting for Wednesday,
[3:10] April 22nd, 2020.
Thank everyone for being here. We're
[3:14] going to call this meeting to order.
We're going to start off with an
[3:16] invocation
led by Reverend Brady Barrett of the
[3:19] Seal United Methodist Church followed by
the Pledge of Allegiance
[3:23] led by Glenwood student Finley Witcher.
If you will please rise for the
[3:27] invocation and remain standing for the
pledge.
[3:33] » Let us pray.
Almighty and gracious God, we give you
[3:35] thanks for this place, this place we
call Russell County. Give you thanks for
[3:40] all those who live and work here.
Father, but today we especially give
[3:44] thanks for our children and for those
who are rising in their education,
[3:48] preparing to graduate. Lord, we are so
grateful for the many ways you have
[3:52] blessed us far beyond what we deserve.
We ask now in this space that you would
[3:56] guide our hearts and our minds that we
make would make [snorts] decisions that
[3:59] are in accordance with your work and
will.
[4:02] And that Father, you would bind us
together with your love. We ask all this
[4:06] in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
[4:15] » Hello, my name is Finley Richard and I'm
a senior at Glenwood High School.
[4:19] I'm here today with my government class.
After high school, I plan to go to the
[4:22] University of West Georgia to study
biology. Everyone please stand and face
[4:26] the flag.
Attention, salute.
[4:29] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[4:34] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[4:41] justice for all.
[4:49] » All right, thank you Brady for being
here today with us and uh Finley for
[4:52] doing the pledge. We really appreciate
you uh taking the time to do that.
[4:56] Um I will say as we get started, I want
to go ahead and recognize the crowd we
[5:00] have today. We have a large crowd. Um we
have the senior class at Glenwood School
[5:04] here with Miss Griner. We really
appreciate you being here and um coming
[5:07] to participate in the county's business
this morning.
[5:10] Um
hopefully you'll uh
[5:13] learn something, maybe want to be a
commissioner one day or maybe be a
[5:16] senator or president or something else.
So, uh we appreciate you having taken
[5:19] the time to be here.
All right, um first up we have public
[5:23] comments. I do not believe anyone signed
in for public comments. Did anyone miss
[5:26] the sign-in sheet and are wishing to
speak today?
[5:31] All right, we'll move forward. Thank
you.
[5:33] Reminder, please silence your phones and
and be courteous to those that will be
[5:36] speaking in in the meeting today. Want
to thank everyone for being here,
[5:38] especially those that made the meeting
happen, especially our IT department and
[5:42] those that are um following us on
Facebook and Facebook Live and other
[5:46] means as well and obviously Citizen and
being for following our meetings. Um,
[5:51] welcome to all the elected officials,
department heads, and especially our
[5:53] guests that are here today again.
Um, we're going to establish a quorum
[5:56] this morning. We'll do that by calling
the roll. Ms. Wright?
[5:59] » District [clears throat and snorts] 5,
Daughtry.
[6:00] » Present.
>> District 4, Reed.
[6:02] » Here.
>> District 3, Costello.
[6:04] » Here.
>> District 1, Lee.
[6:05] » Present.
>> District 2, Chambers.
[6:07] » Here.
>> District 7, Scruggs.
[6:09] » Here.
>> District 6, Corbett.
[6:11] » Here.
>> We have a quorum.
[6:12] » All right, we have established a quorum
and our attorney, Hope Hicks, is with us
[6:15] today as well. Thank you, Hope.
Uh, commissioners, the first as a
[6:18] reminder, our agenda that we're working
off of today was approved at the work
[6:22] session on Monday night, April 19th. Um,
if uh, that will be the agenda that we
[6:29] work off today. Uh, first off, um,
we'll start with this agenda. We'll
[6:33] start off with the approval of the
minutes for the April 8th,
[6:36] [clears throat]
2026 commission meeting.
[6:39] » Motion to approve.
>> Motion by Commissioner Chambers.
[6:42] Is there a second?
>> Second.
[6:43] » Seconded by Commissioner Reed. Any other
discussion or comments?
[6:47] All those in favor signify by saying
aye.
[6:48] » Aye.
>> All opposed? All right, the minutes are
[6:51] approved. Thank you. Next up, we have
uh,
[6:53] a proclamation approval for the Russell
County High School track record for Ms.
[6:58] Camera Tony. Commissioner Scruggs.
>> Uh, yes, sir. I would like to do a
[7:04] proclamation for Ms. Tony uh, at the
next meeting uh, to
[7:10] uh, show where well, to kind of tell her
that we appreciate the things that she
[7:16] did with uh,
track.
[7:20] » All right.
>> a form of a form of a motion?
[7:23] » I second the motion.
>> All right, I have a motion by
[7:25] Commissioner Scruggs to approve a
proclamation, seconded by Commissioner
[7:27] Costello. Any other comments or
discussion?
[7:31] All those in favor signify by saying
aye.
[7:33] » Aye.
>> All opposed? Um, Commissioner Costello
[7:36] leaned in and said I had the date wrong
on the agenda. Um, we approved it on the
[7:39] 20th. I think I think I don't know what
I said, but
[7:41] » [clears throat]
>> we'll go with the 20th.
[7:43] All right. Um nothing under discussion
items this morning. We handled all that
[7:46] on Monday night.
Uh we'll move on to the business items.
[7:51] The first one is the maximum meal
reimbursement policy. This will be a
[7:54] second reading and will require action.
Miss Wright?
[7:58] » Commissioners, effective May 1st, 2026,
this policy established guidelines and
[8:03] county official employees for meal
reimbursements incurred during approved
[8:07] business travel or work-related
activities.
[8:10] Its goal is to ensure consistency,
cost-effectiveness, and responsible use
[8:15] of the county commission funds.
Employees may request meal reimbursement
[8:20] when traveling for approved business
purposes if traveling more than 50 miles
[8:25] from home and being gone for more than 6
hours.
[8:28] Attending required off-site meetings,
conferences, and training sessions. The
[8:33] following limits will be reviewed
annually. For in-state travel, $75, tips
[8:38] included. For out-of-state travel, $100,
tips included. Unused funds will not be
[8:44] transferred to the next day. A receipt
for all food and beverage expenses must
[8:49] be submitted upon return from travel.
The receipt must show the date along
[8:53] with the detailed purchases of the meal
items and not just a total summary for
[8:57] the credit card or a cash receipt.
If a county employee is traveling out of
[9:01] state for business and they believe the
max the maximum daily meal reimbursement
[9:06] is not enough to cover the cost of food
in the location where they're traveling
[9:09] to, the employee may request an
exception to the daily maximum in
[9:14] writing to the department head prior to
the travel and approved by the
[9:17] department head. It must be approved by
the administrator.
[9:20] If a county official is traveling out of
state for business and they believe the
[9:24] maximum daily reimbursement is not
enough to cover the cost of food in the
[9:28] in the location they are traveling to,
the official may request an exception to
[9:32] the daily maximum from the commission.
This concludes the second reading.
[9:37] » Commissioners, you have heard the second
reading. Is there a motion to approve?
[9:40] » A motion to approve.
>> Second the motion.
[9:42] » Motion by Commissioner Reed, seconded by
Commissioner Daughtry. Commissioner
[9:44] Reed.
>> Mr. Chairman, call for a poll on this.
[9:47] » All right. Any other comments or
discussion?
[9:49] Ms. Wright, will you please poll the
commission?
[9:51] » District 5, Daughtry.
>> Yes.
[9:53] » District 4, Reed.
>> Yes.
[9:55] » District 3, Castello.
>> Yes.
[9:57] » District 1, Lee.
>> Yes.
[9:58] » District 2, Chambers.
>> Yes.
[10:00] » District 7, Screws.
>> Yes.
[10:01] » District 6, Corbett.
>> Yes.
[10:03] » The vote passes.
>> All right. That was unanimous.
[10:06] » All right. We'll move on to the next
one, the request to take bids for roof
[10:09] replacement of the old post office old
library located on 14th Street.
[10:15] Mr. Watson.
>> Good morning, commissioners, chairman,
[10:18] uh vice chair.
Uh maintenance is requesting the
[10:22] commission to uh accept bids to for the
roof replacement at the old library post
[10:27] office that we own.
Uh if so approved today, we'll run an ad
[10:31] in the local newspaper
uh starting on 4:30 2026 until
[10:38] uh 5:14 2026. That's uh
three consecutive weeks.
[10:43] Uh we're going to request a pre-bid
meeting on 5:11 2026
[10:48] at 514 Street.
Um and then we'll end all bids on 10:00
[10:55] a.m. 5:22 2026.
Um
[10:59] and then we open bids at 11:00 a.m. on
22nd.
[11:03] Uh
Being that this will be under
[11:05] construction, I'm going to request that
we have it in the uh conference room
[11:10] upstairs open the bids.
Uh
[11:13] tentatively award
uh the
[11:16] uh the roof bid on 5:00 at the 5:27
meeting.
[11:20] That will be held in
I guess sealed.
[11:24] » All right. Commissioners,
[clears throat] you have the
[11:25] recommendation of the
uh maintenance director. Is there a
[11:28] motion to approve?
>> Motion to approve.
[11:30] » Second the motion.
>> Stand by. Make motion by Commissioner
[11:32] Costello um Commissioner Chambers
seconded by Commissioner Doughty. Mr.
[11:36] Costello.
>> Did we
[11:38] uh cancel that meeting?
>> The 27th.
[11:41] » Yes, sir.
>> Yes, yeah. That 27th meeting that's
[11:43] actually in the announcements. But I
>> Yeah, but that's when he said that he
[11:46] was going to
>> He said tentatively. So we'll move it to
[11:49] the next one. That'll be fine.
>> Yeah. Yep.
[11:52] » All right.
All right. Good catch. All right, you're
[11:55] good.
Uh we have a motion in a second. All in
[11:58] favor signify by saying aye.
>> Aye.
[12:00] » All opposed? All right, that is
approved.
[12:03] Next up we have a request to take bids
for Stand by, Commissioner Lee.
[12:07] » Yeah, we we uh
seem like we're replacing a lot of
[12:11] roofs. Will this go over the public
works thing where we have to run it in a
[12:16] state newspaper?
[12:19] » I can look into that and and get an
answer for you.
[12:21] » I know is it a hundred thousand that's
the limit?
[12:23] » It's a hundred thousand. Yes, sir.
>> So I mean we're doing a roof here and a
[12:27] roof there and a roof here all on them.
Maybe five different roofs.
[12:30] » They're different projects and I don't
believe that will take the place for for
[12:34] purposes we will make sure.
>> Well, I know we've been written up
[12:36] before.
>> Yeah, we we
[12:38] we've checked several times on these
with different projects. We're typically
[12:41] different projects, but we can
definitely make sure on that.
[12:45] » [clears throat]
>> All right.
[12:48] Next up we have a request to take bids
for carpet. Um Commissioner I'm sorry.
[12:52] Uh Mr. Watson.
>> Um
[12:55] we're actually um
maintenance has requested to take bids
[12:59] with all the uh uh updates that we're
doing here at the courthouse.
[13:03] Um so we're requesting that the
commission approve to take bids for the
[13:07] carpet uh replacement here at the
courthouse. We have some actually at the
[13:12] judicial that has to be changed.
Uh so we're mirror the dates
[13:16] um
uh the ad running in our local
[13:18] newspaper.
Uh so it'll start on 4/30 approved and
[13:23] run to 5
14 2026.
[13:27] We also going uh require mandatory
pre-bid meeting for that uh
[13:33] carpet as well here on 5 12 2026.
And then we'll end all bids on 5 22
[13:40] 2026.
And then we open bids in the commission
[13:43] chambers up sta- or the commission
conference room upstairs
[13:48] uh on the 22nd at 10:30.
And tentatively award at the 5 27
[13:53] meeting that was canceled. So
>> It'll be the next meeting.
[13:56] » Be at the next meeting. Thank you.
>> All right, you have the recommendation
[13:59] by the maintenance director. Is there a
motion to approve?
[14:01] » Motion to approve.
>> Motion by Commissioner Daugherty.
[14:03] » Seconded by Commissioner Daugherty. Any
other discussion or comments?
[14:07] Okay, all those in favor signify by
saying aye.
[14:09] » Aye.
>> All opposed?
[14:11] All right, thank you, Mr. Watson.
Next up we have the revenue commission
[14:16] office temporary position request, Ms.
Wright.
[14:18] » Yes, sir. Good morning, commissioners. I
have met with the revenue commissioner
[14:21] and have consulted with the county
attorney about open temporary position
[14:25] in the in the revenue's office. Ms.
Kirkland has a need to fill the position
[14:30] in order to catch up on a backlog and
additional work that a new system has
[14:34] added. And I know, Mr. Chairman, you
have also spoken to Ms. Kirkland, and
[14:38] how would you like to proceed?
>> All right, Ms. Wright Ms. Wright's
[14:42] recommendation on Monday night was to
fill this position at
[14:46] $7,200.
I have spoken with Ms. Natalie, and
[14:51] her concern is that the first off, the
money would have been in her budget.
[14:55] There was a There was an accounting
error that we had early on. We
[14:57] recognized that. And she would have had
12,000 in her budget. She's asked for
[15:01] the entire 12 to make sure she doesn't
have to come back to the commission
[15:05] again before the end of the fiscal year,
which will be September 30th.
[15:10] Um I would entertain a motion to allow
us to approve the $12,000
[15:16] for Ms. Kirkland's budget to get her
through the end of the fiscal year.
[15:19] » So moved.
>> Motion by Commissioner Screws.
[15:21] » Second.
>> Seconded by Commissioner Daughtry. Any
[15:23] discussion or comments?
>> Mr. Chairman.
[15:25] » Commissioner Reed.
>> I also call for a poll on this since
[15:28] it's another department head.
>> All right, thank you. Any other comments
[15:31] or
discussion?
[15:33] » I just have one question.
>> Yeah, I have one question and I agree
[15:37] with what we're doing, but I just want
to make sure as far as accounting-wise,
[15:41] that employee had taken a break for a
month and part of
[15:46] the money that she's already made this
calendar I mean this fiscal year is
[15:51] money that has came came out of the
budget. So, is it an additional
[15:55] money to that 12,000 or is it going to
total the 12,000?
[15:59] » The additional was $12,000.
If she brings back the same employee,
[16:04] she will make sure we follow the HR
rules and our policy and and consult
[16:08] with the attorney as well. So, and she
doesn't have to bring back the same
[16:11] employee. It could be a different
seasonal temporary employee, but if she
[16:15] brings it back, she will make sure she
stays in line with our with our rules.
[16:19] All right.
All right, we have a motion and a
[16:21] second. I have a request for a poll to
poll the commission. Miss Wright, would
[16:24] you please call the roll?
>> District 5, Daughtry.
[16:27] » Yes.
>> District 4, Reed.
[16:28] » Yes.
>> District 3, Costello.
[16:30] » Yes.
>> District 1, Lee.
[16:32] » No.
>> District 2, Chambers.
[16:38] » Is he still there?
>> District 7, Screws.
[16:41] » Yes.
>> District 6, Corbett.
[16:42] » Yes.
>> Vote passes.
[16:44] » All right, that does pass. Thank you.
>> My my no was for the 12,000. I probably
[16:48] would have voted yes, but the other
>> Got you.
[16:51] All right, thank you, Commissioner.
Next up, we have the approval
[16:54] [clears throat] of the transfer station
manager job description, Miss Wright.
[16:58] » Yes, sir. Commissioners, you have a copy
of the new job description for the
[17:01] transfer station manager for Mr. Randy
Smith. I'm at requesting that the
[17:06] commission approves this job description
as is.
[17:10] » All right, you have a recommendation to
the administrator. Is there a motion to
[17:12] approve?
>> Motion to approve.
[17:15] » Motion by Commissioner Chambers.
Seconded by Commissioner Daughtry. Any
[17:18] other discussion or comments?
All those in favor signify by saying
[17:21] "Aye".
>> Aye.
[17:22] » All opposed? All right, that is
approved. Thank you.
[17:25] » Thank you.
>> Next is approval to spend the remaining
[17:28] bond money for the old post office, Ms.
Wright.
[17:31] » Yes, sir. Commissioners, we are moving
forward as you as you've heard with the
[17:34] renovation of the old post office. There
is $450,000 available in a fund that can
[17:39] be used for this renovation. I would
like to recommend that the commissioner
[17:42] approves for the chair, the vice chair,
and myself to be authorized signers for
[17:47] this bond.
>> Motion to approve.
[17:50] » Second the motion.
>> Commissioner Screws, seconded by
[17:53] Commissioner Daughtry. Any other
discussion or comments?
[17:56] All those in favor signify by saying
"Aye".
[17:58] » Aye.
>> All opposed? All right, that is
[18:00] approved. Thank you.
>> Next is the payroll salary adjustments
[18:05] due to retirement, Ms. Bowman.
>> Yes, good morning. I had a girl retire
[18:11] in my office, and so I am promoting
within, and I had some salary
[18:18] adjustments I wanted to make. It will
not affect my budget.
[18:22] I just want to sit
adjust some salaries cuz I'm going to
[18:26] adjust job duties.
And y'all have that in your package.
[18:32] » All right, Commissioners, I know Ms. Ms.
Bowman spoke to this on Monday night.
[18:36] Any other questions of her before we
proceed on?
[18:39] All right, I'll entertain a motion to
approve.
[18:41] » Motion to approve.
>> Second the motion.
[18:43] » I have no idea. I'm going to go with
Commissioner Chambers, motion seconded
[18:47] by Commissioner Daughtry. Any other
discussion or comments?
[18:49] All those in favor signify by saying
"Aye".
[18:51] » Aye.
>> All opposed? [clears throat]
[18:52] » Thank you.
>> Thank you, ma'am.
[18:56] Next up, we have the project money
donation, Commissioner Daughtry.
[19:00] » Yeah. Good morning to everyone. At this
time, I'll be requesting $650 of my
[19:05] project money to be donated to the
Uplift Foundation, which is part of the
[19:09] Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated
Lambda Mu Nu chapter in Phenix City,
[19:13] Alabama. It will be going towards
scholarship and their STEMS program
[19:17] towards the Russell County high school
students. The definition of STEMS is
[19:21] science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics.
[19:25] » All right. We have a a motion by
Commissioner Daughtry. Is there a
[19:28] second?
>> Second.
[19:29] » Seconded by Commissioner Rainey. Any
other discussion or comments?
[19:32] All those in favor signify by saying
aye.
[19:34] » Aye.
>> All opposed?
[19:36] All right, Commissioner, that is
approved.
[19:39] Next up, we have um employee leave of
absence and we're going to refer to our
[19:43] human resources manager, Ms. Shawn
Hollis.
[19:47] » Good morning, Commissioners. Um
we discussed briefly about um the need
[19:53] and the request uh for a recommendation
that the commission would approve
[19:58] additional leave uh without pay for an
employee who is undergoing a serious
[20:03] medical event. Um and we requested
[clears throat]
[20:07] uh this because her absence her leave
would end under FMLA. So, we're
[20:11] requesting that you all approve an
additional up to 80 hours
[20:16] um in time for us to review before you
guys meet back again in May.
[20:21] » All right, Commissioners, I believe this
was went over uh gone over pretty good
[20:24] on Monday night. Is there a motion to
approve?
[20:27] » Motion to approve.
>> Motion by Commissioner Costello. Is
[20:29] there a second? I'm sorry, Chambers. Is
there a second?
[20:31] » Second.
>> Seconded by Commissioner Daughtry.
[20:33] Commissioner Costello.
>> And it's uh you just didn't say it, but
[20:36] it's leave without up to 80 hours of
leave without pay.
[20:39] » Yes, sir.
>> Okay.
[20:40] » Yes, sir. Thank you.
>> And I spoke with them. She goes to the
[20:44] doctor today
>> Mhm.
[20:45] » and she's supposed to let me know her
return date.
[20:48] » All right.
>> Hopefully today.
[20:49] » This should take care of that. If it
doesn't, you'll just have to bring it
[20:52] back to the commission.
>> Okay, thank you.
[20:53] » All right, we have a motion and a
second. All those in favor signify by
[20:55] saying aye.
>> Aye.
[20:57] » All opposed? All right, Commissioners, I
I skipped right through the timeline,
[21:00] the item above that. I I guess I checked
it off and moved past it. Um timeline of
[21:05] renovations and relocation of commission
meeting. Commissioners, we had a pretty
[21:08] good discussion on Monday night about
this. There has been discussion because
[21:12] of the renovations to the atrium and the
commission chambers that we were going
[21:16] to need to either cancel or move
commission meetings to a different
[21:20] location in this county.
On Monday night I went over the two
[21:24] different options. One was judicial
center and one was the old sale
[21:27] courthouse. I would like to
request that you consider moving the
[21:33] next two meetings which would be May
13th and 6 10 or or June 10th because of
[21:39] the May 27th meeting we will not have.
We've canceled it already.
[21:43] I would like to entertain a motion that
we move those meetings to the old
[21:47] Russell County Courthouse in Seale,
Alabama.
[21:49] Is there a motion to approve?
>> Motion to approve.
[21:52] » Second the motion. Mr. Reed second by
Commissioner Gardner. Any discussion or
[21:54] comments?
>> What is the timeline on the completion?
[21:58] » Mr. Watson, do you have the timeline
right now? Can you put your microphone
[22:01] up?
>> to be completed?
[22:03] » Um I'm estimating June 1st.
>> Okay. So
[22:07] » Well, we we need to advertise it so
we're pushing out that far.
[22:11] » Well, if we advertise it we got to hold
it no matter what.
[22:13] » Well, I I think we you know with do you
do you really believe it will be done
[22:17] then, Leon? Or is there a possibility of
>> Well, of course the first meeting I I
[22:23] don't know what I don't have the date in
front of me for the first meeting in
[22:26] June. So
>> It's it's June 10th.
[22:29] » 10th.
>> I would say we would have it done by
[22:31] June the 10th.
>> Do you think we'll be back in here on
[22:33] June 10th?
>> I think so.
[22:35] » Okay.
So I was under the understanding we
[22:38] needed to have two meetings that pushed.
Is that right?
[22:40] » I will feel comfortable if we could push
the June meeting to a different
[22:44] location.
>> Okay.
[22:45] » Especially with the carpet being opening
and the AV and all of that. Yes, sir.
[22:49] » All right.
So
[22:51] » Just go ahead and do both
>> I knew we had two meetings on there for
[22:53] some reason and and I I realize it may
be nine days after the projected time
[22:57] but it may be a safer bet just to go
ahead and push both of them.
[23:00] » All right.
Commissioner Crews
[23:02] » How much is it to take to to move a
meeting to
[23:05] » Yes, we have. Um we've had Yeah,
absolutely. And so for your for so
[23:10] because you weren't here Monday night,
we've talked about the ability for our
[23:13] Parks and Rec teams to be able to um put
the chairs and tables up. Um our IT
[23:18] department will be able to
[cough and clears throat] move um what
[23:20] they need to for Facebook live down
there. We actually have Wi-Fi there now.
[23:24] Um and we've already been talking with
um Beam and other AV companies with
[23:30] options to be able to set up the
microphones. Anywhere we move, we're
[23:34] going to have the same challenges
because no other facility is set up with
[23:37] microphones and things like that for us
just to walk into. So yeah, we we had a
[23:41] pretty good discussion about that.
All right, we have a motion and a
[23:45] second. If there's no other discussion,
all those in favor signify by saying I.
[23:49] » I.
>> All opposed.
[23:51] All right, that is approved. Thank you.
We'll start advertising that and make
[23:55] sure everyone is aware of that. Um just
as a side note, I think this I don't
[23:59] know the last time the County Commission
met in the in the old Russell County
[24:02] Courthouse, but I would imagine it's
been 100 years. So it's going to be a
[24:06] historic thing for us to be doing it
there again. So at least for two
[24:09] meetings.
All right, um
[24:12] since we've already done the next one,
we'll move on to request to purchase
[24:15] dumpsters. Uh Shawn Clayton.
>> Uh good morning, Mr. Chair
[24:19] Commissioners. Yes, I'll be I'm
requesting to purchase uh dumpsters from
[24:22] Ingram Equipment Company in the amount
of $17,650.
[24:27] This is four 4-yd dumpsters, two 6-yd
dumpsters, and eight 4-yd or eight
[24:32] eight-yard dumpsters plus freight that
will be delivered to the shop.
[24:37] » All right, you have the uh request of
the
[24:40] interim Sanitation Director. Is there a
motion to approve?
[24:43] » Motion to approve.
>> Second the motion.
[24:44] » Motion by Commissioner Chambers, second
by Commissioner Daughtry. I will note in
[24:47] this that the the board has approved
this as well unanimously.
[24:51] All right, there's any other discussion?
>> Yes, can we going to the numbers that
[24:56] you're reading off in the in the on the
agenda next time.
[25:00] » Yes, sir.
>> Okay.
[25:03] » All right. So, we have a motion and a
second. If there's no other discussion,
[25:06] all in favor signify by saying "I".
All opposed? All right, that is
[25:10] approved.
Next is a request to suspend the
[25:13] dumpster increases, Sean.
>> Yes, sir. After reviewing the dumpster
[25:17] increases that were proposed, I have
some concerns about them, so I'll be
[25:21] requesting to suspend them rates until
at least October the 1st until I can
[25:26] have time to review it thoroughly and
and then I can come back then and
[25:29] propose an increase at new budget time
or just leave them the same.
[25:34] » All right, commissioners, you know that
as the reason he's saying suspend, we
[25:37] approved this at a previous meeting.
This motion will be to suspend that and
[25:42] move forward with the the rates that
were currently in place.
[25:45] Is there a motion to approve?
>> Motion to approve.
[25:48] » Second.
>> moved. Motion by Commissioner Costello,
[25:50] seconded by Commissioner Doughty. Any
other discussion?
[25:53] All those in favor signify by saying
"I".
[25:55] » I.
>> All opposed?
[25:57] All right, thank you. [snorts] We'll
move on to the attorney section of the
[26:00] agenda. The first one is the amendment
to policies on policy.
[26:04] » Policy on policies.
>> Yes. Good morning, commissioners.
[26:07] As you know, back in 2023, you passed a
policy
[26:11] that required
there to be two readings before a new
[26:15] policy could be put in place.
As we've gone through for a couple of
[26:18] years now, we've seen that that it's
been effective, but sometimes it ties
[26:22] your hands. And so, this would be to
amend that policy.
[26:27] It would allow for um
policies to be reviewed approved after
[26:32] one reading instead of having two
readings. The amended portion of the
[26:36] policy would say that once step three,
that's getting with the county
[26:40] administrator, county attorneys, and all
that, once that's been completed and the
[26:44] proposed policy is placed on the county
commission meeting agenda under business
[26:48] for first reading, the proposed policy
may be approved with unanimous consent
[26:53] of all seven commissioners. If the
policy is unanimously approved by all
[26:57] seven commissioners, the policy will not
require a second reading.
[27:01] If the policy does not receive unanimous
consent of all seven commissioners upon
[27:06] the first reading, the county
administrator shall place the proposed
[27:09] policy on the agenda for the next county
commission work session or county
[27:13] commission meeting if no work session is
held.
[27:16] Then upon approval of a proposed policy
as set out in steps above, the approved
[27:21] policy shall become effective on the
date included in the approved policy or
[27:25] 30 days after approval.
>> Question.
[27:29] » Yes, sir.
>> Actually, if this if one commissioner uh
[27:34] say we got a commissioner missing, so
then it would automatically go to the
[27:38] » [cough]
>> after we voted [clears throat] on so it
[27:39] has to be all seven of them.
>> Right, and that's why I didn't put
[27:41] unanimous in the revision. I put
unanimous by all seven so that that way
[27:45] you you couldn't approve a policy
without a commissioner being present
[27:50] without at least a second reading.
>> Right. Right, got you. Just wanted to
[27:53] make that clear.
>> Very good.
[27:55] » So that because the policy right now
requires two readings, you can't vote on
[28:00] this today. So we'll read it again at
the next meeting and then if you so
[28:04] choose, you could approve to amend the
policy.
[28:06] » All right, commissioners. As stated,
this was the first reading on that
[28:09] change, so we will have it on the next
agenda for the second reading and
[28:13] approval or possible approval.
All right, next up you have executive
[28:16] session.
>> Actually, I have two other ones that I
[28:19] need to add. I apologize. Um the first
one is simply just to notify you that
[28:24] the um
Mr. Jerome Brown has filed a formal
[28:27] notice of claim. As you may recall, Mr.
Brown was here at the last meeting
[28:30] complaining about his road situation. Um
there's no action needed to be taken on
[28:34] by the commission, but letting you know
that the claim has been filed.
[28:37] » Thank you.
>> The um other issue is that we received
[28:41] notification from the
Beasley Allen Law Firm in Montgomery.
[28:46] The commission in the past has voted to
participate in some class action
[28:49] lawsuits dealing with the opioid funds.
And we've we've checked the minutes. The
[28:54] approval that the commission first did
was for specific lawsuits. This is a new
[28:59] class action lawsuit for you to become
part of.
[29:02] Um [snorts] the defendants they they're
named the remnant defendants and this
[29:06] includes Associated Pharmacies Inc., J &
M Smith Corporation, Morris & Dickson
[29:12] Company, Louisiana Wholesale Drug
Company, North Carolina Mutual Wholesale
[29:16] Drug Company, and United Natural Foods,
also known as Supervalu.
[29:21] So, if the commission would like to take
part in these class actions where you
[29:24] will recover more money from the opioid
funds if Beasley Allen is able to
[29:28] recover those for the state and the
subdivisions of the state, we would need
[29:33] the commission to vote to approve
joining in this.
[29:36] » All right, is there a motion to approve
joining those lawsuits?
[29:38] » And also ask for approval for the chair
to sign the agreement.
[29:41] » All right, thank you.
>> Can we discuss something first?
[29:44] » Yeah.
>> Go ahead, sir.
[29:46] » Can't can't Can we do the motion to
where in any future class actions
[29:51] dealing with opioid that we could go
ahead and do it without having to come
[29:55] before?
>> If that's If that's what you all want to
[29:58] do, that's a perfectly good motion.
>> All right.
[30:00] You want to make that motion?
>> Yes, I'd like to amend amend her
[30:03] recommendation to any and all future
opioid um
[30:09] class actions.
>> And allow the chair to sign the
[30:11] document.
>> And allow the chair.
[30:12] » All right, we have a motion by
Commissioner Costello. Is there a
[30:14] second?
>> Second. [snorts]
[30:15] » Seconded by Commissioner Reed. Any other
discussion or comments? All those in
[30:19] favor signify by saying aye.
>> Aye.
[30:21] » All opposed?
All right, that is approved. Anything
[30:23] else? Executive session?
>> Executive session. Yes, sir. Mr.
[30:26] Chairman, following the commission
meeting, I would request that the
[30:30] commission adjourn into executive
session to discuss with your attorney
[30:34] the legal ramifications of and legal
options for pending litigation,
[30:38] controversies not yet being litigated,
but eminently likely to be litigated or
[30:43] eminently likely to be litigated if the
governmental body pursues a proposed
[30:47] course of action. As an attorney
licensed to practice law in the state of
[30:50] Alabama, I will say that this exception
is applicable to the plan discussion. No
[30:55] action will need to be taken by the
commission. So you will not need to come
[30:58] back into this meeting.
>> All right. Thank you, ma'am.
[31:03] Um you've heard the recommendation of
the attorney at following the um
[31:07] commissioner's discussion and department
head discussion and announcements, we'll
[31:11] go into executive session if it is
approved. Is there a motion for
[31:14] executive
>> Motion to approve.
[31:15] » Second the motion.
>> Wow. Motion by Commissioner Reed,
[31:18] seconded by Commissioner Daughtry. Any
other discussion or comments? All those
[31:21] in favor signify by saying "Aye." Aye.
All opposed? All right. We'll move into
[31:26] the uh commissioner's discussion.
Commissioners, does anybody have
[31:28] anything to talk about today that's not
on the agenda?
[31:30] » I just wanted to comment on the moving
of the meeting. If
[31:37] the work is done and we can meet back in
here in June, when we meet, come back in
[31:41] here.
>> Okay.
[31:45] But so we can change that at the next
meeting, I guess, um before if we did
[31:49] that. So very good.
All right. Um I have a couple things I
[31:52] want to mention. Um one, the Crawford
Market Days on this past Saturday.
[31:57] Um we started back up for 2026. Uh that
was the largest one we've ever seen. We
[32:02] had We usually the the most vendors we
ever had were 67. On Saturday, we had
[32:06] 101. We had the largest crowd we've ever
seen.
[32:10] Um the Dollar General was complaining
about too much business, if that helps
[32:13] anything. So I don't think I've ever
heard that one before. So
[32:17] um I did want to share an email that I
received. I shared it with the
[32:19] commission this morning by email, but I
I did I think this was important. This
[32:23] was an unsolicited email by a visitor
from out of state who sent the email. Uh
[32:29] I'm not sure. I guess they looked on the
website, found my email address.
[32:33] But the email stated uh a note of
appreciation.
[32:37] As an out of state traveler Crawford
Alabama on
[32:40] March 2026 I sincerely sincerely want to
share my gratitude
[32:45] for your participation with the grounds
care at Crawford Square. This was my
[32:48] first destination visit to Alabama. I
must say the area and the weather were
[32:53] equally beautiful. Attending the
Crawford Square event in Alabama
[32:58] definitely presented a great first
impression to me. Thank you kind regards
[33:02] Angela. So I wanted to share that with
you for so many reasons. One to show you
[33:07] that
our tourism efforts are really working.
[33:10] This is someone from out of state that
has come into our county and recognize
[33:14] what we have to offer.
Our committee in Crawford are doing a
[33:20] great job along with all of our
employees especially our parks and recs
[33:23] department for keeping the grounds and
everything looking the way it does. It
[33:28] is it is great to get that kind of
feedback. Typically people give it to us
[33:32] when they walk by. I don't share that
every time obviously but when you get
[33:36] someone that actually takes the time out
of their day to send an email I wanted
[33:39] to make sure that was shared with
everybody involved. I actually shared it
[33:42] with our legislative delegation as well.
I think that's important for them to see
[33:46] that.
The other thing I wanted to mention to
[33:49] you a couple more things real [snorts]
quick. We as you know we've approved the
[33:53] lease of the the building in Crawford.
We are now moving forward. I have met
[33:58] with the sheriff out there yesterday to
do a visitor center pop up and sheriff
[34:03] substation in that building. I think
we're both excited about what that's
[34:06] going to look like in Crawford and and
for the north part of our county. So
[34:10] we're very looking forward to that
happening. You're going to see some
[34:12] signs popping up here pretty soon saying
that what's coming soon and get with the
[34:17] sheriff about some time that we can
actually make a formal announcement
[34:20] about that.
>> [clears throat]
[34:21] » The last thing I wanted to mention we
did receive an email this past week
[34:25] myself and I know the administrator did
about one of the deputy corners in the
[34:29] corners office for a a good job that
they did. I think other commissioners
[34:33] may receive that as well. I I think
we're going to uh I didn't want to thank
[34:36] anyone think that we had forgotten that.
We will have that on a future meeting to
[34:40] actually recognize that person as well.
We want to say thank you to her as well.
[34:44] All right.
There's no other discussion. I'll move
[34:47] into announcements. Commissioner
Costello.
[34:48] » I just like to thank Glenwood for their
>> Definitely.
[34:51] » Um yearly uh trip here and and the
students uh like the chair said earlier,
[34:56] this is something that you may be
interested in the future.
[35:00] Uh you guys are young, but uh
we need young leadership stepping up as
[35:07] we uh all get older up here, so Um thank
y'all for your interest in uh government
[35:13] affairs and the government class. Thank
y'all for being here.
[35:16] » Absolutely. I can't tell you how many
times I'm on a committee and people say
[35:19] we need younger people. They're always
They're always talking Look at me and
[35:22] I'm like I'm not younger anymore, but
I'm not as old as him, but I'm I'm
[35:25] getting there. I'm going to get there
one day, so but we really do appreciate
[35:28] you being here today. So
All right, moving into announcements.
[35:33] First up is a holiday closure
notification on Monday, April 27th, all
[35:38] county buildings will be closed in
observance of the holiday.
[35:41] Uh sanitation trash pickup schedule for
uh that holiday, all of the garbage that
[35:46] on the Monday routes will be picked up
on Tuesday. So
[35:49] um if you have Monday route, just know
that make sure you leave it out for
[35:52] Tuesday.
Crawford Market Days again Saturday, May
[35:55] 16th at the Crawford Walk Patrol. Please
come out there. If you haven't been,
[35:58] please come enjoy that and and see what
I'm talking about.
[36:01] Holiday closure um
notification for the um Memorial Day
[36:06] holiday, which will be Monday,
May 25th, all buildings will be closed.
[36:12] And um Sean, do you know what the truck
the trash schedule on that? Will that be
[36:16] the same? They move it to Tuesday as
well. That one also be moved to Tuesday
[36:19] for sanitation.
And the last one is the uh notification.
[36:23] We mentioned it earlier. The commission
meeting was canceled for Wednesday, May
[36:27] 27th.
All right. Those are your announcements.
[36:32] We are now in executive session. Thank
you.
[36:37] » Chandra
Are you going to give them
[36:40] a report on where they're going?