BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
The Elmore County Commission honored the Tallassee 10U All-Star Team and recognized them as State Champions in their division at Monday’s regular meeting.
“Several years ago the county commission made a commitment to recognize any of our youth who successfully win a championship at the state level. That could be in any category. We have had numerous student athletes come through out county commissions to recognize them,” Commission Chairman Troy Stubbs said.
This was the first for the commission in having a youth baseball team.
Stubbs continued saying this team won the Alabama State Championships finishing 5-0 in the Silver Division Alabama State Tournament. They competed against 22 other teams in the state scoring 74 runs and only allowed 14 runs in those five games. The team consists of 11 players from the area.
“As with all youth sports, this could not be done without volunteer coaches and family who support these student athletes,” Stubbs said.
This will culminate with their participation in the Southeast Region World Series July 14-17 in Gulfport, MS.
“I congratulate all of you. It takes a lot of effort to get to this point,” said Commissioner Mack Daugherty. “And you have an amazing job. I know how it is to get off of work and run straight to the ballfields and pick up something for supper on the way home. This is wonderful. This is a big deal. You are about to have the time of your life. I hope you win it all, but you are already winners.”
Commissioner Henry Hines said, “This will be a memory and moment you will cherish the rest of your life. These young gentlemen here will be our future leaders. This is how they start by participating in sports. With a team effort everyone accomplishes more. That is what it takes as a community. We are proud to say that you will represent Elmore County in the World Series.”
Commissioner Bart Mercer said he had two kids that participated in sports, and he also understands the commitment involved by the players, coaches and families. “To the players, you have worked hard and accomplished a lot. I am very proud of what you have done.”
The team and coaches then gathered for a group photo and to accept the resolution. Each player received a copy of the resolution for a keepsake.
In other business:
The Commission appointed Ginger Henry to the Carastar Health Board (formerly the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority.
The Commission set a public hearing on July 28 at 5 p.m. for a 050-Retail Beer (off premises only) and 070 – Retail Table Wine (off premises only) Alcohol License Transfer Application from Weoka Road Mini Mart, WRMM LLC to Weoka Road Mini Mart by HAAAP INC at 975 Weoka Road, Wetumpka.
The Commission authorized the Chairman and COO to execute a MOA with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Agreement with ALDOT for the installation and maintenance of additional lighting at the Kowaliga public Boat Ramp of AL 63 in Elmore County.
“This is a project that has been in the making for many years,” Commissioner Daugherty said. “That boat ramp is used by many residents. I would dare say primarily Elmore County residents. Certainly, during the week, they have tournaments up there every Tuesday night. The lighting has been very poor for years. The commission provided a solar light which did help. We have had some near tragedies there with elderly people getting in and out of their boat. So, this will be a big plus for Elmore County and the entire north and south sides of the lake area to get this done.”
The Commission approved a joint resurfacing project with the City of Millbrook to complete the resurfacing of Oak Lane and McAdams Road. The county will reimburse Millbrook for resurfacing costs related to the county’s portion of McAdams.
Commissioner Mercer said, “I believe this is a good project for us support. It is a really small stretch of road. It would be cost prohibitive and probably not a good expenditure overall of the county’s funds to move a crew in to resurface this one particular area. With us working with the City of Millbrook, this is a great expenditure of taxpayer’s dollars.”
The Commission discussed approving the FY 23 Rebuild Alabama County Transportation Plan.
County Chief Operating Officer Richie Beyer explained, “It amounts to 12.89 miles of resurfacing work at a cost of $1.578 million dollars. It also includes using the FY 23 allocation to complete Rifle Range Road Bridge and replacement project which started Monday. Our maps are being produced. It is required for counties to have these plans adopted by the end of August. We have all of our plans posted on our website so citizens can go back and see what was planned.
“The Rebuild Alabama program that has been in place for several years, was put forth by Gov. Ivey and the county has benefitted from that. You will see signs throughout the county that say a project was brought to you by Rebuild Alabama. Roads are being paved and work is being done. That is all published on our website. That accountability is in large part due to Sen. Chambliss and his companion bill that accompanied Rebuild Alabama which ensured any funds we receive we are accountable for those funds. It is not used to pay additional employees or anything else. It is used for repaving roads.”
The Commission discussed approving the FY 23 ARP Transportation Projects funded from previously approved allocations.
Beyer said this is a little different transportation plan. “At our last commission meeting you adopted a revised allocation plan of our ARP funds. Part of our funding will be set aside to transportation purposes to the tune of $1.5 million. This plan includes the converting projects to allow us to finish up some FY 22 projects and additional projects for FY 23. In summary, it is 11.58 miles of resurfacing at a cost of 1.133 million. There is also $250,000 set aside for crush base we will be using on some of our unpaved roads.”
The Commission set a public hearing for Aug. 8 at 5 p.m. to consider the proposed vacation of adjoining landowner of an unnamed road off Hickory Hill Road in Woodhaven.
On the Consent Docket:
The Commission approved the Travel Memorandum.
Under Personnel Notifications:
The Commission gave notification of promotion of Lindsey Reams, GIS Tech to Mapper 1 (replace A. Burbank), effective July 5.
They also made notification of hire of Courtney Morgan, GIS Tech (replace L. Reames), effective July 11.
In Reports to the Commission:
COO Richie Beyer – “In addition to the two programs you have for consideration tonight, we have a list of a little less than $7.5 million in transportation projects that are funded through the Federal Aid Program NPO sources. The top two projects should be completed in FY 2023. Other projects will be completed in the next 15 months. Put that in comparison, that is 14.14 miles of roadwork and $7.5 million. If you add the Rebuild and the ARP funded projects we discussed tonight, it is going to be a little less than 39 miles of work over the next year at a little over a $10 million”.
Also, Beyer said that commissioners will also soon be receiving the first full draft of the new budget for review and discussion.
Beyer also told the Commission that Monday, July 18 will be an initial redistricting meeting.
Last, two projects concerning unpaved roads including Camp Tallassee and Jug Factory Road. The commission is working to combine forces with neighboring counties as a test project with combined services.
Commissioner Hines said “The Mowing Business going well. “They are really tackling roads early.”
Commissioner Daugherty– “I am very thrilled to report Lake Martin had probably the safest Fourth of July I can remember in my lifetime. There were no reports of boating accidents or serious matters. Getting back to lighting at Kowaliga, that is the only usable public boat ramp on Lak Martin. By lighting that ramp, it will benefit all of our EMA and emergency services agencies. It is used as a staging area for our emergency services.”
Commissioner Mercer -Elmore County’s Taxpayers’ biggest investment is in our roads and bridges and infrastructure. It costs much less to maintain those roads then it does to dig them up and replace. If it had not been for additional dollars Rebuild Alabama has provided, we would not be able to be considering some of these projects. So, we are greatly appreciative for these dollars and we try to be as accountable to the citizens as we possibly can.
“Since our last meeting we have had the first meeting of the Elmore County Broadband task force. In November a Constitutional Amendment will be on the ballot for citizens to consider giving counties the ability to partner with a provider. If that passes, and a provider wants to invest, we plan on having Elmore County in the best position to help with expansion.”
Commission Chairman Stubbs – During his time, he invited up new Tallassee Mayor Sarah Hill to come up and speak. She was attending the meeting to show support to the Tallassee ball team.
“I have been a resident of Elmore County fo 28 years,” she said. Her father is a retired Lt. Col who retired in Tallassee. “Tallassee has a great opportunity to move forward and look forward to working with our commission,” Mayor Hill said.
Also in his report, concerning redistricting, Stubbs said, “We have made some announcements regarding our plans. Many commission meetings ago we committed to a contract with ASU to provide us with the necessary documents and platform to do the redistricting We have to have this done before our next election in 2024. We have made the decision to go ahead and take care of that this summer. I will be leaving this office and the governor will be appointing someone to be the district commissioner for District 3. We have to have our lines set before that appointment. We will be viewing those maps and the numbers next week. Then we will put forward maps for the public comment and review. We will move through that cycle and have our redistricting completed and approved by late summer or early Fall.
Also, on the progress of the new mega prison in Elmore County, Stubbs said he attended a meeting last week regarding the sale of bonds from the state for the construction projects ongoing. “Some of you may have seen a lot of dirt moved for the new prison site. The state was able to sell enough bonds to raise enough funds in addition to other ARP fundst and moving forward with the prison construction. He said there are some concerns on state level with inflation and impact of fuel costs. But he was assured projects are moving forward and there are sufficient funds.
“On a county level we have done good job…of budgeting properly in previous years to ensure that recent impacts of inflation have not had a detrimental effect on our county budget. We are in sound financial condition and we have prepared ourselves well for these type of issues.”
Important Calendar Dates:
Friday, July 15-Sunday July 17 – 2022 Back to School Sales Tax Holiday.
Thursday, July 28 – Commission Work Session at 5 p.m. with the Business Meeting immediately following.
Monday, August 8 – Commission Work Session at 5 p.m. with the Business Meeting immediately following.
