RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Landfill dominates commission meeting Landfills seemed to be the order of the day and that was the first order of business taken up by the Washington County Commission on Tuesday, April 24. Chief Wilburn Taylor addressed the commission introducing two men, Mac Covington and Knox Horner as his business associates; and Lee Hamilton as his "travel lawyer." He explained that the tribe has been working on a landfill project "probably seven years." He said they need financial backing and now have that. He stressed that the MOWA Tribe are full citizens paying taxes, using the roads and sending their children to county schools. The chief said that former Probate Judge John H. Armstrong was invited to sit in on their meetings and "we were forming a partnership. That partnership is still on the table if the county commission wants to go along with the tribe. We all live in Washington County together; we should all work together. Let's be neighbors, work together; not fight each other," the chief stressed. Lee Hamilton, representing the tribe, told the commission that the chief had contacted him eight years ago this coming June about business for the tribe: a recycling facility, incinerator for hazardous waste, etc. He said he had been in communication with Armstrong and Armstrong had indicated that they would "try to work on common ground." Horner spoke next introducing himself as a "consensus builder" and said he sees benefit for both the tribe and the county. The tribe agreed to "take the political hit" for a landfill acting as the governing host. "We told Judge Armstrong that we'd like to put together a deal to benefit both parties. Our industry (landfill) is notorious for this kind of inner fighting. I think we can put together a deal that will benefit everyone." At this point Tim Helveston of Charity Chapel asked to speak and stated, "We are against a landfill at Charity Chapel. We are against a landfill anywhere in Washington County." Continuing FEMA Grants Judge Charles Singleton reported that the list of road names the Commission submitted for paving, to Janey Galbraith, their grant writer came to about $20 million. He said Galbraith advises that if they will apply for a grant in the neighborhood of $2 million, they will stand a good chance of getting it. Galbraith pared the list down to the following roads: Welford, Jolly Odom, Bivens, Malcolm Law, Koenton/Bladen Springs and Gibb Bailey/Knox Roads. Commissioner Johnson complained loudly that there were no roads in his district on the list. After discussion, the decision was made to look at Little/Chastang Road in Johnson's district. The commission passed a resolution to authorize Galbraith and Associates to proceed with the grant funds. County engineer Jason Sturdivant reported that he would pull out of the health department site at the end of this week and go on to some watershed projects in order not to lose funds for those projects which are time-sensitive. He reported that the items advertised on Govdeals.com brought $16,946 for Dixon's district 5 and $6,040 for Robbins district 4. The group passed a resolution to advertise another piece of equipment on the Web site. Sturdivant reported that the ALDOT annual inspection was much better this year than last with only four roads this year getting a score below 70 compared with 13 last year. Other items Judge Singleton advised the commission that Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties and several municipalities were putting together a coalition to create a benefits package to recruit industries to this area; and they would like Washington County to be a part of the coalition. He explained that this group hopes to have demographic studies completed by May 15 with these benefits and then an estimate of the cost to each county will be given. This was an informative/discussion item and no action was taken. The judge informed the commission that he had closed on the parcel of property south of McIntosh. He also said that it is getting imminent that Washington County must develop a building code or the state is going to put one in place. He stated that the town of Chatom needs to be put under their own housing board with a different name. At present the city of Chatom has authority over an entity called Washington County Housing Authority, but they have no desire to expand beyond the city limits of Chatom. "We need our name back," the judge emphasized, "Chatom has all they can handle." Additionally, the judge told the commission that legislation will be read April 25 in legislative committee to phase out over the next four years, the $265,000 annually that TVA provides to dry counties. Judge Singleton agreed to go to Montgomery to lobby against the legislation the 25th. At this point Tim Helveston again addressed the commission saying that he was at the meeting to lodge a complaint. "I am in Commissioner Johnson's district. I have asked that the road grader stay off my property. They go over so far on my side of the road that they have cut my bank away until I am going to have to use very tall posts. I wouldn't have had to say this if I could get phone calls returned." Other resolutions approved: +Commending the Chatom Tree Committee for their part in having the live oaks planted on the courthouse square and to Bernice Sis Bell for her assistance in the project. +Honoring Deputy John Traylor for 30 years service in the sheriff's department. +To award the collection of scrap metal at the county landfill to Leon Henderson. +Pay original invoice for $39,424.49 for paving Carson/ Dickinson Road.
+Allow the Industrial Development Board of Chatom to issue $40 million in bonds for pollution control at AEC's Lowman Power Plant in Leroy.
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
