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Commissioners to try 1-cent tax vote again It was not on the agenda and there was no action taken, but it was a familiar refrain for Washington County: a vote on a 1-cent sales and use tax. And it came up again in the commission meeting of Feb. 11. Judge Charles Singleton told the commission that Representative Marc Keahey wants a resolution by county government before he begins working toward a referendum allowing the citizens of Washington County to vote again on a 1-cent sales and use tax. Washington County has no sales tax at all, and a vote in 2005 during the term of former Probate Judge John H. Armstrong was soundly defeated by the people by four to one. Commissioner Allen Bailey offered the resolution; Hilton Robbins made the motion; and Willie Dixon seconded. Commissioner William "Termite" Beasley abstained. Judge Charles Singleton along with commissioners Dixon, Bailey and Robbins will fly out Wednesday for Washington, D.C. where they will meet with the Alabama congressional delegation: Senators Shelby and Sessions and Congressman Jo Bonner. The purpose of the trip is to request a "direct appropriation" for the $23 million sewerage project for the McIntosh area. The feasible study has been done and the three phases of the project are mapped. The next step is securing funding. The commissioners and judge appear excited about the potential for growth in the county due to TK. Commissioner Robbins spoke of a group from Tennessee that is looking at 93 acres owned by the commission in the southern end of the county. The group, which was not named, is "…looking at investing and getting a short and long-term return," Singleton said. He explained that in the short term, they want to build a motel and make money off the temporary construction workers; but he emphasized that they also spoke of long-term development like housing developments and golf courses. The judge said that Washington County could greatly benefit by an $8 per day lodging tax. Chaos in registrar's office "It is a total chaos and that's putting it mildly," was how Judge Singleton described the voting records in the registrar's office. He went on to relate how fouled up the voter lists were that the registrars sent out to the voting precincts across Washington County. He said that 40 people were on the Hobson voting list who were in the Fruitdale precinct. "I am having a meeting with the registrars tomorrow," he said. Hospital board When the Washington County Hospital Board was created, there were 17 voting precincts in Washington County. Now there are 25. The articles of incorporation require that there be one board member per voting precinct. The present terms expire at the first commission meeting in March. In addition to eight more precincts, some precincts now have two people on the hospital board. County Attorney Michael Onderdonk told the commission that these matters must be resolved soon. Resolutions passed •To remove a mentally retarded consumer from Mobile-based ALTA Point to Baldwin County Mental Retardation Development, Inc. •To allow Coastal Hospice Care use of nutrition centers as a place for caregivers to leave hospice patients for four hours per week for a caregiver to take care of business or buy groceries, etc. Coastal will provide sitters at the nutrition centers. •To accept bid for of $2,455 on GovDeals for law enforcement vehicle and to put another one on the Web site. •To promote Denise Delmarter to chief clerk in sheriff's department. •To employ Sylvia Gunter as housekeeper. •To award pumping station contract to McConnell Contracting. •Appointed Charles Singleton to the Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission. •Approved invoices to Speaks & Associates in the amount of $30,284. •To pay USA's $708 per lot for archeological services for Katrina trailer septic tanks. Red Cross Kay Waite, representing the Washington County Red Cross, asked the commission to help the organization find a place in Chatom to store their emergency supplies. She said she needs a room large enough to accommodate the supplies and to allow someone to move around to inventory items. She asked the mayor of Chatom for space in the armory and "he declined," she said. The commission agreed to look for a space. Miscellaneous •The judge wants to look at combining some polling places to save the county money. In the February 5 election, he said some boxes had four people working and voted only a few people. •Janey Galbraith met with the commission and there was discussion dealing with what to do with the old trailers when a client gets one of the Katrina trailers. She said they have to be destroyed down to unlivable condition and taken to landfills.
•Michael Onderdonk said that the eyesore junk pile in District 3 may be covered by the "Highway Beautification Act," and no ordinance is required.
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