County-wide Disbursement of Funds to Volunteer Fire Departments

The Commission voted unanimously with all commissioners present to make their annual outlay of funding to volunteer fire departments in Bibb County. $167,383.52 will be distributed evenly between all departments.

Excess Tax Request for Return

Two men who purchased a property at a tax sale three years ago appeared before the Commission to request a return of excess tax on the property purchased. Mr. Smith stated, “Usually we just fill out a request and the Commission approves it and gives us our money. This is the first time we were ever asked to come to the Commission in this county.” He said this was the first time they had purchased tax sale property in Bibb, but had never had issue getting the “excess on tax certificates” paid back in Chilton County.

Commissioner Keefe Burt said that his experience through the years was “that’s not the way it works” and believes the money is supposed to go to the previous owner or the county. Commissioners were ultimately unsure on what was proper in the situation, and said a query had already been sent to Montgomery for clarification to insure proper procedure. They voted to table the item until getting a response to their question.

Transfer Station Shut Down Temporarily

As Big Sky has moved out and the new company prepares to settle in working the garbage transfer station under new contract, the transfer station will be shut down for an unknown amount of time as the transition happens. This should have little to no effect on residents’ garbage pickup, and is simply a process that will happen “behind the scenes.” The Commission voted unanimously to allow the Chairman to sign the new contract and get the changeover underway.

Road Department Updates and Requests

County Engineer Jeff McKinney asked the Commission to approve declaring several vehicles and pieces of heavy equipment as surplus to sell on govdeals website. These include pickups, rollers, tractors, and more – all deemed inoperable. The Commission approved this request.

McKinney informed the Commission that due to the new State gas tax funds that will be coming in, the remaining federal funds in the road department account must be zeroed out, and assigned to a project. In balancing pending funds and available funds from multiple sources, he developed a plan to use the “small amount” remaining in the federal funds to begin work on County Road 2 (West Ashby), which would have to be completed using funds from the gas tax at a later date.

In course of discussion it came to light that before the new State gas tax funds could be sent, the federal aid balance had to be zero, and that no more federal aid would come in because of the new state tax. While this means $500,000 in federal funds and $33,000 in state funds will no longer be coming in, the expected revenue from the new state fund is about $730,000 per year. This money will be used for all County roads. The first check should be showing up in January, and paid quarterly. Commissioners will be attending a conference in August that will educate all on how the new state gas tax funds are allowed to be used.

Mentioned in the priorities list was Coldwater at the top – the cost of which is still unknown. The Abercrombie project, however, is paid out of federal funds and would not affect the Coldwater or West Ashby projects. McKinney states that the Abercrombie design is complete, and while the project will be starting soon as a high priority, is not expected to be completed this year due to seasonal limitations of the materials being used which cannot be laid down after October.

His intent at this meeting was to discuss project priorities with Commissioners so that he can bring a resolution next meeting that will lay out a plan for Commissioners to sign.

Other Items

Emergency Medical Services distribution for April, 2019, totaled $10,336.38, with 277 total calls, 36 transports, and 53 dialysis.

The County Administrator reports that after receiving a bid previously for repair of the walk-in cooler at the county jail that the Commission deemed a bit high, they have now received another bid. The new bid is higher than the first, which was almost $8,000. There was a motion that passed for the County Attorney to look over the two bids, with the likely result being to accept the first bid.