Little Escambia precinct moves for primary
When Escambia County (Ala.) voters in the Little Escambia precinct go the polls March 5 for the Republican and Democratic primaries, they will cast their ballots at Osaka Freewill Baptist Church instead of the outdated brick building on Mize Road.
The Escambia County Commission passed a resolution Monday to move the voting place, calling it a win-win situation for voters and poll workers.
District 3 Commissioner Larry White said the commission has wanted to do something over the years to get out of the block building that had no restrooms and very little space.
Probate Judge Doug Agerton noted that the little block building voting places were once all across the county and the one in the Little Escambia precinct was the last one. He noted the county had to rent a port-a-potty on election day at the precinct.
Commissioner White said Osaka Freewill Baptist Church, located just off of Highway 113, agreed to allow the county to use its fellowship hall on election days. White noted that Little Escambia Baptist Church was not an option since it was outside the precinct line.
In other business Monday, the commission:
- Executed a contract with the Department of Youth Services for one detention bed at the Baldwin County Juvenile Detention Center in Bay Minette. Sheriff Heath Jackson asked if there was any way the county could get two beds, noting that the juvenile crime rate is not coming down, but is instead going up.
Clerk-Administrator Ron Cink said he would reach out to DYS to see if that was an option, but said the commission needed to go ahead and reserve the one bed and the issue could be put back on the agenda at a later date.
- Agreed to seek competitive bids for repaving the parking lot at the Atmore Satellite Courthouse.
- Approved an Emergency Management Performance Grant for the county to receive $33,933 for the county’s emergency management agency.
- Authorized seeking competitive bids for hardware and software upgrades.
- Approved an agreement to allow Avenu to collect sales tax for the county.
- Approved a recommendation by Sheriff Jackson to surplus an old Chevrolet Suburban van previously used to transport bodies following a death. Sheriff Jackson said the county has already purchased a new van and any proceeds from the sale of the old van will go toward the purchase of the new van. The old van will be put up for bids on gov.deals.com.
- Approved the following financial institutions as county depositories: Trustmark, Bank of Brewton, United Bank, AmeriFirst Bank and South Alabama Trust Company.
