Wants more info
The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission tabled two late additions to Monday’s agenda involving a possible grant application and adopting a hazard mitigation plan after commissioners questioned exactly what they were voting on.
County Clerk-Administrator Ron Cink said he received the information late and added to the agenda. He added that it was not time sensitive and felt the commission did the right thing by tabling the issue until the next meeting when more information would be available.
One of the two items included authorizing the chairman to submit a letter of support to the Southeast Regional Planning Commission for application of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Resilience Regional Challenge grant.
The other item was asking the commission to adopt the Southwest Alabama Regional Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan, Phase II as of Jan. 10, 2024.
Both programs are designed to help mitigate future damage from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, and potential damage from climate change.
Commissioner Larry White first questioned the details of the NOAA support, asking what it would do for the county.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a good grant, but I still want to know what we are voting on,” White said.
The commission voted to table that issue until they received more information on how it would affect the county.
The hazard mitigation resolution plan also brought the same question of exactly how it would affect Escambia County. The program is designed to eliminate long-term risks to people and property in the event of a natural disaster.
Commissioner Karean Reynolds said he felt it put the commission “in a bad situation to vote, when we don’t know what we are voting on.”
That item was also tabled to allow the commission to get more information before voting.
Property lease
In other business Monday, the commission approved a farming lease agreement with Andrew Ward for use of property the commission purchased behind the city of Brewton’s industrial park as a site for a new county detention center.
Cink said Ward was the current tenant on that property and uses 50 acres of the 177-acre tract to farm. The commission approved leasing the farm land to Ward for $50 per acre that will generate $2,500 for the county. The agreement also extended the lease to three years with opt out by either side with notice.
Also in other business, the commission:
- Authorized the submission of a Rebuild Alabama grant for Grissett Bridge Road for $350,000 that will require a $100,000 local match.
- Adopted a resolution asking the county’s legislative delegation to revise the law that currently states the county engineer ‘shall’ live in Escambia County to ‘may’ live in Escambia County.
- Heard from Assistant County Engineer Brad Solomon who said he wanted to recognize Matt Myrick, who retired on Jan. 19 and recently died. Solomon noted that Myrick worked for the county for more than 50 years and noted he didn’t think the county would ever see someone work for the county that long again.
- Approved a license agreement with Diversified Computer Services for the engineering department.
