County Commission considering better facilities for returning veterans
If Sandra Wright’s request is granted, returning servicemen in Marengo County needing assistance through the Office of Veterans Affairs will have better facilities.
Wright, Veterans Service Officer, asked the Marengo County Commission Tuesday for more space to serve veterans in the Courthouse Annex.
“We need a space we can be comfortable in,” Wright told commissioners. “It’s not adequate where we are now.”
The local veterans’ office has to compete for space with the driver’s license office, Community Action Agency and the summer feeding program, she continued. Such close quarters doesn’t allow for privacy. Often there is standing room only for veterans awaiting services, especially difficult for those in wheelchairs or on crutches, Wright said.
Commissioners voted to table Wright’s request until they can investigate what vacant rooms are available in the annex and address requests from other agencies for more space.
At the April meeting county school superintendent Dr. Luke Hallmark requested the school board manage a room previously controlled by the Marengo County Extension office in the annex.
The commission voted to approve a $1,650 bid from C&B Home Construction to build two ramps for the new voting site in Linden.
Probate Judge Laurie Hall said the work will be completed in time for the June primary. The county will be reimbursed for the cost.
Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Sanders received approval to apply for a matching grant of 75 percent to hire deputies. If approved, the grant would be effective for 36 months, and the county then can reapply.
Commissioner Dan England said the 25 percent that the county would have to kick in for new hires would be absorbed by the decrease in overtime pay.
William Bradley Smith and Charles Smith presented a petition to close Deep Creek Road. They said the half-mile cut through road has become a site for dumping trash and the target of vandals.
Chairman Michael Thompson said their petition would be reviewed by county attorney Woody Dinning and taken up by the commission later.
In other action the commission:
• Approved a letter of support to designate West Alabama Pubic Transportation as the local implementing agency for Section 5311.
• Approved county engineer Ken Atkins’ request for an amendment to the personnel policy for a two-step raise process. The move would create a wider pool of job applicants, he said.
• Approved the reappointment of Jean Norwood and Cupidean Davis to the Library Board.
• Approved change orders totaling $1,654 for the Small Business Incubator for lighting and carpet. Economic Development Authority director Brenda Tuck said the cost of the carpeting will be reimbursed.
• Approved a request by Atkins for two resolutions concerning the resurfacing of County Roads 30 and 44. Work will not begin for three or four years, he said, but the resolutions mean the county will be in the pipeline for funding.
• Heard from Charlie Hackworth concerning the drainage and road erosion on County Road 44 and Mount Canaan Church Road.