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Matt Edwards with the road department received recognition from the Association of County Commissioners of Alabama for his work in the motor grader operators training program during the County Commission meeting on Aug. 27.

“We’ve got some excellent workers,” County Engineer Tony Wearren said.

The program is designed to use experienced operators to help train new motor grader operators in counties throughout the state.

“It has been so successful,” said Chase Cobb with the ACCA. “Other states are trying to copy and paste what we’re doing.”

Cobb presented Edwards with an award to commemorate his dedication to the training program.

“Matt is the definition of a public servant,” Cobb said.

Tay Knight, Executive Director of Family Sunshine Center, asked the Commission for an allocation of $2,160 as part of the 2018-19 budget.

The mission of the center is to provide assistance for women and men dealing with domestic abuse.

According to Knight, 1 in 3 women will be the victim of domestic abuse at some point in their lives and 1 in 7 men.

Chilton County is one of seven counties that the center serves.

In the past year in Chilton County, the center has received 34 crisis calls, provided 103 days of service and more than 200 hours of counseling.

The center’s 24-hour crisis line is 1-800-650-6522.

Chairman Allen Caton informed Knight that the Commission would consider Knight’s request as part of the budgeting process.

In other news from the meeting:

• Superintendent Jason Griffin thanked the Commission, especially for its support of the Sheriff’s Office and school safety.
• The Commission approved permission for Wearren to take bids on the striping of various roads in the county using money in the road department’s budget and to award the bid to the lowest bidder, which was Highway Management.
• Wearren was granted permission to take bids on patching and resurfacing County Road 8 using money in the road department’s budget and to award the bid to the lowest bidder, which was Wiregrass Construction. Caton abstained from the vote.
• Tyler Gillen was added to the road department’s payroll as a mechanic co-op student.
• A line item transfer of $6,000 was approved for the Parks and Recreation Department.
• Christie Tillis was hired as a part-time driver with the transit department.
• A resolution was approved to revise the transit department’s procurement procedures per the Federal Transit Administration, which changes the threshold for micropurchases from $3,000 to $10,000 and the threshold for simplified acquisitions from $150,000 to $250,000. Commissioner Joe Headley abstained from the vote.
• The recording of the meetings through social media was tabled for two weeks to clarify procedures.
• Headley presented a resolution for retirees to receive a one-time raise. The resolution did not pass, with Headley as the only vote in favor.
• Construction of the County Commission Facebook page was tabled.
• A tobacco tax is being researched.
• The administrator was authorized to close bank accounts at BB&T.
• The administrator was authorized to open bank accounts at Peoples Southern Bank with the chairman and vice chairman added on the signature cards.
• The commission approved the minutes from the Aug. 13 meeting.
• The commission approved to pay its bills.