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By ZACHARY SEIFTER/ Staff Writer

The Chilton County Commission took some time during its voting session on Sept. 14 to address some comments made by Alabama Farmers Federation president and CEO Jimmy Parnell during a Clanton City Council meeting held on Sept. 13.

During the council meeting, Parnell said the project was moving too slow, and a possible reason could be because of the egos of people on the commission and the council.

Commissioner Allen Williams brought this up, and asked why the council would have any interest in working with the commission after several things have been said about them by commission members.

“After what has been said about the city, about the mayor and about across the street, calling names, they’ve offered to work with us on more than one occasion (on) water and sewer,” Williams said. “But we didn’t want to work with them on water and sewer. We talked to Chilton Water about getting water … Tony (Wearren) talked to engineers about putting a sewer system in. Why are we going after that? Why are we wasting money on something that the city has already said ‘We will provide’ (dating) back to 2015?”

Commission Chairman Joseph Parnell chimed in on the conversation, stating that the commission and the city have tried to come up with an arrangement in the past on the water and sewage issue, but they could not find a suitable arrangement that worked for both sides financially.

However, Joseph Parnell made it clear that he has not given up on working with the city, and will continue to try to find a deal that works for both sides.

“Can we get past where we are right now?” Joseph Parnell asked. “With reasonable minds, you’re dang right we can. Because there’s an answer to this … I haven’t given up on that.”

Also discussed at the commission meeting was a resolution to add the Fire Fighters Association to the Appropriations List for the budget, appropriating $50,000 for them. That resolution was approved unanimously.

They also provided an update on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The commission is still waiting on a few more things to come through before finalizing the budget, but they expect to vote on it at their next meeting on Sept. 28.