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Commission hears updates on road projects, Zito Media contract

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The Shelby County Commission had several updates to hear during its last meeting in the month of November.

At the Nov. 27 meeting, the Commission heard updates regarding several projects throughout the county, some of which the county is involved in and others which will simply affect Shelby County residents.

County Engineer Randy Cole discussed two road projects, although he noted that the county is not directly involved in either project.

The first project is for intersection improvements near the Walmart on U.S. 280 in Hoover.

Right now, to exit the Walmart and go toward Pelham, drivers must turn left and then make a right at the congested Alabama 119 intersection, Cole said. The project would allow the chance to go across U.S. 280 to Old Highway 280, approaching Alabama 119 that way.

“That, in theory, is supposed to take some traffic off of the intersection, and probably will,” Cole said.

Bids for that ALDOT projects will open on Friday, and the cost is estimated to be between $820,065 and $1,002,302, according to ALDOT’s project letting list.

The other project includes roadway improvements and bridge widening on Interstate 65 from the U.S. 31 interchange in Alabaster to the Shelby County 52 interchange in Pelham. This 4.2-mile extension is estimated to cost between $50 million and $61 million.

Cole said the extension needs to go to the county line, but that it is stopping after 4 miles due to financial reasons.

“We hope that they would consider going ahead and taking the engineering and going further south, to get it to the point where it is now,” Cole said.

The county previously paid for surveying to get the I-65 extension to where it currently is, Cole said, and “we would gladly pay … for some more surveying, to keep the thing moving along.”

Also at the meeting, County Manager Alex Dudchock updated the Commission regarding a grant application for a multi-use trail at the planned Cahaba River Park. The county was awarded a $200,000 grant for the project, Dudchock said, for the project which includes 1,500 acres with recreational trails near the Shelby-Bibb county line. The project is in conjunction with Forever Wild Land Trust.

Manager of community services Reggie Holloway also provided the Commission with an update, this one in regard to the county’s franchise agreement with Zito Media. The Commission and county representatives have heard multiple complaints regarding Zito Media, including comments shared at one of their meetings this August. 

On Oct. 26, 2017, Dudchock provided a notice to Zito Media president Michael Rigas, stating that Shelby County did not wish to extend the term of agreement with Zito Media, according to documents provided by the county. This notice was given after the county attempted to work with Zito Media to rectify what was seen as inadequate service in the area.

On Nov. 20, Zito Media sent a letter to customers stating that “The Shelby County Commission has made the decision to terminate our franchise to sell video service in Shelby County, and as such Zito Media will no longer provide video service to customers in this area effective December 21, 2017.”

This termination date comes approximately one year before the franchise agreement with the county was set to terminate, Holloway said. Approximately 40 accounts exist that would be affected by the termination of the agreement with the county, Dudchock said, and those individuals would need to find another service provider. At this time, Dudchock said the only option he knows of for this area is some sort of dish.

Also at the meeting, the Commission:

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