County commissioners reflect on Estes’ career tenure, present infrastructural updates

The Shelby County Commission held their first meeting of the new year Jan. 14 at the Shelby County Administration building in Columbiana.

During the public comment portion of the agenda, manager of community services, Reggie Holloway, took the opportunity to introduce Bacarra Mauldin to the commission members. Mauldin was selected by the Board of Directors for the Birmingham Regional Paratransit Consortium to serve as the interim Executive Director for ClasTran. Before this, she had been part of the ClasTran board of directors since 2017.

Jen Ivy and Kim Egan of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham were also in attendance, updating the commission on the organization’s activities and reporting that they were able to serve 1300 kids in 2018. Commissioner Mike Vest applauded the organization’s efforts and success in helping children in Shelby County, commenting that his own experience as a “big brother” was something that he holds close to his heart.

There was one bid to be recorded and awarded, relating to Oak Mountain State Park’s utility line. The utility line will be relocated from its current location on John Findlay Drive since, as it is now, it would be running under a new bike lane which would then possibly be susceptible to any construction damages, should issues ever occur because of the utility line.

County Manager Alex Dudchock took a moment to acknowledge Winston Estes, who has worked as the county’s IT director for 30 years, as he prepares to retire. Dudchock applauded Estes’ career efforts of learning and evolving his skills to adapt to the changing technological climate, commending his calm attitude and great listening skills.

During his county engineer report, Randy Cole reiterated the situation of putting a temporary traffic signal at the intersection of highway 280 and county road 11 in Chelsea. After a meeting with Alabama Power brought up a technical issue that would pose a problem for the project, it has been decided that a military-grade generator will have to be used to power the traffic signal instead of the transistor that was first thought of.

Cole also urged the commission and meeting attendees to be prepared for any impending cold weather, reminding them of last year’s cold weather struggles with snow and frozen roads.

Lastly, an Alabama Department of Transportation contract was reviewed concerning the resurfacing, planning, striping, leveling and patching of US-31. The contract also asked that any related county projects not interfere with ALDOT’s work.

The next Shelby County Commission meeting will be Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at the County Administration building.