Bill passes House, Senate to form board for North Shelby Library

Over the last 30 plus years, there has never been an election held for the members of the North Shelby Library Board and they’ve never had any opposition.

A new bill that recently passed the Alabama House and Senate will change that and a new library board will be established.

According to Rep. Susan DuBose, who was in attendance at the April 22 meeting of the Shelby County Commission, the library district was formed in 1988 and the district has grown and changed since that time.

“There are a great deal of dues that are collected by both individuals and businesses that pay into the library district,” DuBose said. “We're adding a board member and need to have at least one member that's a member of the business community that owns a business in the North Shelby County Library District. We haven't had that before. That gives those businesses fair representation, they make up a large portion of the district.” 

DuBose is one of three sponsors of the bill, along with Rep. Arnold Mooney and Rep. Jim Carns. She shared that the next step for the bill is to go to Gov. Kay Ivey to be signed.

“We think this is going to be a really good thing for North Shelby County,” DuBose said. “The North Shelby County Library was the only library in the state that was elected, or was supposed to be elected by the people instead of being appointed. This appointment just brings us in line with every other library in the district, which is appointed either by a county commission, a city council, mayor or legislative delegation. It will give us an opportunity to select an experienced diverse group in the community.”

After the bill is signed by Gov. Ivey, DuBose said that applications  could begin as early as May, and would make sure the community is aware when that will take place and that it would likely be handled through the delegation office.

“When people hear about it, at first, they say we’re taking other people's right to vote,” she said. “It sounds scary, but the fact is that people have never voted in over 30 years.” 

Also during the commission meeting, 

  • A bid was approved for the Shelby County Airport runway pavement project to Remac, Inc. for $99,774.84.
  • A bid was approved for surface treatment of various country roads to Charles E. Watts, Inc. for $106,505.42.

During the County Manager’s report, Chad Scroggins shared that 

  • Recently hired Shelby County CFO Brian Wheeler and Deputy County Manager Jesslan Wilson will both begin their jobs with the county on May 6.
  • Progress continues to be made on EMS transport to make sure the entire county has coverage. Several of the eight ordered ambulance units will arrive in a few months and will go to the cities of Alabaster and Pelham first. 
  • The pickleball courts at Veterans Park on Valleydale Rd. will open this weekend.
  • March 30 was a free day at the Shelby County landfill and over 1,000 loads came in totaling 550 tons. It provided a savings to the community of $19,000.
  • The new Shelby County Water Services building has opened just outside chelsea in Westover. Bills will still need to be paid at the 280 County Services Building. 

County Engineer David Willingham shared information about the expansion of lanes on I-65 and the totals that the county would be responsible for paying which comes to $16.5 million of the $176 million total for the project which will also include $141 million of federal funds, $15 million of state funds and $3.5 million of city funds.

Upcoming events: 

May 9: American Village Semiquincentennial

May 8-12: Regions Tradition, Greystone Golf and Country Club

May 17-19: XTERRA OMSP, Oak Mountain State Park

May 18:Oak Mountain State Park campground ribbon cutting