Leah Ingram Eagle
Shelby County Commission May 13
Shelby County Commission
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between SouthWest Water Company and Shelby County was presented at the May 13 Shelby County Commission Meeting, that the two will seek a private rate structure agreement as a preferred alternative to a proposed local constitutional amendment.
For the past several months, Shelby County and SWWC have negotiated to establish a rate structure for customers of North Shelby and Riverview sewer systems. A constitutional amendment was introduced earlier this year which, if adopted, would create regulation and rate setting by the Alabama Public Services Commission (PSC).
Since it is unlikely the amendment would be adopted during the 2019 regular legislative session and would have to be voted on in the November 2020 general election, the MOU states SWWC and the county agree it is in their best interest to negotiate an agreement on rate structures and cease efforts to adopt the local constitutional amendment.
Rate regulation by the Public Services Commission would come with additional costs, the MOU states.
Since the city of Chelsea and SWWC have already agreed on rates, this will not impact that agreement, unless agreed upon by both entities. During the negotiation period, rates for North Shelby and Riverview will not be increased.
The MOU states that upon the completion of a negotiated rate structure, SWWC and Shelby County have agreed “to submit letters to the bill sponsors in the Alabama House and Senate informing them of the agreement to cease further support of legislation during the 2019 regular session.”
Commissioner Lindsey Allison said she has been working hard on this amendment in Montgomery and that she and the commission are not backing down on this legislative act. It would put the constitutional amendment on hold until 2020.
“We need to have the option to have this PSC and let the citizens have some relief,” she said. “There’s no question in my mind that SWWC has taken advantage of the economic opportunities with residents and we are trying to do everything possible to remedy that. We want to keep the pressure on and we are not giving up the fight by any means.”
Also at the May 13 commission meeting, the Shelby County 2019 Paving Project came one step closer to becoming a reality as the bid for the project was awarded to Dunn Construction for $6,325,112.29.
Leah Ingram Eagle
Shelby County Engineer Randy Cole
Shelby County Engineer, Randy Cole, addresses the County Commission at the May 13 meeting.
As previously reported from the Commission’s last meeting on April 22, the project will include repair, resurfacing and striping projects for various roads throughout Shelby County.
The bid for the project at County Road 12 and County Road 22 was also approved and awarded to Chilton Contractors for $933,117.35, which was over $198,000 less than the next highest bidder.
“This is a much-needed intersection that we have been working on for a while,” Commission Chairman Jon Parker said.
County Engineer Randy Cole added, “We plan to get started on the project very soon. We will be resurfacing a lot of roads that are desperately needed.”
Also introduced during the meeting was a cooperative participation agreement between the Alabama Secretary of State and Shelby County for the Statewide Online Electronic Filing Program. This will allow those incorporating a business in Shelby County the opportunity to do everything online, instead of making a trip to the courthouse.
Shelby County Probate Judge Allison Boyd was in attendance at the meeting and shared her approval for the resolution, which she said would be of no cost to the county but would eliminate the paperwork and end up saving personnel time.
“I’m so excited about it,” Boyd said. “People have been having to come to the courthouse with two checks, one for our office and one for the Secretary of State,” she said. “With this, the Secretary of State would come in at their cost and work with the current records management system and equip it to talk to their system in Montgomery to allow us to do online filing. Since the county filing has to be done first, the new system would automatically file one minute before it goes to the Secretary of State’s system.”
A bid was also approved for corrections electronic medical records, which would incorporate into the existing records management system to produce electronic medical files for the jail and juvenile detention facility. CorEMR was awarded the bid for the implementation expenses for $22,000.
Other resolutions approved at the meeting include:
- An approval to submit application and match funds for the Emergency Shelter Grant Program.
- Approval for right-of-way acquisitions for State Park Road for widening, realignment and improvements.
- A resolution for the Inverness Community Greenway Project from the Inverness Fire Station to Hoover’s Nature Park, which dates back to 2008, to create a non-motorized public greenway within the Inverness Community.
The next Shelby County Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, May 28, at 6 p.m. at the Shelby County Administration Building in Columbiana.