Representatives from the Cullman County Department of Human Resources address the commission during Tuesday's meeting.
CULLMAN – Tuesday’s Cullman County Commission meeting was a packed house, with a public hearing for Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) funding for the Cullman Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) and the execution of a licensing agreement between the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) and the commission for the use of the county gun range.
“Commissioner Garry Marchman and I have been working on it since I took office,” said Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry of the gun range. “We’ve been trying to come up with a positive solution. We have a contract to come together and fix it and finish it.”
Essentially, the gun range, which is located off Highway 69 at Dodge City on the outskirts of the old county landfill, will now be under the direction of the CCSO, but that doesn’t mean it will be only for CCSO activities.
“We’re going to use it as a place for deputies to go shoot,” continued Gentry, “and also for the events we hold for the public like the Citizens’ Academy and our firearms training classes.”
Gentry says there’s still a lot of work to do to fix up the range and get it ready, but he is hoping for a Spring 2017 opening.
“Once it is complete we’re going to open it up for deer season,” he said. “We’ll have deputies there to assist and people can come and get their rifles tightened up.”
Right now, there’s only one public range in Cullman County, according to the sheriff, and that’s Maple Ridge.
“The Cullman Police Department has one, and the Fraternal Order of Police have one, and those are private,” said Gentry. “Now the sheriff’s office will have one, but it will be public.”
A public hearing on JARC was held as a part of the program’s grant-funding process. CARTS previously applied for and was awarded the grant, which is funded by the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and Department of Human Resources.
According to ALDOT, “The goal of the JARC program is to improve access to transportation services to employment and employment related activities for welfare recipients and eligible low-income individuals and to transport residents of urbanized areas and nonurbanized areas to suburban employment opportunities.”
The program, which in Cullman County is facilitated by the Cullman County Department of Human Resources, utilizes CARTS buses to provide transportation, to those who qualify, to and from work, daycare and volunteer activities.
Other items of new business included:
- A public hearing was set for Feb. 28, 2017 concerning vacating an unnamed county road based on the request of a private citizen.
- Payment was authorized to the ACCA Liability Self-Insurance Fund for renewal of liability insurance for Jan. 1, 2017-Jan. 1, 2018 in the amount of $406,673.
- Chairman Kenneth Walker was authorized to sign a consent order detailing the terms under which a taxpayer will pay delinquent sales and use tax to the Cullman County Sales Tax and Revenue Enforcement Office in the Circuit Court of Cullman County.
- Authorization was given for the purchase of a Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec for Stony Lonesome OHV Park with funding from an Outdoor Access Initiative grant.
- Authorization was given for the purchase of a server for the Sales Tax Department in the amount of $6,643.17.
- Authorization was given for the payment of $15,000 to the City of Hanceville for the maintenance of Mud Creek, as per the annual maintenance agreement.
- Authorization was given for the replacement of the Cullman County Emergency Management Agency’s (EMA) outdoor warning siren activation equipment for the EMA’s radio room. The new system, $11,275, works on the polygon system, according to EMA Director Phyllis Little, meaning that sirens will be able to be activated only in affected areas of the county. The current system sounds sirens throughout the entire county.
- Authorization was given for purchase of glass countertops for the revenue office, $5,350, from Cullman Overhead Door & Glass.
- A bid from Walker Brothers, LTD for $240,800 was accepted for the painting of the Hamby Chapel water tank. There were nine total bids; one came in lower, but it was retracted.
- Authorization was given for the purchase of of a 2017 Dodge Ram truck for the EMA from Tallassee Automotive, Inc. in the amount of $42,325.
- Authorization was given for the purchase of a one-man pothole patcher from the ACCA County Joint Bid Program, $198,777.
Santa Claus will be at the Cullman County Courthouse on Wednesday, Dec. 21 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. in the first-floor entryway. The public is welcome.
All Cullman County offices will be closed from Friday, Dec. 23 through Monday, Dec. 26 in observance of the Christmas holiday. Offices will reopen on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
The Cullman County Commission will meet next on Tuesday, Jan. 10. A work session will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the meeting following at 10 a.m. in the commission meeting room. The public is welcome to attend.
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