County Road 236 resident Charles Wood addresses the commission about road conditions. / W.C. Mann
CULLMAN – When the Cullman County Commission opened the floor of its meeting to public comment Thursday morning, two residents who live on County Road 236 near Dodge City came forward to voice concerns about the condition of that road. They asked for the commission to repair its part of the road, and to press Dodge City Mayor Tawana Canada to do something about her town’s portion.
“We need some roadwork done,” said Wood, “repair, resurfacing, whatever. There’s 12 houses on the road; it’s a half mile long. But the problem is half of it’s in Dodge City township, half of it’s in the county, and it’s about equal halves.
“The mayor of Dodge City said that she would work with us if we could get the county to work with us, and I think y’all have done work for Dodge City before. This is a residence, and we’d like somebody to at least come look, and, I think if you look, you’ll see that we need either resurfacing, a lot of patching, if nothing else. We’ve just been waiting it out.
“We’d appreciate anything that could be done. We’d rather surface it if we can, but at least patching if nothing else. We’re going to talk with the Dodge City mayor again, so anything, we’d appreciate it.”
Roger Faison, another County Road 236 resident, also came forward to add his concerns.
He added, “I believe I live on the County end of the road, and my section of the road is really bad; in fact, it’s becoming just about impassable for me to get in and out on my motorcycle, and it’s really taking a toll on my truck and my little car.”
Chairman Kenneth Walker assured the men that the commission would have someone look into the matter, and that they would get in touch with the mayor of Dodge City.
Earlier in the summer, another Dodge City resident reported bad road conditions on County Road 216 on the outlying edge of the township, where she lived, saying that she had been unable to get the problem resolved through talks with the Town. (See our story at www.cullmansense.com/articles/2017/07/26/citizen-alleges-deficiencies-road-management-dodge-city)
Other commission business
The commission approved the annual Emergency Management Performance Grant that funds the Cullman County Emergency Management Agency. CEMA Director Phyllis Little was on hand to sign the grant paperwork with Walker.
The commission also approved the following items:
- Authorizing Walker to sign an agreement with the Cullman Electric Cooperative for billing and collection of sanitation accounts
- Authorizing Walker to sign a consulting agreement for Confinement Technologies for work on the Cullman County Detention Center phone system by Secured Perimeters International
- Authorizing Walker to renew the County’s annual long-term detention contract with the Alabama Department of Youth Services
- Approving payment for road dept. geomapping services provided by Diversified Computer Services
- Approving the purchase of furniture for the county Volunteer Fire Department Training Center
- Approving the purchase of new service trucks for the water dept.
- Approving a contract for Santex Havoline Xpress Lube to perform service on sheriff’s office and other County vehicles
The next Cullman County Commission meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 10 a.m. in the commission meeting room at the courthouse. The public is invited to attend.
