CULLMAN, Ala. – The Cullman County Commission on Tuesday approved the purchase of 20 individual radios with equipment for the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). The total amount approved was $19,439. The quote from Sharp Communications includes the radios, chargers, belt clips, speaker microphones and three-year warranties.
CCSO Lt. Rebekah Cash explained, “The reason we are asking for 20 is because the ones that we have are either broken already or to the age where we can’t replace them. For officer safety… we are having other issues with other working ones that are not connecting back to the repeater because the technology is out of date. We really just need to upgrade to make sure we are all on the same page and can talk to each other.”
Kay Bell, chief at Cullman Juvenile Probation asked the commission, by request from the Cullman County Partnership for Children, Inc., to enter into a six-month agreement with Walker County to allow Walker County juveniles to be housed at the Cullman County Detention Center and to waive the $85 per day fee.
“Walker County is having some alarm issues and so they have requested to use our short-term detention facility,” said Bell, who recommended the fee be waived due to ongoing work at Cullman’s detention center.
The agreement, according to Bell, is essentially a safety net for Walker County, in the event that Walker County needs extra space for a juvenile offender while its facility’s alarm system is being serviced.
Bell also said that Cullman County may need to in the future use Walker County’s facility as the Cullman County Detention Center is still undergoing repairs from the 2018 hailstorm.
The commission approved the short-term agreement.
In other business, the commission:
- Authorized Chairman Kenneth Walker to sign the Alabama Department of Youth Services Agency Grant Agreement for FY 2019-20 in the amount of $248, 984 for the benefit of Cullman, Blount and Jackson Counties.
- Authorized Walker to sign the Alabama Department of Youth Services Agency Grant Agreement for FY 2019-20 in the amount of $128,888 as the fiscal agent for Lauderdale County.
- Authorized Walker to sign the Alabama Department of Youth Services Long-Term Detention Subsidy Contract for FY 2020.
- Authorized Walker to sign the North Alabama Highway Safety Grant for FY 2020.
- Renewed its annual stop-loss insurance with HCC Life Insurance Company. The projected cost will be $586.212, an increase of $243, 461. The increase is due to multiple catastrophic losses over the past year.
- Renewed its annual enrollment agreement with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama- continued current self-insured medical/dental plan- no change in pay structure.
- Approved a one-year maintenance agreement with Johnston Technologies, Inc. for battery backup for the CCSO for $5, 094.
- Approved the surplus of the courthouse’s old security Rapiscan system.
- Approved proposed plat for Shady Cove Subdivision located at District 2 off County Road 51.
Commissioner Garry Marchman reappointed Dewayne Goodwin to the E-911 Board of Commissioners for a term to expire Sept.1, 2023.
The next Cullman County Commission meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. preceded by a work session at 8:30 a.m.
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