The Greene County Commission held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, February 12, 2024. All five commissioners were present, including: Corey Cockrell, Chair and District 3, Garria Spencer, District 1, Tennyson Smith, District 2, Allen Turner, District 4, and Roshonda Summerville, District 5. The Commissioners handled an agenda of routine business, taking a forty-minute Executive Session to discuss personnel and legal matters, without announcing any actions that needed to be approved by vote.
The Commission approved a resolution urging voters to support Amendment No. 1 on the March 5th primary ballot. Amendment No. 1 would allow the Alabama Legislature to consider and approve ‘local legislation” by a majority vote prior to passing a budget in the session.
Currently the legislative rules require a 60% super-majority for votes on legislation prior to the approval of the budget. This change would allow for easier passage of ‘local legislation’ when the Legislature does not approve a budget until the end of the session. In the past, some ‘local legislation’, including some Greene County proposals, have been lost or postponed because they could not be voted on prior to passing the state budget.
In other actions, The Greene County Commission:
• Approved levies for Alcohol Licensing for 2024-2025.
• Approved a contract with M&H Construction for $1,950 to replace ceiling tiles at J. C. Poole Memorial Library, that were damaged in a recent storm. The Commission had already repaired the library roof with insurance funds.
• Approved contract with the State of Alabama for clean-up at dump site on County Road 181; and also accepted state funding for clean-up of up to three other illegal dump sites.
•Approved travel for Assistant Engineer to attend a training class in March in Prattville, Alabama.
•Approved purchase of a full-page ad in the Greene County Democrat’s Black History issue.
•Tabled action on the Greene County Golf Course to gather more information.
The Commission also heard and accepted a financial report from CFO, Mac Underwood, in which he listed $8,610,648 in Citizens Trust Bank of which $4,189,591 is in unrestricted General Funds and $4,421,055 are in restricted funds for designated government purposes, like road and bridge repairs. He also reported $5,542,720 in Merchants and Farmers Bank, including $3,129,181 in unrestricted funds and $1,413,539 in restricted funds. This is a total of $14,153,366 in restricted and unrestricted funds available to the county government. There is also $894,166 in Bond Sinking Funds.
He also reported the expenditure of $1,769,202, in bills and claims paid for January 2024. Another $101,056 in electronic claims were paid during the same period. For the four months of the fiscal
year, October 1, 2023, to January 31, 2024, 68% of the budgeted funds are left to be utilized for expenditures this fiscal year, which is in line with proposed budget, for this point in the fiscal year.
County Commission Work Session
At the Greene County Commission’s monthly work session, held Wednesday, February 7, 2024, County Coroner, Ronald Kent Smith, presented his concern regarding his salary. Smith noted that a local Bill authorizing an increase in salary for the County Coroner was passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2020. The Bill scheduled the salary increase for the next election term. Smith was re-elected in 2022, expecting that his salary increase would go into effect at that time. To date, the Greene County Coroner has not received an increase in salary as designated in the 2020 Legislation. Smith also indicated he receives no travel compensation for transports to Montgomery. The Commission’s response was to take all this under advisement, referring the matter to the Alabama State Attorney General for an opinion on how to proceed.
The County’s Greenes Committee also addressed the Commission at this work session.relative to the Greene County Golf Course. Committee members James E. Morrow, Don Black, and Doug Bell alerted the Commission that the golf Course was in danger of closing within the next three weeks, due to lack of funds to continuing operating.
Morrow noted that the Golf Course was receiving Bingo resources until Sheriff Jonathan Benison cut off community distributions in May, 2023. Morrow indicated that there are no designated funds from the county for the Golf Course. “The county owns the Golf Course. It comes under county sponsored recreational activities, therefore the county should support it,” he stated.
The Greenes Committed stated that there are 22 members, contributing $40 per month, but it takes approximately $4,000 per month for utilities and upkeep.