Greene County Democrat

Tag: Mark Parnell

  • Commission chooses Spencer as Chair and Summerville as Vice Chair at Organizational Meeting

    Seated L-R: County Commissioners Allen Turner, Garria Spencer, Chairperson, Roshonda Summerville, Vice Chair, Latasha Johnson and Tennyson Smith. Standing are members of the Greene County Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated: Phillis Belcher, President, Drenda Morton, Isaac Atkins, Shirley Ezell and Marva Smith.

    The Greene County Commission held its annual Organizational Meeting on Monday, November 10, 2025, in the William M. Branch Courthouse at 5;00 PM. All five commissioners were present, including newly appointed District 3 Commissioner, Latasha Johnson.
    Garria Spencer, Chairperson relinquished the chair and asked Legal Counsel, Mark Parnell, to officiate at the meeting for the purpose of electing a chair for the coming year. Commissioner Johnson nominated Spencer to be the chair. There were no other nominations, so Garria Spencer was elected Chairperson by acclamation.
    After the election, Spencer thanked the Commissioners for their support and said, I will do my best to work with everyone on this Commission and recognize your concerns and interests.”
    There were two commissioners nominated for Vice- Chair, Tennyson Smith and Roshonda Summerville. Summerville was selected by a 3 to 2 vote.
    The Commission agreed that its regular meetings would be held on the second Monday of each month at 5:00 P M.
    The Commission agreed to retain the same depositories for its funds. They designated that two of the following persons, Garria Spencer, Roshonda Summerville, Brenda Burke, Altheria Wilder, and Rhonda French would be eligible to sign checks for the Commission. The signatures on the safe deposit box were similarly adjusted.
    The Commission did not make any appointments or changes to county agencies or internal committees. Commissioner Turner requested a list of all committees and boards and their current occupants and vacancies.
    The Commission also received and approved a report on finances for the month of October 2025, first month of the current fiscal year. The County spent $2,093,525 on all bills and payroll, plus an additional $94,401 on electronic claims for employee deductions.
    The County has $9,318,691 on deposit with local banks and $1,901,849 in certificates of deposit. There is $4,884,839 on deposit with Citizens Trust Bank of which $1,038,957 in unrestricted and $3,845,881 in restricted funds. In Merchants and Farmers Bank, there is a total of $4,433,851 of which $1,497,654 in unrestricted and $2,936,197 in restricted funds.
    At its November 1 meeting, the Commission accepted the resignation of Sandra Walker, District 1 representative on the Greenthumb Board and appointed Lucy Spann to this position.

  • County Commission demands removal of derailed train cars near County Rd. 107

    The Greene County Commission has recently received a response from Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway, LL (AGR) following repeated inquiries concerning the train derailment that occurred on March 21, 2025 near Greene County Road 107. After six months and reportedly numerous attempts by the county’s engineer’s office the derailed train cars had not been removed.

    On September 25, 2025, County Attorney, Mark Parnell, on behalf of the Commission, submitted a communication to Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway citing the derailed railcars are obstructing the right-of-way and posing public safety, environmental and infrastructure risks and required the following of the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway: “AGR and/or its contractors and insurers are the responsible parties for removal, remediation and all damages arising from the incident. Demand is nearby made that, within 48 hours, AGR mobilize appropriate crews and equipment to remove all derailed rolling stock, debris and spilled materials from the right-of-way and adjacent areas and provide the contact information for your on-scene incident commander and slain lead.”

    On September 26, 2025, a representative of AGR communicated that the process of removal of the railcars is the responsibility of a third party and the process has begun.

    Commissioner Roshanda Summerville, who represents District 5 where the trainer derailment occurred, remarked that the county has been working diligently to expedite the clean-up. “We are very concerned about school buses and other motorists that travel that route crossing the tracks daily. We need an immediate cleanup process,” she said.

     

  • Commission accepts CFO’s resignation effective May 31, 2025

    Commission approves $400 monthly stipend for Water Authority members

    The Greene County Commission met in regular session Monday, March 10, 2025 with all commissioners present except Mr. Tennyson Smith. Following the executive session, the first item of new business was to consider the request from the Greene County Water Authority to authorize a $400 monthly stipend for each member of the Water Authority. This was approved on a 3-1 vote with commissioners Roshanda Summerville, Corey Cockrell and Allen Turner voting yes and Commissioner Garria Spencer voting no.
    This repeated request from the Water Authority has been pursued since the Commission increased the Authority members from three to five in 2024, so each district in the county could be represented. According to Commission Chairperson Spencer, the Water Authority’s request had not been considered by the commission, since no appointed county boards receive stipends. Spencer also noted that stipends cannot be paid from Federal Grants, only from the operating account which is funded by water fees from customers. “It is likely that water bills will be raised due to the cost of these stipends,” Spencer said.
    Vincent Atkins, the Water Authority’s Manager/Operator stated that in 2019 the Water Authority received a $400,000 grant from USDA to construct an office with a storm shelter and for major upgrades to the water system. Atkins explained that due in part to delays with the original contractor, the USDA grant was extended and following legal actions, the Water Authority received a settlement from that contractor.
    According to Atkins, the current contractor has raised the cost of the project by approximately $130,000 due to delays from the Water Authority. “If the Water Authority had processed the contracts and related necessary documents in a timely manner, we would have avoided this increase in cost,” Atkins stated.
    Atkins noted that along with having to pay stipends to members, the Water Authority
    must budget for a monthly debt service of $3,300 on a $900,000 outstanding bank loan related to this project; satisfy an annual $86,000 reserve for maintenance and replacements; create another reserve which must reach $42,000.
    The current members of the Greene County Water Authority are: Chairperson William Morgan, appointed in 2022; Walter Beck appointed in 2021; Andre Woods, Don Woods and Barry Walker appointed in 2024.
    CFO Macaroy has submitted his resignation as Chief Financial Officer for the county, effective May 31, 2025. Underwood noted that he is nearing retirement and will assist the county with this transition.
    “Greene County is my home and it has been an honor to serve my home community as Greene County, Alabama CFO since 2020. I worked most of my professional career in Birmingham, Alabama; but, it’s truly been a pleasure to work for the Greene County Commission for four years. The county is in better financial condition than when I started and I’m a better person after working for Greene County,” said Mac Underwood. Underwood’s resignation was approved.
    The commission approved a request from Iron Wolk LLC to continue consulting with county attorney Mark Parnell relative to securing use of the former Greenetrack property. No additional information was provided on the company’s plan for the property.
    In other business, the commission acted on the following:
    Approved the finance report and payment of bells.
    Approved MSB for bridge on County Road 20 at cost of $883,349, to be paid from Rebuild Alabama Fund.
    Approved travel for Assistant Engineer.
    Approved contract with Cooks Pest Control for the Eutaw Activity Center.
    Authorized Engineer’s office to apply for $400,000 Alabama Forestry (reimbursement) Grant to upgrade roads traveled by heavy trucks.
    CFO Underwood presented the following financial report for February 2025 – claims paid from general fund. Accounts payable totaled $242,993.24; payroll transfer totaled $289,620.36; fiduciary totaled $63,703.78; electronic claims paid totaled $74,089.09. Citizen Trust Bank unrestricted funds totaled $2,149,021.55; restricted funds totaled $5,319,334.98. Merchants & Farmers Bank unrestricted funds totaled $1,354,645.08; restricted funds totaled $2,537,746.71. CD’s and investments totaled $1,898,597.43.

  • Greene County Commission approves
    99-year lease of Greenetrack lagoon

    At a special called meeting on Monday January 23, 2023, the Greene County Commission approved a 99-year lease agreement with the Greene County Water and Sewer Authority, for the Greenetrack lagoon, which is jointly owned by the Commission and Greenetrack.

    The Greene County Water and Sewer Authority has received a $1.3 million grant from ADEM to repair and refurbish the lagoon with an adjoining wetland to absorb the excess water generated by the lagoon. The grant conditions require that the Sewer Authority have long term ownership or control of the land to receive the infrastructure grant funding.

    This required the Commission and Greenetrack, as owners of the lagoon to grant the Authority a 99-year lease to control and operate the lagoon and adjoining land.

    Vincent Atkins, Director of the Greene County Water and Sewer Authority and Josh Bonner, engineer for the project from Sentell Engineering in Tuscaloosa, were available to answer questions from the Commission on the lease agreement. Mark Parnell, Commission Legal Counsel, attending by phone, indicated that he had reviewed the agreement and that any changes to it would be minor, in the final negotiations with ADEM. He informed the Commission that a 99-year lease was comparable to a deed, in terms of ownership for a long period of time.

    The four commissioners present at the meeting approved the agreement as presented.

    At the end of the meeting, Atkins stated in answer to this reporter’s questions, that “The Greenetrack lagoon currently serves 19 business and residential customers, along the corridor between Highway 11 and the Interstate 20 and 59, including Greenetrack itself. The refurbished lagoon will serve those 19 customers and any others that develop along the corridor.”

    The engineer pointed out that any extensions of the sewage system would require additional grant or internal funding.