Road department employee Alan Ray tells commission he is resigning, cites staffing and classification problems

Alan Ray, a county road department employee, told the Chilton County Commission during public comments that he has submitted his notice and that this coming Friday will be his last day with the county. Ray said he wanted to thank the commissioners and colleagues but warned that county road crews will continue to lose people if certain conditions do not change.

Ray said his departure was not solely about pay and described feeling constrained by job classification and staffing: "The classification of that man down there is a is operator 2, and that's wrong. That man's got a lot of responsibility... he has no way to advance up to an operator 3 to get better pay" because there is no relief or additional personnel to allow the operator to step away. Ray described operational responsibilities tied to pit management — sediment/pond drainage, acreage limits, and compliance write-ups — and said he frequently performed heavy workloads alone, estimating he had "loaded 40 trucks out of that pit by myself" on recent days.

Ray praised coworkers who trained and supported him by name, saying, "Kevin and Ben Jones, them's 2 of the most knowledgeable folks you got in the county right now." He said he was not trying to "throw nobody under the bus" but wanted commissioners to know that without changes the county would continue to lose staff.

Commissioners thanked Ray for his service. The comment session contained no formal motion or action; Ray's remarks were recorded under public comments and were not followed by immediate policy action at the meeting.