Houston County schedules ARPA LATCF allocations, bike-trail property report and software budget changes

The Houston County Commission on Tuesday placed a slate of routine but consequential items on its formal meeting agenda, including use of American Rescue Plan Act local assistance and tribal consistency funds (LATCF) for emergency communications equipment, a $40,000 LATCF allocation to the town of Gordon, reappointments to a regional Industrial Development Authority (IDA), a report of real-property acquisition for a planned bike trail, and two small budget amendments tied to software and vehicle repairs.

The actions set up decisions that affect county emergency communications, a multi-year bike-trail project and the county’s ongoing software modernization. The commission conducted the work during its administrative meeting and used a “no objection” approach to move items onto the Monday agenda for formal consideration.

Chairman, Houston County Commission, opened the meeting with announcements about federal funding and county borrowing. “It looks like the the earmark that we have for the radio tower project is probably not gonna be funded, unfortunately,” he said, adding that a continuing resolution in Congress could block some congressionally designated spending. The chairman also warned that a proposal to remove the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds could raise borrowing costs for the county’s planned jail expansion: “We're looking at borrowing anywhere from $25,000,000 to $50,000,000,” he said, and said loss of tax-exempt status would reduce investor demand and raise interest rates.

On economic development, the commission agreed to place a reappointment slate for the Industrial Development Authority that now covers Houston, Henry, Geneva and Dale counties. County counsel Chris explained the IDA has expanded membership as neighboring counties joined and that seven member terms had cycled together; the names submitted for reappointment were Bob Woodall, Bobby Hughes, David Parsons, Harrison Morse, James Pouncey, Lori Wilcox and Vilma Tribune. There was no objection to placing that reappointment slate on the agenda.

The commission also agreed to place a resolution on the agenda to amend the articles of incorporation for the Dothan-Houston County Intellectual Disabilities Board, which a longtime board member said is commonly known to residents as Von Bloomberg Services. “You probably don't know this as the intellectual disabilities board. You probably know it as Von Bloomberg Services,” said Allen Livingston, a board member, explaining the change is needed so the board can serve people outside Houston County following changes from the Alabama Department of Mental Health. Livingston said the city has already approved the change and the department has signed off, and the county’s action would align the board’s articles to the new service area.

On ARPA funds, County staff member Colbert presented two LATCF items. Colbert said one request would purchase a specialized battery-backup system for the county’s IT server to reduce a single point of failure in emergency communications and to power outlets, phones and servers during short outages; he emphasized the system would not run building air conditioning or elevators. “It won't run the AC. It won't run the elevators, but it will have a power to the outlets and it will have, power to the phones, as well as the IT server,” Colbert said. The commission placed that item on the agenda for formal action.

Colbert also asked the commission to place on the agenda a $40,000 LATCF award for the town of Gordon to buy a storage building and make park improvements. The chairman said the county has previously struggled to find funding vehicles that suited Gordon’s needs but that this allocation would address immediate needs at the senior center and local parks.

The commission accepted a staff report prepared under Alabama Code 9-15-100 documenting the county’s purchase of property needed for a planned multi-phase bike trail between ACOM and the town identified in the packet as Cowhertz. County staff said the acquisition is phase 1 of a multi-year effort originally begun in 2021. The report, which the commission voted to put on the Monday agenda, documents appraisals, purchase amounts and required public notice for property acquisitions tied to the trail; staff noted every parcel was purchased at or above market value so federal grant funding will remain eligible.

On technology and personnel systems, the commission placed a $6,050 budget amendment request on the agenda to purchase the SmartFusion personnel module and related data-mapping services to migrate personnel records from the county’s legacy system. “We realized that there were some pieces that are necessary that weren't in the original agreement,” said Mister Coder, who presented the item, saying part of the cost covers data cleanup so historical personnel records map correctly to the new system. Staff also discussed integration with TimeClock Plus and continued access to archived documents via RVI.

Finally, the commission placed on the agenda an $8,692.70 budget amendment to record insurance-reimbursable automobile repairs. The chair closed the administrative meeting after no members objected to placing any of these items on the Monday agenda.

The items moved forward for formal consideration and votes at the commission’s next published meeting; the administrative meeting did not record final approvals beyond consensus to place items on the agenda.