Commission places road vacation public hearing, two ALDOT resurfacing agreements and budget amendments on Monday agenda

The Houston County Commission at an administrative meeting placed several transportation and budget items on the agenda for its Monday meeting, including a resolution to authorize notice of a public hearing to consider vacating a public road known as D Clark Road, requests to enter into agreements with the Alabama Department of Transportation for two resurfacing projects using Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) funds, and multiple budget amendments for storm-debris cleanup and road-and-bridge operations.

The D Clark Road item stems from a petition by adjoining landowners and developers; the chairman said the commission will not vote Monday on vacating the road but will authorize notice for a public hearing so residents and emergency responders can comment. “We will not be voting on Monday to vacate D Clark Road. It is just, we’re beginning notice that we will have a public hearing,” the chairman said.

The commission also placed two requests to enter agreements with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) using MPO funds. The first covers a resurfacing project on County Road 203 from Haddon Road northeasterly to the bridge at Limestone Creek; acting chief engineer said the item begins the planning steps with ALDOT and that construction would likely not occur this year and could begin in early next year. The second request was described in the meeting as a resurfacing project on “Country Garden Road” running from Webb to Kinsey Road northeasterly to the Houston–Henry county line; the transcript uses that phrasing and the commission directed staff to include the item on Monday’s agenda with an accompanying resolution.

The commission approved placing a budget amendment of $275,000 on the Monday agenda to cover countywide debris cleanup tied chiefly to the Cottonwood tornado and a smaller separate event. Staff said the amount is revenue generated through the cleanup process and that the cleanup was not declared a FEMA disaster — the county’s recovery for those roads was handled under Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) processes rather than FEMA assistance.

Finally, commissioners agreed to add multiple budget amendments for the road and bridge department, which staff said are needed to close out ARPA projects and pay for paving and repairs. The items discussed included materials and supplies for road building ($475,000), contract services for paving ($140,000), repairs and maintenance to motor vehicles (amount stated in the meeting and transcribed unclearly; staff attributed the expense to a red dump truck for which insurance paid some revenue), internet/backup services (amount spoken in the meeting appears to be $16,800 for a Starlink backup but was not clearly enunciated) and copier rental (about $4,200 for two machines). The acting chief engineer said the increases reflect materials ordered and contracted paving related to ARPA projects the commission approved late in the previous fiscal year.

All items were placed on the commission’s agenda for Monday; no votes on the substance of these items were recorded at the administrative meeting.