Elmore County Commission approves quality‑of‑life projects, three‑year cybersecurity contract and several appointments

The Elmore County Commission voted March 24 to approve a series of routine and project items, including the appointment of Rishon Blassingame to the CareStar Health Board, additional quality‑of‑life enhancements in multiple communities, a three‑year cybersecurity monitoring contract and the purchase of a police pursuit SUV.

During the business meeting, the commission approved the minutes from its March 10 meeting and then moved through a set of motions presented during the earlier work session. The memorandum of warrants for March 1–14, 2025, totaling $4,181,396.69, was approved by roll call.

On appointments, the commission voted to appoint Rishon Blassingame to the CareStar Health Board; the motion was moved, seconded and carried on a unanimous roll‑call vote. The commission also approved reappointments and routine board items listed on the Horseshoe Bend Library Board agenda.

The board approved a list of six proposed quality‑of‑life projects that staff said became feasible because of underruns on current projects. County staff described partnerships on these projects with local school systems, the City of Millbrook and the state department of conservation for a boat‑ramp expansion. "With our current projects, we've had some underruns and some projects that came in under budget," said Luke McGinty, who presented the list on behalf of county operations. The commission voted to approve the recommended enhancements.

On cybersecurity, commissioners authorized the chairman to sign a three‑year cooperative contract with OTM Cyber to provide continuous monitoring. "OTM Cyber will provide 24 hour, 7 days a week, 365 days monitoring of all of our devices," McGinty said, adding the service would help isolate a compromised device so a problem would not spread across county systems. The motion passed by unanimous roll call.

The county also approved awarding bid inquiry 2025‑16 for a full‑size SUV police pursuit vehicle to the lowest responsible bidder after staff said the sheriff had requested a specific vehicle for fleet rotation. McGinty told commissioners the bid met specifications and was lower than expected.

The consent docket — which included a series of personnel notifications (resignations, hires and a promotion: Bethany Elliott to EMA deputy director effective 03/23/2025) — was approved; commissioners elected to forego an additional reading of those items.

The commission closed the meeting with brief reports: operations staff outlined County Government Day on April 10 and a federal‑aid resurfacing project on Lightwood Road, and commissioners noted the county spring cleanup event and an update that Deputy Amerson, who was shot the prior week, is recovering at home.

The meeting adjourned after unanimous approval of an adjournment motion.

Votes at a glance: all motions referenced above passed on unanimous roll‑call votes by the full commission.