Chilton County renews county engineer's contract 4–2 after heated debate over workplace morale

The Chilton County Commission voted 4–2 to renew the contract of the county engineer after a more than two‑hour discussion about employee morale and management style.

Commissioner Hedley moved to renew the engineer's contract and to authorize the chairman to sign. Hedley told the commission he had conducted an anonymous poll of road department employees and said, "The vote came back 25 no confidence, one confidence, seven didn't vote," arguing the results showed a toxic work environment that merited reconsideration of re‑hiring the engineer.

Other commissioners defended the engineer's performance and cited improvements since the last evaluation. Commissioner Williams said he had seen changes and urged the commission to support the engineer, saying the roads "are in better shape than I've been in in 20 years." Several commissioners emphasized that the evaluation process has been revised and that no formal grievances had been filed with human resources.

Commissioners also discussed contract terms, noting a buyout clause in the draft of roughly $15,000; one commissioner raised the clause to clarify that a three‑year contract would not necessarily prevent termination if problems persisted.

At the close of debate, the commission voted to renew the contract. Commissioners Childris, Hall, Hedley and Perkins voted in favor; Commissioners Bone and Williams opposed. Commissioner Billingsley was absent. The renewal authorizes the chairman to sign the engineer's contract and includes the buyout provision discussed during the meeting.

The commission did not announce additional personnel actions at the meeting; members said they would monitor performance and could revisit the matter if concerns persisted.