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Commission amends contracts, raises mileage rate and approves local loan support during Jan. 13 meeting
Summary
St. Clair County commissioners approved a Milner contract amendment to add AP workflow (one-time $12,270 and $1,790 annual maintenance), rescinded a hiring freeze, raised the mileage reimbursement to 72.5 cents per mile, approved recording/streaming of work sessions, and adopted Resolutions 2026-15 and 2026-16 supporting Ashville projects.
At its Jan. 13 regular meeting, the St. Clair County Commission approved several administrative and fiscal items, including contract amendments, policy updates and two intergovernmental resolutions supporting City of Ashville projects.
The commission amended the Milner contract to add an Accounts Payable workflow for the commission office, approving a one-time fee of $12,270 and an annual maintenance fee of $1,790. The amendment was noted as an exception to the bid law because Milner's software is reportedly the only solution compatible with the county's SmartFusion accounting software.
Commissioners also voted to rescind a hiring freeze for newly created positions (originally approved Sept. 30, 2025) after a January budget review, and raised the county mileage reimbursement rate from $0.70 to $0.725 per mile effective Jan. 1, 2026, citing the county policy that bases the rate on the State of Alabama's rate.
On transparency and access, the commission approved posting notice to reschedule the Jan. 22 work session to 9:00 a.m. and approved recording and live streaming county work sessions pending the development of guidelines and county attorney review.
Administrative approvals included amending the arena/event center rental contract to require renters be at least 19 years old and to provide a copy of a driver's license (pending county attorney review), authorizing the surplus and donation of a digital scanner to the Governmental Utility Services Corporation of Moody, renewing the Phish cybersecurity training/firewall subscription for $6,784 through an OMNIA Partners cooperative contract, and approving travel requests and monthly bill payments.
The commission also adopted two resolutions at the county attorney's recommendation: Resolution 2026-15, a $150,000 loan agreement for the City of Ashville's park improvement project, and Resolution 2026-16, a $34,200 (20%) local match for Ashville's ATRIP II downtown rehabilitation project. Both resolutions were adopted by unanimous vote.
What the actions mean: the Milner amendment and software renewals address county administrative operations and cybersecurity; the mileage increase aligns county reimbursement with state policy; the loan and ATRIP match formalize county support for Ashville's local projects. Several items are contingent on county attorney review or future guidelines.
Next steps: staff and the county attorney will complete contract amendments and produce required attachments for the minutes; guidelines for live streaming and the arena contract amendment will be returned for review.
