Pubdate: Thu, 15 Aug 2002
Source: Eufaula Tribune, The (AL)
Copyright: Eufaula Tribune 2002
Contact:  http://www.eufaulatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1921
Author: Susan Walworth

BARBOUR COUNTY SINKS FURTHER INTO RED

Barbour County is sinking further in the red after the Barbour County 
Commission approved a resolution Monday night to relieve cash-flow problems 
by borrowing more money. The county will borrow $300,000 to pay bills and 
make payroll for the remainder of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The 
money, which will be borrowed from the bank within Barbour County bidding 
the lowest interest rate, will be secured by property taxes (ad valorem 
taxes) collected Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2002.

Commissioners say The Better Barbour County Amendment, if passed Aug. 27, 
would offer a more permanent solution to the county's financial woes. All 
three options on the ballot would give the county commission another 12 
mills of property tax revenue.

Each mill of property tax added in Barbour County would generate $132,000 
in tax revenue, so the total increase would give the commission an 
additional $1.5 million per year. The commission also approved allowing 
Deputy Larry Hubbard, Barbour/Bullock Drug Task Force officer, to join the 
Drug Enforcement Agency, a federal agency. Deputy Hubbard will still be 
employed by the Barbour County Sheriff, but his affiliation with the DEA 
will enable him to follow drug cases that originate in Barbour County out 
of the county and the state.

Sheriff Marshall Williams Jr. said the affiliation will also expedite 
prosecution of drug offenders and allow property connected to the arrests 
to be seized immediately.

Property seized in connection with drug arrests will follow the officer, 
even if the arrest is made outside Barbour County. With the DEA 
affiliation, Barbour County will receive 70 percent of any money or 
property seized. The county has already seized about $40,000 in money and 
property this year.

Several commissioners voiced their concern that this would take a deputy 
out of service, but Commissioner Jimmy Jones said he is not used as a 
deputy now, but only as a Drug Task Force agent. Commissioner Henry 
Franklin opposed the action and Commissioner Kenneth Earl Ivey abstained.

Road complaints

While the commission highway committee reported that Taylor Road, Stovall 
Road, Rocky Mount Church Road, and Kennedy Road will be ready to pave in 
the next two to three weeks, several residents of Jones Circle Road 
expressed concerns that their road was not being paved. Commission Chairman 
Frank Straughn said all the roads could not be paved at once, and they had 
to start somewhere.

Ruby Jones, who lives on Jones Circle Road, said the mail carrier cannot 
get to her house because the roads are so bad. She said she had to get a 
post office box in town to receive mail. The highway committee also 
reported that construction on Frost Marlow Road should begin in October, 
and the Frost Marlow Road Bridge in November. The Old Batesville Road will 
be finished in two to three weeks and opened to local traffic only until 
the approach guard rail is erected.

The commission passed a resolution to authorize Straughn to sign an 
agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to replace the 
bridge over Cowikee Creek on County Road 89.

The commission tabled a motion to sell a 100-foot piece of land located at 
the Barbour County Farm Center for improvements to the Clayton Airport. 
"They need to know something," Commissioner Berry Forte said.

"In the long run we might need that land," Commissioner Kenneth Earl Ivey 
said. The building committee said they would meet to discuss the issue and 
make a recommendation at the next meeting.

Building committee chairman Earl Gilmore recommended the county no longer 
purchase supplies to clean the Barbour County Farm Center due to lack of funds.

In other business, the commission:

* Approved payment of $750 to Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, LLC, to 
upgrade Barbour County's drug testing policy due to regulation changes from 
the Department of Transportation.

* Approved the purchase of one CT-250 Motorola Radio for the Emergency 
Management Agency director in the amount of $425.

* Denied Henry Simpson's claim for damages to his vehicle, which he claimed 
was caused by a piece of metal flung from a shredder.

* Agreed to obtain two quotes to repair the Mack Truck that was wrecked.

* Heard a report from the county engineer that the mowing crew, which has 
been making a single cut on each side of the road during the second round 
of mowing due to a shortage of personnel, will be making a full width cut 
during the final round.

* Appointed Henry Franklin to the Head Start board.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens