Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

The Morgan County Courthouse is an unforgiving giant when it comes to sweeping and moping its floors, dusting its furniture, cleaning and sanitizing its bathrooms and emptying its trash.

Apparently, Dakota Management Services Inc. didn’t fully grasp the scope of the work involved when its management submitted a low bid of $8,675.56 monthly to take on the job last October.

“They didn’t have the manpower needed to do the work the way it should be done,” Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long informed commission members at their regular meeting Tues., Jan 12.

With that, he asked for and received their approval to terminate the three-month-old contract, with a $6,500 settlement for work the company did in January, and return to using county employees to do the work.

To expedite the change, the commission approved the position of custodial lead person and authorized the chairman to hire five temporary employees as custodial workers. The temporary workers will be supervised by Wayne Lindley.

“When we decided to contract with a private company to clean the courthouse, we felt it was a way to save the county some money,” Long said.” Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case. The courthouse is a big building and it takes a lot of manpower to keep it clean and well maintained. We can do that with five temporary employees for the same amount of money we were paying the contractor.”

The commission acted on other matters as follows:

• Approved the bid from The Decatur Daily for 2016 Morgan County Poll List publication at $1.18 per column inch.

• Adopted a resolution that the Morgan County Commission supports the amendment of Act Number 93-607 relating to the compensation of the Board of Registrars.

• Authorized  Debra Gardner, director of MCATS/Commission on Aging, to fill the position of part-time driver, $8.34 per hour, no benefits.

• Authorized the funding and payment from the Reappraisal Budget in the amount of $340.89 as allowed by law, per Title 40-1-46, Code of Alabama, 1975 for the Professional Achievement Award for the eligible recipients: Linda Barnette, Mark Kisner, Heather Weeks, Chad Baswell, Amanda Scott, Josh Rains and Renee Fields

• Authorized Debra Gardner, director of MCATS/Commission on Aging, to fill the position of full-time driver, Grade 2 ($10.17 – $13.27).

• Authorized the chairman to execute the following contract representing the promotion of Morgan County, which will be payable out of the Tourism, Recreation & Convention Fund as follows: Hartselle High School (Softball Program) —– $140

• Authorized David Hannah, director of Data Processing, to purchase from Teklinks, under the North Alabama Purchasing Cooperative, replacement Cisco core switch in the amount of $106,421.60.

• Approved excess proceeds claim arising from Revenue Commissioner’s Tax Sale for the following: Baxter Properties, L.P, Parcel No. 02-05-16-0-000-002.004,  $2,433.91, Parcel No. 02-05-16-0-000-002.005,  $1,043.25; Sarah Teresa Scribben, Parcel No. 09-08-34-0-002.030.011, $1,322.37

• Approved disbursements for December 2015, totaling $8,150,105.36

• Authorized the refund of sales tax for the following, due to overpayment: Martin, Inc. , $21,661.62

• Authorized Mark Palmer, director of Animal Control Services, to declare (1) 2002 Ford F150 XL as surplus and to sell on GovDeals.com with proceeds to be returned to the appropriate department.

• Authorized Greg Cain, Judge of Probate, to hire a temporary employee for approximately 24 – 36 months for Historical Scanning Project, to be paid out of Probate Special Funds.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $975 from Katy Bryan, Bryan Benefits Group, representing Human Resource consulting services for Morgan County.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $185 from the International Association of Emergency Managers representing 2016 membership dues for Eddie Hicks, director of EMA.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $100 from North Alabama Mutual Assistance Association representing annual membership dues for EMA/TVA, effective Jan. 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2016.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $393.75 from North Alabama Reporting Service, LLC representing professional services for Morgan County.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $17,549.36 from Godwin Barnett Woods Architects representing professional services for new jail.

• Approved invoices totaling $626 from Meadowbrook Insurance representing automobile insurance coverage for Morgan County departments.

• Approved invoices totaling $10,493.01 from Tyler Technologies representing implementation services on new software for Morgan County, budgeted item.

• Approved certificate to subdivide properties located within Morgan County for the following: Mitchell Wayne and Daphne R. Roberts, Tanner Road, District 3; Ginger Sharon Turney Hume and David M. Hume, Key Turney Road, District 3

• Approved acceptance of right-of-way for Holcomb Road – located in Section 29, Township 8 South, Range 1 West, District 3.

• Authorizd Jeff Clark, District 1 Commissioner, to bid one 24 foot-hauler trailer.

• Approved reimbursement in the amount of $75 to Julie Reeves, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, representing Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy certificate renewal.

• Approved invoices totaling $10,793.50 from TTL, Inc. representing professional services performed on Morgan County Jail Annex.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $75 from National Association of Public Information Officers representing annual membership dues for Sheryl Marsh, Community Relations Director.

• Approved invoice in the amount of $222 from Traveler’s Insurance representing deductible on the following claim numbers: EYB9112-Wilhite, $55.50; EUW5366-Queen, $166.50