By Sherri Blevins
FORT PAYNE – On September 12, 2023, the DeKalb County Commission met. They will have a second meeting in September on September 26 to approve the 2023-2024 budget.
Road Superintendent Tom Broyles said that about 75% of the scheduled paving for the County has been completed, and the remainder is underway. Broyles and Commissioner Wootten praised the work of the herbicide contractor, who has just completed his second round of spraying, stating that this contractor had been very successful. Broyles also reported that the work buildings for Districts 1 and 3 have been erected, and they are waiting for the doors to complete the building. The building for District 4 is next on the list. Broyles said adding the buildings in each District will greatly help the workers and give the department a place to store equipment.
Broyles requested the Commission approve hiring Jordan Moore for District 1, which was approved.
The Commission also said yes to the following requests:
• Donohoo’s bid of $37,922.26 for one or more Chevy Tahoe police pursuit vehicles and $16,937.50 for light kits for the vehicles
• Donohoo’s bid of $48,514.50 for a Road Department truck and its bid of $55,874.50 for a second truck
• Annual bid awards
• Changing the speed of CR-590 to 30 mph
• Forwarding the damage claim of Michael Todd Phillips for two tires to the insurance carrier
• Accepting the resignations of Nick Brown, Josh Hairston, Seth Butler, and Beau Cagle from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department
• Transferring Will Formby and Steven Berry to investigations at the Sheriff’s Department
• Transferring Joey Priest from part-time to full-time investigations at the Sheriff’s Department
• Hiring Nick Hester, Logan Kenimer, and Shylen Jacobs as patrol officers
• Hiring Autumn Ballinger, Ethan Pike, Jerry Carter II, and Charles Cleaver as jail employees and Cera Whitmire as a medical jail employee
• Signing the 911/Sheriff Dispatch Agreement to move and consolidate the Sheriff Department’s dispatcher to the 911 center to improve emergency response time and lessen miscommunication of information (November 1 start date)
• $200,000 from ARPA funds for the Valley Head Water Project – Tank Restoration
• $147,600 from ARPA funds for the generator bid at the Activities Building
• TARCOG contracts for the Council on Aging(COA), SeniorRx, and SHIP (The SeniorRx program has saved seniors over $3 million over the past twenty-two years)
Diana Goss, MBA, EDP, and Director of the Entrepreneurial Center, updated the Commission on the progress of the ECenter in Rainsville. She thanked the Commission for all its assistance.