Cullman County Commissioners voted to pay half of the overrunning cost of widening County Road 222, about $1.2 million, at Tuesday’s meeting.

The City of Cullman voted Dec. 17 to pay the other half of the project.

The city initiated the project almost a decade ago for the Topre America Corporation, an area auto parts manufacturer that stamps automobile parts from high tension steel sheets.

“The road was planned to be widened for industries located on the west side of I-65,” Cullman Mayor Donald Green said in the city’s Dec. 17 meeting. “At the beginning of the project we had agreed to widen the road for Topre but now there are other industries out there that need the road widened as well.”

“I don’t think we have any choice but to honor the agreement made seven or eight years ago,” Cullman County Commission Chairman Wiley Kitchens said.

Commissioners and Green met with representatives from the Alabama Department of Transportation last month and were told the state needs to have the money for the project in-hand before they can go out for bids.

Cullman Economic Development Agency Assistant Director Dale Greer said the project is on the state’s bid list for 2008 and the city should have a tentative construction date soon.

Kitchens also submitted a letter to Green confirming the county’s agreement to purchase the water lines within Industrial Park III for $32,015. The purchase will return the area back under the Cullman County Water Department’s service.

“We talked about this when we were relocating the utilities tied to Park III,” Greer said. “When we built Industrial Park III, the county was not willing to put a water line to the park. We could not put one in without permission of the county. We got that permission, but only to service NAFCO.”

Kitchens wrote the county agrees to extend service to the south side of County Road 222 for the purpose of picking up the new facility currently under construction.

All future industries which move into the park will purchase water from the county.

Other actions taken at the meeting included the following:

– Awarded a $20,574 bid to McCain Uniform for the purchase of Sheriff’s Office uniforms

– Awarded a $92,000 bid to Duraco, Inc. for the purchase of a truck mounted spray injection road repair machine

– Awarded a bid to Sharp Communication for the purchase of a DVR and cameras for the county jail

– Gave plat approval for Clearwater Shores Subdivision on County Road 365

– Tabled grant revision on the Phelan Road Project

– Authorized Chairman Kitchens to sign the fiscal year 2008 Title II aging contract

– Authorized Chairman Kitchens to sign a $7,716.10 renewal maintenance on the AS400 mainframe server

– Authorized Chairman Kitchens to sign renewal agreement with ACCA Liability Self Insurance Fund