Cullman County employees will soon have a new way to commemorate each year of their service, after the Cullman County Commission signed off at its most recent meeting on a new program to stage an annual recognition luncheon on county property.

The commission held a public hearing on June 22 that fielded no opposition to the proposal, a new development in the wake of the state legislature’s recent passing of constitutional Amendment 909 — an amendment that, among other things, afford county governments a measure of home rule in addressing personnel matters when no conflict exists with other state or local laws.

The commission has long issued annual certificates of recognition for each year an employee has worked for the county; under the new program, anyone on the county payroll will be recognized at a yearly luncheon staged with public funds as part of the county’s new Employee Recognition and Appreciation Program.

In other business at its regular meeting, the commission:

• Ratified an $814,178 non-education ad valorem tax abatement for a capital improvement project at the North Alabama Fabricating Co. (NAFCO). When finished, the expansion is expected to add 20 new local jobs at a pay rate averaging $21 per hour.
• Ratified a $20,065,500 non-education ad valorem tax abatement for a capital improvement project at the Walmart Distribution Center #6006.
• Recognized retiring employee Lavon Hudgins for 13 years of service with the county sanitation department.
• Recognized retiring employee Randall Campbell for 11 years of service with the county parks department.
• Approved a public road access plan for this year’s Rock the South music festival, contingent on the conducting of a survey ahead of the July 20-22 event to document the prior condition of all county roads covered under the plan.
• Adopted the county’s Rebuild Alabama transportation plan for fiscal year 2024.
• Appointed Rodney Whittle to replace Beth Anderson on the county Healthcare Authority Board, for a 6-year term set to expire in June of 2029.
• Approved the county’s participation, at a cost of $1,200, in a joint application for a new Bridge Investment Program grant funding
• consortium, currently made up of 33 Alabama counties pooling resources to share in the cost of consulting work for bridge replacement proposals along major county roads.
• Authorized Chairman Clemons and county Revenue Commissioner Barry Willingham to sign a vendor service agreement with American Financial Credit Services, Inc. The commission also approved the Revenue Office’s request to sign a notice of listing for unpaid local property taxes for 2022, and ratified the office’s list of insolvencies, errors, and taxes in litigation for 2022 and uncollected insolvencies and taxes in litigation for prior years.
• Changed the speed limit along a portion of County Road 319 to 15 mph.
• Surplussed 8 vehicles from the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, to be donated to the Cullman County Fire Association.
• Surplussed three items from the road department, including a road striping machine, water pump, and military vehicle, to be disposed of by any necessary means.
• Accepted 893 feet along County Road 1700 into the county road maintenance system.
• Accepted 1,045 feet along County Road 1702 into the county road maintenance system.
• Accepted 1,311 feet along County Road 1701 into the county road maintenance system.
• Authorized a resurvey of Serenity Pointe Subdivision, a major subdivision along County Road 338 originally proposed to contain 8 lots, after an adjustment in which the subdivision instead will contain 5 lots.
• Approved the submission of a grant application to replace bridges on County Roads 1763 and 1162 the Alabama Department of Environmental Management Storm Water Project.
• Approved the minutes of the commission’s May 16 regular meeting.
• The next regular commission meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 18 in the commission meeting room of the Cullman County Courthouse. A public 4 p.m. work session will precede the meeting at the same location.