Jefferson County officials Tuesday took care to make sure all of the Cares Act money in their charge gets spent before the Dec. 30 deadline. The County Commission prepared to reallocate money entities couldn’t spend. Read more.
Thursday was show and tell day at the Jefferson County Courthouse as the County Commission displayed life-saving devices it was able to provide to area fire departments with Cares Act funds. Read more.
The Jefferson County Commission is expected Thursday to amend its disbursement of Cares Act funds to include mortgage assistance for residents adversely affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic. At their last meeting, commissioners approved federal funds for use in helping residents with COVID-related expenses related to rent and utilities. “We’d like to amend that moving forward to include mortgage assistance also,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said Tuesday. “This truly expands the scope of help to include all of our citizens. It is much needed and necessary. I think this is something that will extend the reach of our COVID funds and allow us to help many, many more people.” Read more.
Tuesday’s committee meeting of the Jefferson County Commission was so fast you would have thought commissioners were trying to beat a deadline. In a sense, they were. As they have for months, commissioners continued their efforts to dole out federal funds related to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The light agenda included 18 resolutions from county manager Tony Petelos to distribute Cares Act funds to help cities, towns and entities in the county address needs of citizens that arose from COVID-19. Petelos said the items that were moved to Thursday’s meeting agenda leave just a few who have not gotten requested money. “We’ll have those next meeting,” Petelos said. Read more.
Help is on the way for remote learners who have had little to no access to Wi-Fi. Meeting in Bessemer Thursday, the Jefferson County Commission amended the Cares Act Coronavirus Relief Fund subgrant agreement with the Jefferson County Board of Education to award an additional $4,648,600 to expand broadband capacity to reach students taking classes virtually. Read more.
Rather than adding to the just approved fiscal 2021 budget, Jefferson County Commissioners said Tuesday that money called for from a recent classification survey would come from the county’s contingency fund. Chief Financial Officer Angela Dixon presented a resolution for an increase in funds related to a community development specialist position. The survey called for additional funds totaling $119,280. “We’re in a brand-new budget,” Commissioner Steve Ammons said. “Why would this survey not be done prior to us doing the budget so we don’t have a budget amendment just 45 days into the budget?” Commission President Jimmie Stephens moved to change the funding request, with the money coming from the commission’s contingency fund rather than the balance of the budget. Read more.
The courthouses in Birmingham and Bessemer will be open for in-person absentee voting the next two Saturdays, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. The move comes in response to long lines and wait times to cast absentee ballots in person in recent weeks. Jefferson County Probate Judge James Naftel said that, as of Wednesday, the county was processing more than 25,000 absentee ballots and ballot applications. That’s compared to about 10,500 absentee ballots cast in the 2016 general election. Read more.
Corrected — Help is on the way to deal with a flood of Jefferson County absentee ballots in the general election. Deputy county manager Cal Markert during a Jefferson County Commission meeting Thursday said 24 temporary workers are expected to start work in the clerk’s office by Monday. These temp workers will deal with in-person absentee voters as well as a backlog of mailed-in absentee ballots. Circuit Clerk Jacqueline Anderson-Smith told BirminghamWatch recently that 400 to 500 persons have been coming to the Birmingham Courthouse every day to cast their ballots. A similar wave of voters is descending on the Bessemer Courthouse, and lines of people wanting to vote have formed at both locations. Alabama appears on its way to having a record number of absentee ballots cast this year. More than 130,000 voters already had requested absentee ballots earlier this week. Oct. 29 is the deadline to apply for absentee ballots. Read more.
Deputy county manager Cal Markert said the strategic plan he presented to county commissioners at their committee meeting Tuesday morning is a roadmap for the county. “It also sets clear direction for the county as a whole,” Markert said after presenting the 25-page document. “It sets clear direction for each department. Each department has created their own plan that supports this master plan.” Accountability is key, he said. The strategic plan includes a system for residents and employees to grade their experiences, and it includes a system to map damage to roads, so the county can address the worst roads first. Read more.
The City of Fairfield benefited from a pair of actions approved Thursday during the Jefferson County Commission meeting. Commissioner Lashunda Scales provided the city a $29,355 community grant from her discretionary funds to help offset the cost to sustain bus route No. 5 in the city. Commissioners were unable to provide funding for Fairfield in the general fund because of budget shortfalls brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the County Commission approved a $250,000 ALDOT infrastructure grant to pave E.J. Oliver Jr. Boulevard. Read more.
