Jefferson County Commission

No Improprieties in Possible Switch of Jeffco Auditor, Former CFO Says

None of the improprieties suggested in Wednesday’s Jefferson County Commission took place, former Jefferson County Chief Financial Officer John Henry told Birmingham Watch today. Henry said County Manager Tony Petelos and Commission Finance Chairman Joe Knight knew of his advice concerning a possible switch from Warren Averett to Banks Finley as the county’s primary auditor. Commissioners had a sometimes-heated discussion Wednesday about a resolution to extend for three years the county’s contract with Warrant Averett, a white-owned accounting firm. The discussion included the suggestion that a deal had been brokered to change to the Black-owned firm Banks Finley. Commissioner Lashunda Scales said during the meeting that extending the contract to the white-owned firm was a throwback to the days when the county did not consider racial and gender diversity in its hiring practices. Commissioners ultimately passed a substitute motion by Scales to reduce the extension to one year, at which point a change could be considered. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Accounting Contract Leads to Squabble on the Jefferson County Commission

A contentious meeting of the Jefferson County Commission led to verbal sparring in the commission chamber after the meeting ended. Commission President Jimmie Stephens and President Pro Tem Lashunda Scales lingered on the dais Wednesday as most who had been in the session exited. Stephens said he felt he was being disrespected as Scales discussed a proposed extension of the county’s contract with an accounting firm to perform annual audits. At one point, Stephens said Scales implied that he was being racist in performing his duties as a commissioner. “I’m going to administer government in this county like it’s colorblind,” Stephens said as he left the chamber. Replied Scales: “I know dead presidents are colorblind,” referring to money. A resolution seeking a three-year extension of the county’s contract with Warren, Averett, Kimbrough, and Marino, LLC was pulled from the consent agenda for separate consideration. Commissioner Sheila Tyson repeated the concern she expressed during Tuesday’s committee meeting that Warren Averett lacked the diversity that the county should display as it seeks to escape the cloud of a decades-old consent decree for past hiring practices. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Political Suicide: Jefferson County Commission President Opposes Extending Trash Contract

Commission President Jimmie Stephens said he would be committing political suicide if he agreed to extend the contract of Advanced Disposal, the company that provides single-family residential garbage and trash services in unincorporated Jefferson County. David Denard, the director of Environmental Services, presented the Jefferson County Commission with a resolution to renew the county’s contract with Advanced Disposal until April 2021 to give the county enough time to lock in another vendor. Stephens said he gets complaints three times a week about Advanced. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Jeffco Commission Delays Decision on Rocky Ridge Development

A request to rezone parcels in the Rocky Ridge area for a 25-unit condominium and a 10-lot single-family residential subdivision was delayed Thursday for two weeks for the developer and residents to settle on a possible revision. The Jefferson County Commission met for 2½ hours, with two hours spent on the requested rezoning. Overton Investments LLC asked to rezone property at 2468 and 2466 Rocky Ridge Road. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Gives Tax Breaks for UAB-Area Student Apartment Project, Commission Expected to Follow Suit

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve economic incentives for a new student housing development near the UAB campus, and Jefferson County commissioners indicated they would do the same Thursday. The seven-story development, which is expected to house up to 400 residents, will be built atop a brownfield site bordered by 13th and 14th Streets South and Fourth and Fifth Avenues South. Read more.

by Sam Prickett and Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Scales Alleges She’s Left Out of Development Planning Despite Being Vice Chair of the Committee

Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales said she’s been left in the dark concerning development projects despite being vice chairwoman of the development committee. She knew nothing about a plan that came up before commissioners Tuesday to build more apartments near UAB. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Skip the Politics, Wear a Mask, Jefferson County Commissioner Knight Says

Before Tuesday’s Jefferson County Commission committee meeting, Joe Knight asked fellow commissioner Steve Ammons how he felt. When Ammons, who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, said he felt fine, Knight quipped, “You don’t look very good.” Today, as Ammons again watched the commission meeting in Bessemer online from home, Knight appealed to everyone to wear a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Preparations Begin for FedEx Ground Distribution Facility on Lakeshore Parkway

A plan to build a FedEx Ground distribution facility on Lakeshore Parkway was unveiled at the Jefferson County Commission committee meeting Tuesday. The plan, previously known as Project Fish, is for an approximately 290,000-square-foot distribution facility that will be constructed on a 46.01-acre site off Lakeshore Parkway. Bradley attorney Trey Hill said that about 70% of the site is in the corporate limits of the city of Birmingham and 30% in the city of Bessemer. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Underground Fire Continues to Burn in Forestdale, Forces Residents Out of Their Homes

A fire burning underground in the Forestdale area for six weeks is sending noxious smoke into the neighborhood and forcing people to leave their homes. Jefferson County is sending in employees to assess the fire, which is on property that once was a private, legal dump, and help determine a solution to put it out. The fire at 532 Timber Ridge Drive started on May 30 and has covered the surrounding area with smoke, forcing people near the fire to seek living arrangements away from their homes. Read more.

by Jackson Sharman

Jefferson County Will Take on Improvements for Medical West Development

The Jefferson County Commission took a step toward supporting Medical West hospital’s making its new home in McCalla with the rezoning of four parcels bordering Interstate 459. Today’s action rezones the property from A-1 agricultural to institutional-2. Medical West is an affiliate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System. The rezoning came with repeated reference to the hospital having to remain in unincorporated Jefferson County. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.