April 10, 2018 – When Jefferson County commissioners announced they were presenting $69 million to public schools in the county with the reallocation of the 1-cent sales tax, they said another check was coming. Tuesday, commissioners announced that subsequent check is on the way, and they will be distributing another $13,221,000 to schools. Read more.
Jefferson County is moving back into the demolition business. Commissioners moved the matter of demolishing a structure at 526 Butler Avenue in the Bessemer area to the consent agenda of Thursday’s commission meeting. “It’s something we haven’t had in our toolshed, our repertoire to work with,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. “When we have a dilapidated home that becomes a public nuisance, whether it’s been abandoned by a storm, tornado or whether it’s been abandoned for lack of use, we need to have the tools – and now we do – to go in and demolish that home and clean it up for the neighborhood. “It’s long overdue,” Stephens said. “We want to put funds in the budget next year so we can do that in a meaningful way.” Read more.
March 20, 2018 — Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington said Tuesday that continuing to do business with a city that hasn’t paid its bill to the county is not good business. “It might be good politics but it’s not good business,” Carrington said. He was referring to Fultondale, which he said had not paid more than $15 million owed to the county. Carrington made his point as commissioners in their Tuesday committee meeting discussed a through road agreement with Fultondale. He said Jefferson County participated with Fultondale on an economic development project in the city. “We were supposed to be paid out of revenues from the development, and the city of Fultondale still owes the county north of $15 million and hasn’t paid anything since 2016,” Carrington said. Read more.
Jimmie Stephens said he had had enough. The president of the Jefferson County Commission made it clear during a meeting Tuesday that he was tired of facing Concord residents with unfulfilled assurances that they would get the storm shelter for which they have waited seven years. “They lost family members, they lost homes and they’ve waited seven years to get this done and it hasn’t been done yet,” Stephens said in the commission’s committee meeting. “When you live in the Concord community, when you live in the Oak Grove community and you’re looking for a safe place to get out of a storm, it’s not if you’re going to have one it’s when you’re going to have another. It’s hit every time.” Read more.
March 6,2018 – The Greater Birmingham Humane Society is looking for another place for its new home after Jefferson County commissioners acknowledged that another entity is interested in developing the old Trinity Steel property in North Titusville. Commissioner David Carrington said during the commission’s committee meeting Tuesday that the Trinity Advisory Committee met and approved the property being used for economic development. Subsequently, the Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority met and rescinded the zoning authorization to the city of Birmingham. Read more.
Alexa Likis-James conjured images of a child’s innocent sense of security as she spoke last week to members of the Jefferson County Commission. Explaining Blanket Fort Hope, the organization she co-founded that aims to provide a fortress of safety for child victims of human trafficking, Likis-James told the commission there is no housing in Alabama for child trafficking victims, specifically for the ages of 11 to 14 years. She asked the commission for help finding and paying for a crisis home. Read more.
Birmingham Water Works has agreed to collect Jefferson County sewer fees, which could conclude discussions that have lasted nearly a year. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens described the Cooper Green Mercy Health Services as “ever evolving but always moving for the better,” after Thursday’s County Commission meeting. “What we want to do is we want to have a best practices health care (system) for our citizens,” Stephens said. “That’s our intention and that’s our goal.” Commissioners moved forward with a plan to extend the hub-and-spoke model of county health care by adding partners to the network that would be providing care out in the communities. Read more.
Jefferson County is moving in the right direction in the area of road repairs but it’ll be a while before the county reaches its desired destination. “The commission has worked real hard to get us funding,” said Cal Markert, director of the county's Roads and Transportation Department. “I think with the county manager we’ve got a great team and I’m really excited about where we’re going. It’s not going to happen in a day or a year. It’ll take several years, but I think we’ve got a good plan and a good target to move to.” Markert presented the fiscal year 2018 highway management plan for Jefferson County to commissioners during their meeting Thursday morning. Read more.
Feb. 6, 2018 – Jefferson County commissioners heard a presentation about a proposed primary care expansion agreement for Cooper Green Mercy Health Services during their committee meeting Tuesday. After lengthy discussion, commissioners moved three related items to the agenda for Thursday’s commission meeting. The discussion included concern among commissioners that more of the most needy in the county could be pushed out. “If I can cut at the top, it’ll allow me to expand at the bottom,” Commissioner David Carrington said. “I’m concerned that we are servicing families with higher income and that prevents us from serving families with lower incomes.” The primary care expansion agreement is based on a hub and spoke model with Cooper Green serving as the hub and its partners serving as the spokes. Read more.
