Jimmie Stephens said you would be wise to pack a lunch if you’re driving to Smith Camp on the Warrior River. And maybe take dinner.

“It’s past Oak Grove,” the Jefferson County Commission president said with a chuckle. “You pass Oak Grove, go down Alliance (Road) and it’s on the left down there.

“I call it the far reaches of Jefferson County,” Stephens continued. “It’s our responsibility as a county commission to take care of all of our citizens. We intend to do that whether you live in Southside or whether you live in Smith Camp on the Warrior River. We’re gonna do our best to service their needs.”

At the moment, the service Smith Camp needs is clean up of debris from a recent destructive storm. The commission in its meeting Thursday at the Bessemer Justice Center agreed to have county crews go out to Smith Camp to pick up the debris.

“They had a small tornado that actually went through there and they’ve counted up to now 46 trees that were down,” Stephens said. “The little local grocery store that’s been there, the little market that’s been there forever, was destroyed. Two trees fell on it. It’s going to have to be demolished and brought up to the road.

“It’s just where one of the spin-up tornadoes dropped down and stayed a little bit and then went back up,” the commissioner said. “Unfortunately, it got a populated area down here. There were no injuries, just a great deal of damage. These folks will do like they normally do and take care of themselves and get the debris to the road. The county will pick it up and take care of it from that point.”

Commissioners also passed 43 resolutions that were vetted during their committee meeting on Tuesday.

Among those actions were the payment of $4 million to the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau and $6 million to the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority, each from American Rescue Plan Act funds. That money helped each deal with shortfalls brought about by the pandemic.