By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County Commission convened for a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. to discuss various infrastructure and community updates around the county.

The county awarded bids for equipment related to fire and police services. Equipment was awarded to Shelby County’s EMA Department, while the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office received upgrades to tactical armor carrier vests.

County Manager Chad Scroggins spoke on the EMA Department’s upgrades.

“This is just that large list they (the EMA) do every year,” Scroggins said. “It allows Community Health Foundation funds or the fire department staff funds… to purchase all of (the services) on these lists.

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego spoke on the new tactical vests, believing that they are needed upgrades to ensure the Sheriff’s Office can perform its duties effectively.

“These (vests) are a lot nicer than the ones we used to have,” Samaniego said. “It just came time to replace them.”

The meeting then shifted to a discussion of the county’s west paving and resurfacing project.

“Last Tuesday, we opened bids for our paving project for the western half of the county,” County Engineer David Willingham said. “We received three bids (for the project).”

The conversation then shifted to a discussion of two separate proposed state bills impacting Shelby County. The first, State Bill 140, affects youth sports coaches and how they respond to concussions.

“It’s really updating an old bill regarding concussion training in youth sports,” Scroggins said.

The next bill, State Bill 110, aims to add more vehicles to the list of vehicles exempt from state weight restrictions. Willingham expressed that the county has concerns regarding the proposed bill due to its predicted effect on infrastructure in the area.

“The concerns (with the bill) are primarily the damage to our roads and bridges,” Willingham said. “Those point loads are more damaging to our roadways… (The bill) could shorten the lifespan of our roads and pavements by 25 to 30 percent.”

The meeting concluded with various remarks from county commissioners before entering into an executive session, with Commissioner Robbie Hayes commenting on a visit to a Pelham City Council meeting.

“Last week, Ward (Williams), myself and Jesslan (Wilson) visited Pelham City Council, and they recognized us for the two ambulances and bus that they were receiving (from us),” Hayes said. “They were very, very appreciative.”

Scroggins added that the commission’s help in providing rescue vehicles to communities has been extremely beneficial for the areas it has served.

“To be able to provide a service in your city with a faster response time for much less than $1,000 a month, is good money,” Scroggins said. “Any municipality in Shelby County (that desires to), the County Commission will fund their ambulances. We have offered that since day one.”

For more information on the Shelby County Commission, visit Shelbyal.com/93/County-Commission.