By Marla Jones, Reporter • marla@southerntorch.com

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — (Full Video Below) The DeKalb County Commission held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 10.

DeKalb County Road Department Superintendent Tom Broyles said that the weather was cooperating and work was running smoothly throughout the County. He reported that the approach work on County Road 212 had been completed and the slab had been poured on the new building in District 1.

Engineering Supervisor Ben Luther presented the Commission with his recommendation to award the bid for County Road 20 & 843 to Reed Contracting in the amount of $790,832.74. This will be an 80-20 split with the state with the $675,360 allotted by the state, they will be under budget for this project.

The Commission also approved a resolution to reduce the speed limit of County Road 6 beginning at Highway 68 to the Etowah county line, to 20 miles per hour.

Personnel changes were presented to the Commission from the following:

• Revenue Commissioner Tyler Wilks announced the retirement of Renee Connell at the end of September, her last day was Friday, July 6
• DeKalb DHR (Department of Human Resources) announced the resignation of Laura Kirby Patterson from their Board

County Administrator Matt Sharp presented the Garbage Exception list for the County. This is an annual recommendation.

Commission President Ricky Harcrow announced that Beeson-Scott Cemetery in Fort Payne had been added to the Historical Commission registry. DeKalb County now has 53 cemetery recognized by the Alabama Historical Commission, and there are 798 statewide.

The Back to School Sales Tax Holiday will begin on July 20, 2018 due to schools starting back earlier this year.

“We believe that education is the key,” said Harcrow. “Whatever we can do to assist our citizens and the students in our schools, we’re thankful to do that.”

“Not every county in the state, if I’m correct, is able to do this,” continued Harcrow. “Our county is as financially sound as any county in the state of Alabama, and it’s because of the gentlemen that sit around this table.”

The next meeting of the DeKalb County Commission will be held at 10am on Tuesday, July 24, 2018.