By Marla Jones, Reporter • marla@southerntorch.com (Photo by Marla Jones)

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — The DeKalb County Commission held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, November 27.

Emily McCamy of the Council on Aging requested the hiring of Joyce Revelitz as the Council’s activities coordinator. The Commission approved the hire.

McCamy spoke on DeKalb County’s Master’s Games participants. The Master’s Games is an Olympic-style competition for Alabama residents that are 50 and older. The games provide an opportunity for the 500-800 participants from across the state to be active and communicate with the friends they have made through the games. Some of the 27 events include a one-mile fun walk, Rook, and 3-on-3 basketball.

This year’s District games were held in Huntsville with 17 participants from DeKalb County with 14 participants making it to the state games in Valley. Overall, DeKalb County’s participants took home over 60 ribbons at the District games and 27 at the State games.

Road Department Superintendent Tom Broyles gave a brief maintenance update. He reported that the department had been working on pothole patching. The cleanup crew has been finishing up their rounds through the districts as well. Broyles also requested that the department’s open position be held open for another two weeks.

County Engineer Ben Luther asked the Commission to award the Traffic Striping bid to contractors J.C. Chi in the amount of $18,940 for County Road 78 and portions of County Roads 50 and 122.

Luther also asked that the speed limit on County Road 141 to 117 at the Jackson County line be changed to 35 miles per hour, which the Commission approved.

As part of a federal aid project, Luther requested the water line relocation and approaches for County Road 165. The Commission passed the resolution to enter into an official agreement with the State for this project.

Jonathan Langley of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office requested that the Commission hire Ury Acevedo in a part-time dispatch position to replace Christina Ferguson. The hire was approved.

County Administrator Matt Sharp brought before the Commission an agreement between the County and Coosa Valley to house juveniles, which was approved.

In his first official meeting as a Commissioner, Lester Black recommended Willie Wright as a replacement for Charles Centers who came off of the 911 Board on October 25.

The Commission reappointed Helen Watson to the Library Board. They also gladly renewed the Engineering contract with Ben Luther. The State of Alabama pays 70 percent of Luther’s salary, while the County pays the remaining 30 percent.

The DeKalb County County Commission will hold their sole meeting next month on Tuesday, December 11 at 10am in the DeKalb County Activities Building.