Commission approves road vacation, more
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
During its March meeting the County Commission held a hearing for vacating an unnamed public road, with attorney Nancy Kirby and resident Karen Harmon taking part in the hearing.
During the hearing, Kirby reviewed the petition, deed and other pertinent information, as well as the survey of the property and the property description.
Harmon stated that she had received no objections about vacating the road and closing a portion of the road, meaning it would no longer be a public road.
Kirby further explained that they were only asking the Commission to vacate a portion of the road at Harmon’s property, as previously discussed. Harmon has lived at the property since May 2025.
After being sworn in by County Administrator Amy Gilliland for the hearing, County Engineer Tad Eason stated that he has been with the county for 30 years and that he was not aware of the road until the property sold last year.
He further explained that the county has not maintained the road in the last 30 years. He added that it would benefit the county to not have to maintain the road or add it to the county’s list.
Following the hearing, the Commission unanimously approved the road vacation and signing a related resolution.
In other business, the Commission unanimously approved adding an item to the agenda to review the administrator’s contract and vote to renew it or let it expire. Commission Chair Lamar Daugherty stated that according to the current administrator’s contract, the Commission has to review it and reevaluate it within 60 days of the anniversary date, which is April 25.
With no questions or discussion on the matter, Commissioner John Forbus made a motion to let the contract expire on April 25. Commissioner Brandon Davis seconded the motion.
Commissioners Bertha K. McElrath and Daugherty did not voice a vote, but none opposed.
Following that, Daugherty stated that the motion carried with none opposed.
During discussion items by commissioners, Daugherty said that they needed to get the administrator’s job posted to the Association of County Commissions of Alabama and local newspapers to run for two weeks and conduct interviews at the end of March or beginning of April. He said that would give them time to hire someone, for that individual to work out their notice and then train for a couple of weeks.
However, as of press time, no date for interviews had been reported.
Also during the meeting, the Commission unanimously approved submitting a letter of interest on behalf of AltaPointe’s Stepping Up Initiative for Coosa County to join the program.
Cindy Atkinson with AltaPointe explained that the initiative is intended to help break the cycle of reincarceration, particularly for individuals with serious mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse. Since the meeting, a letter of interest was submitted for both Coosa and Randolph counties to partner with AltaPointe on the initiative and for individuals to receive services in those counties.
In other business, the Commission unanimously approved a proclamation declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, presented by Safe House Forensic Medical Services Director Mary Katherine Thorn.
In part, the proclamation reads, “Sexual Assault Awareness Month calls attention that sexual violence is widespread and impacts every person in our community. SAAM aims to raise public awareness about sexual violence and to educate communities and individuals on how to prevent it.”
The proclamation further reviews statistics, including that one in six women and one in 33 men will be raped at some point in their lives; that one in 10 children will experience sexual assault before age 18; and that on campus, one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted during their time in college.
The proclamation further reads, “Now, therefore, we, the Coosa County Commission, do hereby proclaim the month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in 2026, and call upon all individuals, organizations and institutions to support survivors, promote awareness and prevention efforts and work together to create a culture of respect, safety and accountability.”
Also during the meeting, the Commission discussed the E-911 Board appointment for Goodwater, which had been initially brought up at the February meeting. At that meeting, following an executive session, no action was taken to approve Elmore Unbehant’s appointment to the Board, and the matter died for lack of a motion.
Goodwater Mayor Karleyun Lauderdale attended last month’s meeting to reiterate that Goodwater would like to appoint Unbehant to the Board, as he said had been decided at the last Town Council meeting with a unanimous vote.
During discussion, Chair Daugherty asked county attorney John K. Johnson about the authority of it, and Johnson confirmed that the Commission does approve appointments to the Board. Daugherty added that the Commission typically goes with what the E-911 Board presents to it.
In ongoing discussion, Unbehant discussed his residency and presented the Commission with various documents to show his proof of residency in Coosa County. He explained that he does own property in Tallapoosa County, as well as in Fayetteville, stating that his house in Goodwater is currently being renovated.
Unbehant further said that he was not denying having residency at both places. However, he said Goodwater had asked him to serve and that he was willing to serve on the Board.
Following discussion, Daugherty initially suggested tabling the matter until later for the Commission to look into and review the matter.
However, attorney Johnson said that it was on the agenda as a discussion item, and as such it did not have to be tabled. Instead, he said the Commission can just add it to the agenda at a later date.
In other business, the Commission:
- Unanimously approved Daugherty signing the memorandum and fee sheet for wet counties, which is done annually, and no changes were made.
- Discussed the Legislative Report, reviewed by Daugherty.
- Unanimously approved Daugherty signing the ACCA Liability Self-Insurance Fund Resolution, which is done annually.
- Unanimously approved Daugherty signing the ACCA 2027-2029 Participation Agreement for the Liability Self-Insurance Fund.
- Unanimously approved removing from Commission inventory and to surplus and dispose of in the landfill a broken tabletop side desk.
- Unanimously approved Daugherty signing the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday Resolution for July 17-19, as is done annually.
- Unanimously approved selling on GovDeals a 2007 GMC dump truck and a 2002 Chevrolet Blazer from the Highway Department.
- Unanimously approved awarding a road project with surface treatment on County Road 54 to Chilton Contractors Inc. in the amount of $343,039.04.
- Unanimously approved purchasing from Truckworx a 2026 Kenworth T880 dump truck and a 16-foot Logan dump bed for a total of $228,550 for the Highway Department.
- Unanimously approved Sheriff Michael Howell financing two vehicles for five years with First Community Bank in Wetumpka, and payments will be made using the sheriff’s discretionary funds.
- Unanimously approved removing multiple inventory items from the probate office and to surplus as trash, as well as donating an executive desk to the Coosa County Historical Society and transferring a desk/workstation to the Board of Registrars.
Also during the meeting, in staff reports County Administrator Gilliland stated that the county was getting an elm tree in honor of former District 4 Commissioner Ronnie Joiner who passed away February 2. She said the tree would be planted somewhere around the courthouse with a plaque in memory of Joiner.
“I think it’s only fitting that we have something for Ronnie,” Gilliland said. “He was not a politician. He was a servant of the county, not just his district. We really, really miss him. There was not a week that he did not come into our office and ask what was going on. He told us how much he appreciated us. He thanked us for our work. He stayed in the know, and it wasn’t just us; he went throughout the courthouse asking everybody. He was willing to help anybody and anything.”
She added, “He made sure of any agenda item that he was in the know of it. He didn’t care if he was the only yes, and he didn’t care if he was the only no; he wanted the people to know how he felt so it would be on the record and in the paper.”
“I would encourage each commissioner to go in and find out where our money comes from, how much money do we have, how much are those expenditures,” she added.
“I will say, whoever does get the commissioner for District 4, you’re going to have some mighty, mighty big shoes to fill,” she said, “because Ronnie did a lot that people don’t even realize that he did for the entire county. …Just remember how he did work for the county.”
The Commission also set a disciplinary hearing for EMS employee Cody Baker with notice to him in writing via email. It was stated that once they set the hearing, he would have at least 10 days to respond.
The Commission set the hearing for 9 a.m. March 23, and rather than adjourn its meeting it recessed until that date for the disciplinary hearing. Following the lengthy hearing, Baker was placed on a 6-month probation, and the meeting was adjourned.
The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the County Commission will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 14.
