County Commission rejects bids for jail communications equipment

The Covington County Commission rejected bids for inmate communications at the jail and adopted a resolution for reimbursements for the Conecuh Sausage project at a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, May 28.

The commission received bids for inmate communications such as iPads and tablets for use during visitation with family at a previous meeting.

“One of the proposals was to allow for educational-related material and give inmates credit for education, which would give them value for more recreational items. We received bids but were unable to determine the lowest bidder. Our county attorney will work closely with the sheriff and his staff to clean up the bid package and specifications,” Chairman Greg White said.

The commission adopted a resolution to approve the reimbursements of costs for the Conecuh Sausage project. These costs will be pulled from the remaining balance of $42,779 in ARPA funds that were allocated to the chairman.

“We had a lot of in-kind costs from our road and bridge department as they joined the City of Andalusia doing site preparation on the project. I proposed that we shift ARPA funds I had sitting on the books to that project to reimburse the road and bridge department. The original part of those funds was used towards resourcing and repaving the nature trail at LBW,” White said.

Revenue Commissioner Chuck Patterson gave the commission an update regarding the GovEase online tax sale.

“This year’s tax sale went well and was done in about 32 minutes. We sold approximately 40 pieces of property and will continue trying to collect back taxes, so they do not lose their property. I hope to have an abstract run for 2024 with the amount of money to be collected by the revenue office and disbursement to the entities at the next meeting,” Patterson said. “Going with a new sale method was interesting and a lot more efficient,” White added.

In other business:

• The commission recognized the Opp High School softball team and head coach David McVay with a proclamation highlighting the team’s state championship.
• The commission discussed a memorandum of understanding for health insurance for inmates in addition to current medical care that is presently offered to inmates. The commission approved seeking an opinion from the state attorney general if it is needed.
• The commission approved declaring a 2022 Chevrolet 5500 HD in the County Engineer’s Department as surplus. Engineer Lynn Ralls requested the surplus due to service work on the vehicle in Montgomery.
• The commission approved the purchase of five trucks (four 3/4-ton trucks and one 350 or 3500 for the sign crew), two backhoes at an estimated cost of $175,000 each, and one pole barn at an estimated cost of $29,900 for use in the County Engineer’s Department.

The next meeting of the Covington County Commission will be held Tuesday, June 11, at 9 a.m., at the Covington County Administration Building. The public is invited to attend.

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