Welcome to District 4!

January 22, 2025
Below is a statement from Meridian Waste concerning a delay in the normal trash pick-up schedule in Elmore County due to the impacts of winter weather.

Due to severe weather conditions caused by the winter storm, ALL solid waste operations have ceased for today and through tomorrow (Tuesday, January 21 —Wednesday, January 22) for the safety of our team members and the communities we service.

The company plans to resume collections on Thursday assuming it is safe to do so and the landfills are open for disposal. INSTRUCTIONS: Please keep your garbage containers curbside for residential collections.

Full statement can be found on Meridian Waste website:

Meridian Waste Service Delay Statement

Bart

Due to the anticipated impacts of the  approaching winter weather, Elmore County offices will be closing at noon on Tuesday January 21 and will remain closed Wednesday January 22, 2025.

Elmore County Government Offices will be closed Monday, January 20, 2025, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

This is the work session agenda for the Commission
meeting 1-13-2025. The Elmore County Commission meets on the 2nd Floor of the Historic Elmore County Courthouse, downtown Wetumpka. Work Session starts at 5:00 p.m. and Commission meeting starts soon after. This month,  just prior to the Work Session at 4:00pm we will have an information session scheduled on the initiative we are calling Enhance Elmore where we will detail  our plans surrounding the negative impacts population growth is having on the services we provide to citizens.  If you want to share a thought or have a question on any item please let me know.
Thanks,
Bart

Below is a statement just released by the County Commission office:

The Elmore County Commission has decided to close County Offices on Friday, January 10, 2025, due to the potential impact of the winter weather event and the associated Declaration of Emergency by Governor Ivey. The County Commission urges all citizens to utilize extreme caution if travel is necessary.

Bart

County Administrative Complex Change in Hours of Operation:

In observance of Christmas, Elmore County Administrative Complex offices will be closed  Tuesday, December 24, and Wednesday, December 25, 2024 and will reopen for normal business Thursday, December 26, 2024.

In observance of New Year’s, Elmore County Administrative Complex offices will be closed Wednesday, January 1, 2025  and will reopen for normal business Thursday, January 2, 2025.

Joint City / County Collection Center:
The City/ County Collection Facility will be closed Tuesday, December 24, 2024, Wednesday December 25, 2024 and Saturday, December 28, 2024 in observation of Christmas.

It will also be closed on Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Trash Collection Schedule:
Meridian Waste (formerly Arrow Disposal) will not be operating in Elmore County on Wednesday, December 25 in observance of Christmas.

Collection routes will run one day behind with operations resuming Thursday, December 26 and running through Saturday, December 28.

Monday and Tuesday routes will run on schedule.
Wednesday routes will run on Thursday, Thursday on Friday and Friday routes on Saturday.

Routes will not run on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January, 1, 2025.

Collection routes will run one day behind after Wednesday January 1, 2025 with operations resuming Thursday, January, 2 2025.
Please contact me or trash@elmoreco.org with any questions.

Bart

This is the work session agenda for the Commission
meeting 12-9-2024.
The Elmore County Commission meets on the 2nd Floor of the Historic Elmore County Courthouse, downtown Wetumpka. Work Session starts at 5:00 p.m. and Commission meeting starts soon after.
If you want to share a thought or have a question on any item please let me know.
Thanks,
Bart

Below are changes in County Government Office Hours of Operation and Trash Pick up schedule  due to the Thanksgiving holiday:

Meridian Waste Change in Trash Route Pick Up Day
The week of Thanksgiving 2024 all routes will be run as scheduled Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

No cans will be emptied on Thursday, November 28, Thanksgiving Day.

Cans on the Thursday pick up route will be emptied on Friday, November 29.

Cans on the Friday pick up route will be emptied on Saturday, November 30

Change in County Government Office Hours of Operation
In observance of Thanksgiving, Elmore County Government Offices will close at noon on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 and will remain closed through Friday, November 29, 2024 and will reopen for normal business Monday December 2, 2024.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bart

Bart Mercer
Elmore County Commissioner
District 4
Because of limited funds available to resurface county maintained roads, the Elmore County commission prioritizes resurfacing projects based on the classification of a road, current roadbed condition, traffic count, availability of funds, and restrictions placed on those funds.

Many times, in order for a newly proposed revenue measure that would result in an increase of available funds for road maintenance to be supported by citizens and elected officials, it has to be dedicated to a specific purpose. This approach is one I don’t disagree with applying.

Dedicating funds for a specific purpose is very evident in regulations governing the use of funds to resurface county roads. These funds are so regulated that it is like navigating through a maze in order to be compliant with guidelines.  A county receives funds to resurface roads from multiple sources such as Local and State gas tax collections along with grants and direct allocations from State and Federal sources.

Restrictions on the Expenditure of Federal Resurfacing Funds:
While we appreciate Federal infrastructure dollars that come to Elmore County, much of this money comes with many restrictions on what Classification of roads the funds can be expended on. An example of this would be a road classified as a Connector Road within federal guidelines which is based on a minimum daily traffic count and usage. What the Commission encounters at times with these federally funded projects is logically the further a rural road gets from the center of a population center; vehicles will turn off the road causing the traffic count to lower. Some funds are limited to being spent only in our Metropolitan Planning Organization Boundary. It is at this point along the road federal guidelines mandate the resurfacing project ends, but it appears the Commission has abruptly stopped the resurfacing project for no reason when that is not the case. Guidelines also restrict the Commission from combining projects in these situations.

Pave My Dirt Road:
One call the Commission commonly gets is citizens wanting their dirt road paved, and we have a process to get that done. It starts with a citizen driven effort to have the needed right of way dedicated to the county adjacent to the road citizens desire to have paved. This additional right of way is necessary to accommodate storm water drainage and utilities that might be present and needing to be relocated from under the roadbed. The relocation of utilities is necessary because a utility contractor digging up a dirt road does not diminish the value of the taxpayer’s biggest investment being our countywide transportation system but when a utility contractor has to dig up a paved road even when replacement asphalt is installed, it creates a higher potential for base failures and road maintenance. The next step in this paving process is acquiring project funding and most of these dollars come from the general fund or gas tax which historically has the lowest rolling available balance for these type projects.

Revenue use restrictions are not always a bad thing, but they do at times prohibit funds from being expended on the most immediate infrastructure needs in the county.

This is the combined work session and business meeting  agenda for the Commission meeting 11-13-2024.
The Elmore County Commission meets on the 2nd Floor of the Historic Elmore County Courthouse, downtown Wetumpka.
This will be our organizational meeting and will start at 10:00am.
If you want to share a thought or have a question on any item please let me know.
Thanks,
Bart