Month: June 2019

A large cross drain under a portion of Allie Valley Rd caused this section of road to be closed for repairs. County crews completed these repairs today and Allie Vallie has been reopened.

Bart

This is the work session agenda for the Commission meeting 6- 24-19.

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 soon after, normally about 6:00 p.m.

If you want to share a thought or have a question on any item please let me know.
Thanks,
Bart

May 4^th Storm Debris Removal Project Complete in the Elmore Community:

Elmore County highway department personnel have completed removing woody debris placed on the county right of way by citizens after the May 4th storm. Over 360 dump truck loads of debris have been removed from this area during this clean-up project.

Right of way debris removal is not an ongoing scheduled service offered by the county due to resource limitations. The County does offer opportunities to dispose of this type of woody debris at County Wide Clean Up days. The next scheduled day will be July 13 where small items (limbs in lengths shorter than 4’ in length) can be taken to various sites throughout the county for disposal.

Allie Valley Cross Drain Replacement:

Replacement of the cross drain under a section of Allie Valley started Monday. This project is scheduled to be completed in a few weeks in an effort to reopen this road for normal use.

Thanks,

Bart

Storm Debris Removal in the Elmore Community:

On May 4^th, residents of District 4 in the Elmore Community were affected by a storm that brought sudden high winds and downed many trees in the area.

As a part of assisting citizens in recovering from this type event, county highway personnel have been removing woody storm debris that citizens and the storm placed on the county right of way.  As of Friday of the past week, over 300 dump truck loads of debris has been loaded and hauled away by multiple county crews.

Crews are almost complete with the initial removal pass on each affected road. This initial pass should be completed the end of the week of June 10.

Additional debris placed on the county right of way after the initial removal pass will be assessed and removed on a case by case basis. Removal of this additional debris will be done as county resources are available as crews will be resuming normal maintenance activities soon after completion of the initial pass.

Right of Way debris removal is not an ongoing scheduled service offered by the county due to resource limitations. The County does offer opportunities to dispose of this type of woody debris at County Wide Clean Up days. The next scheduled day will be July 13 where small items (limbs in lengths shorter than 4’ in length) can be taken to various sites throughout the county for disposal.

Allie Valley Cross Drain Replacement:

A large cross drain under a section of Allie Valley Dr partially collapsed several weeks ago causing this section of road to be closed. Since that time, county personnel have been working to clear up a right of way issue and procure the necessary replacement pipe (54” diameter pipe) so proper repairs can be made. The new cross drain pipe will be installed as soon as crews complete the initial debris removal pass in Elmore.  Once work can commence, the project is scheduled to be completed within a few weeks.

If you have any questions about either of these projects, please feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Bart Mercer

This is the work session agenda for the Commission meeting 6- 10-19.

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 soon after, normally about 6:00 p.m.

If you want to share a thought or have a question on any item please let me know.

Thanks,

Bart

Reminder: Monthly Countywide cleanup day is this Saturday, 6-8-19

Trucks will be at the locations below from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. or until the truck is full.

The pick-up sites are for residents to bring amounts of trash larger than the normal residential trash container will accommodate.

Limbs smaller than four feet and no more than six inches in diameter will be accepted but it is not designed to accept trash or clean-up debris from contractors.

Items such as batteries, appliances, oils and gases, paints or thinners will not be accepted.

These are the pick-up sites for this Saturday:
Coosada Post Office
Holtville High School
Elmore County Judicial Complex
CEWSA – Redland Facility
Emerald Mountain Equestrian Center
Kent – Old Highway Department

If you have any question please contact me.

Bart

My daily reading normally includes something related to Broadband. This past week was no different but there were two articles I found interesting that I wanted to share.

In April of this year  I wrote an article about how FCC Broadband deployment maps were populated by industry-provided data that is highly inaccurate and how it can hinder investment in the expansion of broadband infrastructure into under served areas.

One article I read was titled “FCC’s broadband deployment report called “fundamentally at odds with reality” on TechCrunch.com. Link to the article in the title name. This article  lays out the primary reason the County Commission is very supportive of the Elmore County Economic Development Authority (ECEDA) and the Broadband Access Study they have commissioned which is currently being conducted in Elmore county.

The second article is on  Yellowhammer.com (Link)    which explains two Broadband related bills passed by our State Legislature this session.

One bill of interest was HB400 which allows electricity providers to use existing easements for the purpose of delivering broadband.  This was a Bill that I, and other Elmore county leaders supported and will allow our electricity providers to install lines carrying a broadband signal in the areas where they currently have right of way to install lines carrying electricity.

The county commission continues to work closely with ECEDA to see that Broadband service is expanded in Elmore county. Once ECEDA’s Broadband Access Study is completed, it will be a vital recruiting tool to use in that effort. The resolution to this problem will most likely be a multi-year project and in my role as County Commissioner I will continue to keep this a top priority in Elmore County.