Month: August 2019

Elmore County Government offices will be closed in observance of Labor Day on Monday September 2, 2019.

Please be safe this weekend.
Bart

What are these REBUILD signs along certain roads?

On July 23^rd I wrote about the County Commission adopting its County Transportation plan which includes the county roads that will be resurfaced with initial funding provided by the REBUILD Act adopted by the legislature this year. Link to this article. As I mentioned in the prior article, the county commission would soon be posting REBUILD signs along these same routes in order for citizens to see  which roads were being resurfaced with REBUILD funds. These REBUILD signs have now been installed. This was not a requirement of the REBUILD Act, but the commission thought it would be important for citizens to see the benefits of the passage of the REBUILD Act.

ADOC Recycling Program

The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has been collecting and separating recyclable materials from containers positioned across Elmore county for more than 10 years. Link to information released by the County Commission August 19th  here. ADOC has ended their recycling program therefore will no longer be picking up recycling materials in the county and many municipalities. The County Commission has been working with potential recycling service providers along with our affected municipalities in an effort to find a solution in order to continue the recycling program.

Working to make Elmore County a better place.

Bart

This is the work session agenda for the Commission meeting 8- 12-19.

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, 8-10-19

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

Monthly Countywide cleanup day is this Saturday, 8-10-19

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

Many years back electricity was not available to all residents of rural areas. Some people had access to electricity, and others did not. What many rural residents are currently experiencing is very similar, but the need now is for broadband access. As different as citizens’ needs for electricity and broadband might be in their daily lives, the lack of adequate delivery infrastructure shares the same solution, our electric co-ops.

In the 1940’s our electric co-ops made the commitment to invest in infrastructure needed to deliver an electric current to residents in rural areas and today they are working to solve the lack of broadband access. This past week I attended an event at Central Alabama Electric Cooperative’s (CAEC) office where their wholly owned subsidiary named Central Access commemorated the start of construction of broadband infrastructure in our area.

The information distributed by Central Access during the event shows this infrastructure project will involve installing a 400 mile fiber optic loop to connect CAEC’s 24 substations and 6 offices with broadband services being offered to eligible customers within Phase 1 of this fiber loop. Specific address eligibility can be determined at the Central Access website.

I applaud CAEC, their President/CEO Tom Stackhouse and the CAEC Board of Directors for having the vision to make this investment that will once again serve to improve the quality of life for not only their members but all citizens.

I look forward to continuing to work with the Elmore County Economic Development Authority in their effort to attract investment in broadband delivery infrastructure in Elmore county. The lack of broadband access in underserved areas will not be quickly solved, but I intend on keeping the focus on this issue for many years.

Take time to complete the broadband accessibility survey  the Elmore County Economic Development Authority has published which is a part of their countywide broadband study currently taking place. Many people have asked what can they do to help improve broadband availability in Elmore county and this is an opportunity to assist in that effort.

Thanks,

Bart

Below is information Elmore County EMA received from FEMA/FCC:

Thanks-Bart

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Private Sector Advisory

FEMA and FCC Conduct Nationwide EAS Test

FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019.

The nationwide test will be sent to radio and television stations beginning at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

The test is being conducted through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. This year, the test message will originate from designated radio stations, known as Primary Entry Point stations, which participate in a component of IPAWS called the National Public Warning System.

All other radio and television stations, cable, wireline service providers, and direct broadcast satellite service providers should subsequently receive and broadcast the test message.

This year’s test will evaluate the readiness of the national alerting capability in the absence of internet connectivity. The test will be approximately one minute long, have a limited impact on the public with only minor interruption of radio and television programs, and will be similar to regular monthly EAS tests. Both the audio message and text crawl should be accessible to people with disabilities.

The test will not include a message on cell phones via Wireless Emergency Alerts.

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