County Commission Approves Site Work For 35th Street Project

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Commission held its regular meeting Wednesday morning, moving through a fairly light agenda before entering into an executive session.

Biggest takeaway: Site work to begin on 35th Street project to relocate the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office's patrol service from its current location at the airport.

Commission vote: 4-0 in favor.

Project cost: Not to exceed $150,000

TCSO Chief Deputy Byron Waid: "Several months ago, we acquired some land on 35th Street near Public Works from the state Board of Education that they weren't using. The plan is to relocate our patrol service from the airport hanger to down there. This is basically phase one, they are going to go in and do dirt work. When they did the soil samples, some of that dirt is not appropriate to build on and they are going to dig it out and put base in."

District 4 Commissioner Reginald Murray: "What we passed today to authorize the sheriff's department to start the site work portion of the project ... It will help to clean up an area that's visible to all the people of the district. It's a very well-traveled street in that area."

District 3 Commissioner Mark Nelson: "This is going to be awesome. This is going to be a great facility when we're done with it and it will be great for the community."

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County Commission Notebook

• District 1 Commissioner Stan Acker returned on Wednesday after an extended absence. He was surprised with a vinyl copy of "For The Good Times" by Ray Price, given by District 3 Commissioner Mark Nelson. Nelson said it was "from the heart."

• County Attorney Robert Spence provided a regular legislative update, saying only a couple of active bills could have local impacts. Spence said there is a set of competing bills regarding police jurisdictions, with one doing away with police jurisdictions and the other halting the expansion of police jurisdictions. Spence also mentioned a proposed 10-year extension of the Coal Severance Tax, which is set to expire at end of the fiscal year. The revenue generated from the tax is handed down by the state to the county, who then spreads the money across Brookwood, Coaling, Vance, Lakeview, the county's library board and school board.
• Commissioners unanimously approved the installation of ‘No Parking’ signs on Hayes Road
• The next meeting of the Tuscaloosa County Commission is set for March 17 at 9 a.m.

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