Road striping discussed at commission meeting

What to do about miles of roads still not striped was a topic of discussion at the Dale County Commission meeting Feb. 11.

“We’re getting further behind on our striping,” Dale County District 4 Commissioner Frankie Wilson said. “I know we approved 60 miles of striping in October 2019 and to date there has not been one mile striped.”

Wilson asked Dale County Assistant Engineer Drew Meacham the status of a long standing agreement between Dale, Coffee and Houston Counties in which a striping truck had been jointly purchased for use in the tri-county area.

The striping truck has been housed in Houston County, Meacham said. The operator is a Houston County employee who is also tasked with other responsibilities beyond striping.

The tri-county striping agreement was initiated by a now retired Houston County engineer and his successor “isn’t as interested in continuing it,” Meacham said.

After the joint county purchase, the maintenance cost has been split three ways with prorated fees charged as in accordance with the miles each county is striped.

“In the beginning that might have been a good program but now that program is just about nonexistent,” Wilson said. “We’ve got some very dangerous roads that need some serious attention as far as striping, and not just in my district.”

The commission asked Meacham to further research the issue.

In other business, Blankenship announced that the official dedication ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall located at the Dale County Agricultural Complex at the intersection of Highway 231 and Highway 123 in Ozark, is March 27 at 2 p.m. and the public is invited. The wall contains the names of those who died in Vietnam who were from Dale, Coffee, Geneva and Houston Counties.

In unrelated business, the commission appointed Joanne Grimsley, Bruce Grantham and Dana Courtney to represent Dale County on the Southern Alabama Regional Council on Aging Board of Directors. SARCOA serves the senior citizens of Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties.

The next meeting of the Dale County Commission is Feb. 25 at the government building in Ozark. A work session begins at 10 a.m. and is followed immediately by a voting meeting. Both meetings are open to the public.