Commission votes to “not renew” engineer contract

The Dale County Commission will begin the search for a new county engineer.

That is the next step to take following the Dale County Commission’s majority vote April 12 to not renew the contract of Derek Brewer, according to Dale County Commission Chairman Steve McKinnon.

Brewer has served as Dale County Engineer since December 2004. He served previously as the county’s assistant engineer since 1996.

Brewer’s contact with the county expires Dec. 1 and in accordance with the existing contract, the commission is required to give six-month notice prior to a non-renewal of the contract.

The engineer’s employment contract was an agenda item at the April 12 meeting, as was a travel request for Brewer and assistant engineer Drew Meacham to attend the Association of County Commissions of Alabama Annual Convention at Orange Beach Aug. 22 through 25.

The travel request was tabled after a motion from Dale County Commissioner Chris Carroll, who also made a motion to “not-renew” Brewer’s employment contract.

Dale County Commissioner Donald Grantham seconded the motion to “not-renew” Brewer’s contract. Carroll, Grantham and Dale County Commissioner Frankie Wilson voted in favor of not renewing Brewer’s employment contract. Dale County Commissioner Charles “Chic” Gary voted against the motion to not renew the contract. The chairman does not vote except in the case of a tie vote.

In unrelated business, the appropriation request to the commission for $25,000 for the Daleville Rescue Squad was tabled after a motion from Grantham.

“My understanding is that one person was not able to be here but that the mayor was going to be here,” said McKinnon. “I was hoping he would be here because I had a question about how the chain of command flowed over there,” replied Wilson. “My question was whether they had reached out to the city first.” Grantham said he was under the same assumption.

The next meeting of the Dale County Commission is April 26 in the Dale County 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.