County Commission approves use of farm center for youth conference

At the Feb. 9 Coffee County Commission meeting the commission unanimously approved the waver of the use fee for the Coffee County Farm Center for Refugee Church’s 18th Annual Southeastern Youth Conference.

Levi Key requested the waver of the fee for Refuge Church. The conference will take place March 11-14 and he said that more than 1,200 people attended the conference last year.

“Through God’s grace and providence we’ve been able to touch thousands of lives through that, the likes of which you’ve been a part of,” Key said to the commission.

The conference will be required to adhere to social distancing guidelines issued by the state.

In other business, the commission reappointed Tom Dyess to the Board of Equalization. The commission also re-appointed Coffee County Administrator Rod Morgan and Gladys Yelverton to the Southeast Regional and Development Commission along with new appointees Tom Maddox and Johnathan Lockett. Maddox is the new Elba Mayor and Lockett is a city councilman in Elba.

The Southeast Regional Planning and Development Commission acts as a sort of council of governments, which is responsible for completing various tasks such as writing grants for the county.

The commission also approved a bid from South Alabama Contractors for a lift station and sewer main at the Ben E. Keith Foods site for $299,525.00. The commission also approved the bid of $554,000 from Fisher Tank Company for a water tank for fire suppression at the Ben E. Keith Foods site.

Also, the board approved the purchase of new software from Ingenuity for the Coffee County Probate Office, which Morgan said would save the county money each month. All commissioners voted to purchase the new software except for Jim Thompson, who abstained, as his sister-in-law is Probate Judge Jodee Thompson.

The commission approved the sale of two Humvees from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office as surplus items. They also approved the purchase of a new sheriff’s vehicle due to a recent accident that involved a cow in the road. Unfortunately, the cow did not make it. The commission will use the proceeds from the insurance policy on the vehicle to pay for the majority of the cost of the new vehicle.

The next Coffee County Commission meeting is Feb. 22.