Horn Hill resident addresses commission regarding inoperable traffic light

The Covington County Commission heard comments regarding the out of service Horn Hill traffic light and received severe weather warnings on Monday night during its inaugural meeting on Jan. 9.

The citizen Zollie Hudson who is a councilman in Horn Hill, addressed the commission about an unoperational traffic light in the town he lives in.

“The lights on Horn Hill Road and what was once the Horn Hill Grocery has not operated since the beginning of September. Three county routes which intersect and there are five points in total. I called to the Engineer’s Office at that time and am now concerned that the volume of traffic has likely tripled or doubled since the lighting was installed several years ago. I’m not sure if it’s only flashers or bulbs however the cost to repair it is low when compared to the cost of a new one. I’d like to find out whether we can get this issue repaired and running,” Hudson said.

In the words of chairman Greg White, conversation regarding the issue has been held within an engineer’s office. Engineer’s Office.

“We know how important it is to be aware of the problem. We’ll try to come to a an informed decision about the best way to proceed and what’s best in terms of efficiency. Our primary concern is security,” White said.

“We are to receive an update by the Association of County Commissions of Alabama in Montgomery regarding every aspect of this issue. I spoke to your mayor this morning and informed him that I’d hand it over to you. We’ll see what we can do as a county, and we will have more details to use. It’s a real concern and dangerous intersection so I’m hoping that we can work it out and make a difference to benefit everyone affected,” Dist. 3 Commissioner Lynne Holmes said.

Covington County Economic Development Commission Vice President Jacob Morgan also spoke to the commission.

“I believe that one area where we have lots of potential in is forest. We have a surplus of trees. There are many people wanting to establish mills of various types and 60% of the costs are related to logistics. It’s really beneficial having a mill on our shores and benefit the area. Mills can create great jobs to our residents that could range from $15 up to $25 per hour, starting out. A good 40-50 percent of these (jobs) are ideal for this region,” Morgan said.

Covington County EMA Director Susan Harris presented an update on the extent of damage to the region following Monday’s extreme weather.

“(Covington County EMA Director Deputy) Frank (Shaffer) and I split time during the night. We were on a tornado watch at 8:30 Monday night therefore he accompanied the Sheriff and others. The first call was made at 6:30 on Tuesday morning in addition, (County engineer) Lynn (Ralls) and I have been using the new dispatch system, which works really well. We had about 17 incidents we worked on that involved trees falling and power lines being cut. The ones we’re investigating now are related to electricity lines” Harris said.

Harris stated Harris added that Covington Electric would be working on a number of major issues across the county because due to the hurricane.

“These problems may take time to get resolved. One instance was at Shady Grove Road, which is where they’re experiencing the most issues. There have been no structures affected or reported, however this is the grace we received last night. Apart from that everything went well, and we’re not being under watch and alerts. We are addressing the effects right now in addition, we are working with the Engineer’s Office has done an great job in conjunction with the volunteer fire departments of our county clearing trees.”

In other businesses:

• The commission has approved signing the contract in partnership with Southern Software for records management within the Sheriff’s Office. Turman declared that the software will integrate with E-911 as well as other systems like the Andalusia as well as Opp police departments.
• The commission analyzed proposed changes in the management of floodplains. The program is administered by ADECA (state) as well as FEMA (federal). There was no action taken regarding the issue further discussion is expected to be held at a later meeting.
• The commission was discussing a contract that would include school resource officials via the Covington County Board of Education. Turman stated that two officers were added recently with one in Straughn and another located at Florala High School. There was no action taken and further discussions will be held at a subsequent meeting.
• The commission endorsed the appropriation in one-time increments for $5,000 in the direction of Covington Historical Society. Covington Historical Society.
• The commission endorsed the invitation to bids for the installation of a new phone system based on Internet technology for the county offices. Director of Information Technology Eric Jernigan stated that the current phone system has been operational since the year 2011.
• The commission has approved the receipt of an offer of an 2018. Chevrolet Crew Cab from PowerSouth for use by the Sheriff’s Department.
• The commission voted in favor of the purchase of the 2024 Ford F-150 to be used in Covington County Jail. Covington County Jail.
• The commission authorized travel outside of the state for four jail employees to attend an annual conference held in Savannah, Georgia, for three nights during March. The approval was made by an overwhelmingly 2-1 vote. Dist. 1 Commissioner Kenneth Northey and Dist. 4 Commissioner Tommy McGaha both voted yes. Holmes voted no. The conference is completely free, however, Sheriff Turman will cover hotel rooms using discretionary funds. Commission policy says that any travel out of state by County employees or officials has to be authorized by the commission at an open session.
• The commission approved the Fiscal year 2023 county Rebuild Annual report for Alabama delivered by engineer Lynn Ralls, which reflected the amount of $2.5 million in projects completed.

Next meeting of the Covington County Commission is scheduled to take place on January. 23 starting at 9 a.m. at Covington County Administration Building. Covington County Administration Building. The public is welcome to attend.

The article Horn Hill resident addresses the commission regarding an the inoperable traffic light appeared in The Andalusia Star-News.