White elected as commission's vice chair
Raymond Wiggins was elected to serve another year as chairman of the Escambia County Commission and the board also elected Larry White to serve as vice chairman during Monday's county commission meeting.
The five-member county commission is elected by districts on staggered years. The five commissioners then elect the chairman and vice chairman.
Commissioner White nominated Wiggins to serve as chairman and received a second from Brandon Smith. The motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Smith then nominated Commissioner White as vice chairman. Commissioner Steven Dickey issued the second and the motion carried unanimously.
In other business Monday, the commission:
- Agreed to lease 50 acres of county-owned farm land to Andrew Ward for $50 per acre. It was noted the county purchased the land behind the Brewton Industrial Park as a potential site for a new county jail. Ward had been farming the land and wanted to continue under the lease agreement.
- Approved an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for a $73,019.87 grant through the Local Roads Safety Initiative. The county will provide a match of $8,113.36 to install new guard rails on Chavers Creek Road (County Road 67).
- Heard from County Engineer Bill Bridges who said the county is about a year behind on its road striping. Bridges said the county approved a bid from Ozark Striping for the work but noted Ozark officials said they are behind because of problems hiring people and getting supplies.
"It's a problem everywhere," Bridges said. "The state is having the same problems we're having."
