Chairman says cooperation key to county’s success

DECATUR – Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long said the county has come a long way in the four years that he’s been in office.

The county’s reserve has increased to $2.8 million this year, up $700,000 from a year ago.

“I want you to know that your county is in good shape,” Long said at his State of the County Breakfast at the Turner Surles Community Center. “I know it’s not as big as it sounds compared to overall budget, but we had a zero balance when I took office. Our department heads have been very conservative in their spending.”

In the last year, two new senior centers opened in Somerville and Union Hill while they are planning to replace a center in Lacey’s Spring, which should be completed by the end of summer.

Millions were spent in paving county roads and replacing county bridges.

Long said Commissioner Jeff Clark’s district had about $500,000 in paving completed while Commissioner Randy Vest’s district did about $1 million in paving.

Commissioner Don Stisher’s district also opened a new shop. Commissioner Greg Abercrombie’s district also provided demolition of the stands and fieldhouse at Brewer’s James Tucker Stadium to make way for new facilities, including a new seating area and larger fieldhouse.

“We’ve saved thousands of dollars for our county school system by providing this service instead of them having to bid it out to contractors,” Long said.

The expansion of the Morgan County Jail is also expected to be complete by April 16.

The county also combined its parks into one parks and recreation department instead of each commissioner having to commit resources to maintaining the parks in their districts.

Long also said the county has great cooperation between each of the municipalities, as the mayors meet with Long once a month.

“We don’t have any boundaries in Morgan County,” Long said. “We all work together. We used to be the laughing stock of the state. Now, we’re the best county in Alabama.”