On July 2 the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners met to discuss a moratorium on subdivision and commercial development, approve revisions to purchasing policy, and hear concerns from the county.
Commissioners voted to approve a moratorium that will stop the building of subdivision and commercial developments until new building codes are adopted. It was clarified that this moratorium will not halt existing and permitted projects.
The moratorium will last 60 days but can be extended to provide the board with time to make amendments and revisions to the county’s land development code.
The board also voted to approve revisions to the county purchasing policy which would raise the threshold to $100,000 from $35,000, requiring anything purchased by the county above $100,000 to be put through a formal bidding process and approved by the board in a meeting.
These revisions are being made to save money for taxpayers and adjust for inflation. They also include the prohibition of telephone bids to ensure a paper trail for every purchase the county makes.
The board then adopted two resolutions related to the county’s Urban Redevelopment Area and Urban Redevelopment Plan, including projects already underway on the south side of the county. These plans continue the efforts of Baldwin’s award-winning blight reduction program, through which more than 260 structures have so far been demolished in the county.
Three grants were accepted by the board, the first being a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grant for $718,979, and the others drug court grants. One is a $359,783 grant for the county’s adult felony drug court, and the other is $351,481 for mental health court.
During the public comment period of the meeting, several Rocky Creek Court residents expressed strong concerns about their road no longer having fire or EMS access, due to severe erosion from increased water flow that has made the road inaccessible for emergency services.
One citizen presented a case study to the board showing the details of the issue, including more than $75,000 worth of damage done by water in the area.
Concerns also were expressed about the high population of elderly residents in the area who are worried about not having access to emergency care services.
The next public hearing will be at 5 p.m. July 16, addressing amendments to the code of ordinance for short-term vacation rentals, which has been discussed in many previous meetings as an issue. This will be followed by a regular BOC meeting at 6 p.m.