At its recent meeting, April 14, the county commission passed a resolution to accept a declaration, requested by Commissioner Gary Hanks and prepared by Commissioner Frank Hickman, in support of our troops, especially those who have local connections, currently fighting in Iraq.

The declaration is as follows:

Resolution of Support For our Troops and Unit 781, Detachment One, Georgiana, Alabama.

Declaring support of our Butler County and United States armed forces in the war against terrorism.

Whereas, it was deemed necessary that military action be commenced to protect the citizens of this great nation and the citizens of many nations in the aftermath of the terrorism that struck the country and the world on September 11, 2001; and whereas, the United States Armed Forces, including our own Unit 781, Detachment One, Georgiana, Alabama and thousands of other Alabama National Guard and members of the reserve units, some of whom are also citizens of Butler County, have courageously taken on the challenge to eliminate terrorist threats and to disarm the supporters and perpetrators of terrorism wherever they may exist in order to preserve civilization and enable mankind to live in peace and freedom and preserve the very foundations and principles of a free, democratic society; and whereas, our military personnel have fought bravely and courageously in Iraq to protect our nation from weapons of mass destruction and the other horrors that were used to foster terrorism around the world; and whereas, the citizens of this great state, including our own brave soldiers, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with others from this great nation to bravely and successfully defeat and eliminate some of the enemies of freedom.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Butler County Commission and the citizens of Butler County, that we do solemnly declare our proud support and admiration to all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and Unit 781, Detachment One, Georgiana, Alabama, and all the other brave men and women of Butler County who serve this country in the Armed Forces.

Done and entered this the 14 day of April, 2003, by Butler County Commissioners, William Phillips, Chairman, Jesse McWilliams III, Gary Hanks, Frank Hickman and Daniel Robinson.

The commission also passed a resolution to authorize the commission to advertise and submit a bill to the legislature for consideration affirming the commission’s current makeup and provide for the election of a commission chairman in accordance with state law.

Other business conducted by the commission included:

n Passed a resolution authorizing the commission to accept bids for proposals to solve the county courthouse offices’ computer software/hardware problems.

n Passed a resolution authorizing the commission chairman to compile information on necessary work to be done on the old county engineers’ offices on Walnut Street to accommodate moving the Auburn Extension Service from the Courthouse Annex to that building. The commission will meet again on April 28 at 5:30 p.m. to review the information and decide what other departments can be moved to better accommodate their space needs.

n Approved a transfer of $100,000 in road and bridge funds to the capital expenditure account.

n Passed a resolution to allow certain commissioners to exchange their Southern Lync cell phones with which they are having coverage problems for cell phones with another company that offer them better service. Not all commissioners will be changing their services.

n Passed a resolution allowing the commissioners to purchase the courthouse’s current phone equipment, which is currently being leased.

n Received the jail report from Commissioner Phillips, who said the jail was in good condition. The only maintenance requests were for a shower pan leak in the upstairs showers and the outside electric gate locks that aren’t working properly.

n Approved payment of the commission’s bills.

The engineer’s report stated that the bridge projects on county roads 6 and 48 will be completed in two weeks. Construction of the bridge on Patrick Road began last week. The bridges on county roads 65 and 47 are scheduled for the June letting.

The engineer reported that the department has completed repairs of nine of the 17 bridges that are to be repaired under the current five-year contract.

The road department will begin widening and resurfacing County Road 62 to the Lowndes County line possibly at the end of this month.

County Road 45 from Highway 106 to County Road 51 tentatively is scheduled to be resurfaced beginning in August.

The commission passed a resolution stating its intention to renew the county engineer’s contract, which will expire in July, but will have a discussion at the April 28 commission meeting to clarify certain points in the contract before officially renewing the contract.