Tombigbee requests county support for grant approval

HAMILTON — Tombigbee Electric Cooperative President/CEO Britton Lightsey spoke to the Marion County Commission during its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 20, to request support for an important grant to be approved.
The commission voted to amend the agenda at the beginning of the meeting to allow Lightsey to speak.
Lightsey explained Tombigbee had applied for a Department of Energy grant for a total amount of $22.5 million for infrastructure improvement.
The grid resiliency and infrastructure partnership program would be a 50 / 50 grant, with half of the funding coming through the DOE and Tombigbee matching the other half.
Lightsey said the grant would be a “shot in the arm” to stimulate and fuel major improvements that would harden Tombigbee’s electric infrastructure across the county and bring some of the older technology up to date.
However, Lightsey explained the grant was applied for under the previous presidential administration, but was put under review once the Trump administration came into office.
Lightsey asked the commission for its support in trying to get the grant approved, such as communicating with state senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, as well as Representative Robert Aderholt, to let them know of the importance of the grant to the county and request their support, as well.
The commission expressed their willingness to help support the grant efforts and voted to write to congressional representatives to express their support of the grant.
In other business:
• The county hired two Class A CDL drivers for the solid waste department;
• The commission appointed Phil Fowler to the Marion County E-911 Board;
• Bo Williams was appointed to the Bear Creek Development Authority Board;
• Frank Pew and Josh Brooks were appointed to the Twin Water Authority Board;
• The commission voted to allow the airport to begin pursuing options for a new, more secure gate; and
• Marion County EMA Director Russ Taylor gave an update on the county’s efforts to improve its cybersecurity posture and discuss the then-upcoming icy conditions from the weekend following the Jan. 20 meeting.