By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock said “a lot of dialogue has been coming in” about a proposed amusement park in Shelby County during an Oct. 8 County Commission meeting.

Tiffany Sturdivant, a spokesperson for the Thomas Farm amusement park proposed for Shelby, notified Dudchock that she wanted to address the commission Oct. 8, but sent an email the morning of the meeting stating she could not attend the meeting.

Sturdivant requested the commissioners and Dudchock email her to express support for the park.

“Remember, we are not asking for financial support right now, just verbal support,” Sturdivant wrote in the email.

During the meeting, Dudchock said Thomas Farm advertised a job fair in July, but canceled it before the set date.

“This is just one indication of what we’re dealing with,” Dudchock said.

According to Dudchock, he received about nine calls concerning the job fair, which included contact from unemployed residents and parents of college students inquiring about seasonal jobs.

Dudchock said he plans to set meetings with the county’s environmental services, development services and health department leadership to discuss the potential park.

During the county commission meeting:

-Dudchock said the Shelby County Airport’s new T-hangars are 100 percent occupied. The airport can accommodate about 90 planes, with plans to hold about 110. A mass storage hangar will be completed by spring, and 16 hangars are still in the design stage.

-County Engineer Randy Cole announced three Alabama Department of Transportation contracts. ALDOT plans to repave Alabama 119 from Alabama 25 to U.S. 31; U.S. 31 from the Interstate 65 bridge in Calera to the Interstate 65 bridge in Alabaster; and Alabama 119 from U.S. 280 to the Shelby-Jefferson County Line.

“I can’t recall a time when we’ve had three repaving contracts like this at the same time,” Cole said.

-Cole also said the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program, an ALDOT program, has opened bids to replace the bridge over Dry Creek, which is located on Shelby County 12.

-The commission unanimously appointed Pelham Police Chief Tommy Thomas to replace retiring Alabaster Police Chief Stanley Oliver on the Shelby County 911 Board of Directors.