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COLUMBIANA – Shelby County Probate Judge Allison Boyd led a swearing-in ceremony for the members of the Shelby County Commission on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Commissioners Lindsey Allison, Elwyn Bearden, Tommy Edwards, Robbie Hayes, Kevin Morris, Jon Parker, Rick Shepherd, Mike Vest and Ward Williams took their oaths of office, marking the start of a new term.

Hayes defeated challenger Susan Lane in the Nov. 3 General Election to retain the District 9 seat.

The rest of the Commission featured uncontested races with Morris for District 1, Edwards for District 2, Parker for District 3, Williams for District 4, Bearden for District 5, Vest for District 6, Allison for District 7 and Shepherd for District 8.

Following the ceremony, the Commission held an organizational meeting to vote on meeting dates and bids for two highway projects.

The Commission approved a resolution for its meetings to be held on the second Monday each month at 8:30 a.m. and the fourth Monday each month at 6 p.m.

According to the resolution, any exceptions to future regularly scheduled meetings will be addressed in the holiday calendar approval resolution each year or at a meeting prior to the change.

The Commission also voted to appoint Commissioner Elwyn Bearden to serve as chairperson and Commissioner Robbie Hayes to serve as vice chairperson.

Regarding the highway project bids, the Commission approved:

• A bid of $503,363 from the lowest responsive bidder, Selective Inc., for the intersection improvements and traffic signal installation at Shelby County 41 and Hugh Daniel Drive.
• A bid of $899,924 from the lowest responsive bidder, Winston Contracting LLC, for the intersection improvements at Shelby County 87 and Weathervane Road.