By Tara DeRock Mahoney
Senior Staff Writers

Morgan County Commissioners will discuss at their work session later this month whether to approve a 50-cent surcharge on telephone bills for Emergency-911 services. The new charge could eventually help fund a new E-911 command center within the new jail building on Highway 83 in Madison.
   

“I think it’s a good idea to include E-911 [within the new jail facility], given the problems we’ve had at the current location,” said Commissioner Ellen Warren. “And this money can help offset the cost of that facility.”
   

The current E-911 command center, which is housed in a manufactured building behind the county courthouse on Hancock Street in downtown Madison, has been plagued in recent years with power surges and electrical problems that have occasionally affected computer use in the facility. The building has weathered at least one lightning strike in close proximity to the structure.
   

In other business, the county had a second reading for proposed changes to its “Streets, Sidewalks, and Other Public Property” ordinance, also known as Chapter 62 of the Code of Morgan County. The change enumerate 50 roads in Morgan County upon which truck traffic is not permitted, unless drivers can show proof of specific business on those roads. A new sub-chapter related to “Non-Truck Special Use Permit” will be added to the ordinance. In short, trucks of a certain size (more than 30 feet long and in excess of 36,000 pounds) are permitted only on specified truck routes within the county, unless equipped with a special permit. Vehicles designed to carry only passengers will be exempt from the new rules.
   

A review of the county’s annual audit was expected to take place Tuesday afternoon during the commissioners’ regular meeting.  Coverage of that review will be available in next week’s issue of the Morgan County Citizen.