Jefferson County Commission Sets Up $1 Million Virus Fund, Extends County Closings Through April
By Solomon Crenshaw Jr
The Jefferson County Commission used its second emergency meeting of the COVID-19 pandemic to extend the closure of county facilities until April 30 and set up a $1 million COVID-19 fund to handle needs as they arise.
The panel, which conducted a virtual meeting via the Zoom app, transferred $1 million from the county’s Catastrophic Event Fund to handle virus-related costs.
Commissioner Lashunda Scales questioned how the $1 million figure was derived. Commission President Jimmie Stephens said that amount is a “place holder” so that money can be in place as the need arises. He cited a similar action the commission took following the rash of tornadoes on April 27, 2011, that struck Jefferson County.
“There was a need for chainsaws, so the county went out and purchased chainsaws and came back and presented those invoices,” Stephens recalled. “As long as those invoices were reasonable, they were reimbursed at that time.
“That process will be followed here also,” he said.
Commissioner Joe Knight, chair of the commission’s finance committee, said the COVID-19 Fund has been established in the general fund.
“We’re won’t have to go to all these different areas at the end to see where we spent money and how,” he said. “It’s going to be all categorized under one heading of the COVID-19 Fund. We just capitalized that fund by moving money out of the emergency fund into that fund (for) whatever emergency may arise or whatever we might need it for. Hopefully we won’t. It’s just an accounting thing.”
The first $80,750 of that $1 million was used to purchase 55 hospital beds from Jett Medical Company in the event a “surge hospital” must be established. Such a facility will be set up if local hospitals become overcrowded.
Knight cited what’s being done in New York with the mercy ship and at the Javits Center.
“They’re setting up all those cots in the event they need them,” he said. “That’s your surge facility, in case all our hospitals get overloaded and you need to put maybe patients that aren’t COVID patients, move them over there.”
Knight said the Sheraton Birmingham hotel is being considered for that use, adding that the Army Corps of Engineers is expected to make a report soon. He added that facilities will be needed to house doctors, nurses and the like who are on the frontline of treating patients.
“There’s no manuscript, there’s no playbook here,” Knight said. “But we watch the other cities, what they’re doing, in New York especially, how (New York Governor Andrew) Cuomo’s doing it. That’s why you set up these unified command centers and incident management teams so that you try to speak countywide with one voice.”
Mississippi’s tech scene is in a catch-22. How can it move forward?
Mississippi ranks near the bottom for the size of its tech industry. But despite its shortcomings, some believe the state is not far from its own tech boom.
London-bound Air India flight with more than 240 aboard crashes in Ahmedabad, India
A Boeing 787 crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad city five minutes after taking off. The flight was bound for London's Gatwick Airport. There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard.
Public media funding up in the air as House prepares to vote on claw backs
public-media-funding-up-in-the-air-as-house-prepares-to-vote-on-claw-backs
She served the American people for 35 years. Now her retirement income is on the line
As part of Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," the House voted to end a retirement supplement aimed at helping federal employees who retire before they're 62.
By the numbers: A look at the Army’s 250th anniversary parade on Trump’s birthday
In a few days, the nation's capital will host its largest military parade in more than three decades. We look at some numbers behind the celebration and the key historical moments leading up to it.
House GOP plan to gut green energy tax credits meets resistance in Senate
Several Republican senators say they're opposed to the wholescale repeal of certain clean energy tax credits passed by the House. Their phones have been ringing off the hook from industry leaders and energy lobbyists who want to make sure the Senate makes changes to the bill.
