County Commission | The Magazine April 2020 | Page 13

FROM THE COVER
ACEA: Leading the Way in
Local Transportation
C
alling the affiliate groups
“pillars of the Association”
seems to be a good fit for the
way county engineers see their
group’s supporting role within
ACCA.
“The relationship between
staff and our elected officials
is the key to providing quality
services,” said Richie Beyer,
Elmore County’s Chief
Engineer and Operations
Officer. “Similarly, our
efforts in Montgomery
with the administration,
Legislature and state
agencies require a team
effort to provide the
insight and innovation to
ensure county government is in a
position to provide the best services
possible.”
The Association of County
Engineers of Alabama, founded in
1952, has its own annual conference
and monthly webinars with ACCA
staff. Engineers also participate
actively in ACCA’s major events
— the Convention and Legislative
Conference — which always feature
educational breakout sessions specific
to their work.
“Many times, we are the eyes and
ears for the commission out in the
field,” said Engineer Justin Barfield of
Geneva County. As ACEA’s current
president, he serves on ACCA’s board
in an ex officio capacity. “When
issues — good and bad — arise, we
do as much legwork as we can to help
benefit ACCA.”
The engineers’ group has
definitely made its mark on ACCA’s
legislative priorities. Passage of 2019’s
Engineers and many other members of the County Family were all smiles
after 111 legislators voted for the Rebuild Alabama Act during a five-day
special session.
Rebuild Alabama Act demanded
a united effort from the County
Family, along with a broad coalition,
to secure the first increase to
recurring funding for Alabama roads
and bridges since 1992. Revenue
comes primarily from a phased-in,
10-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline
and diesel fuels.
But county engineers prepared
the way, spearheading the DRIVE
Alabama campaign to highlight
both the tremendous benefits of the
original ATRIP road and bridge
projects, as well as the vast remaining
needs. In support of Rebuild
Alabama, engineers undertook a
massive data collection and analysis
project to show, on a county-by-
county basis and statewide, the
existing needs and anticipated impact
of them continuing unmet.
“The years of work that went into
the passage of Rebuild Alabama show
one of our group’s greatest assets: the
tenacity to work toward solutions to
serve the public interest,” said Beyer.
Another noteworthy
accomplishment that originated
with ACEA is the Alabama County
Joint Bid Program, which received
legislative authorization exactly 20
years ago. The cooperative purchasing
program is best known for securing
highly competitive prices on heavy
equipment and road department
supplies, but it has had other
applications, such as voting machines
and disaster debris removal services.
Emphasizing the impact of
ACCA and ACEA, Sumter County
Engineer Anthony Crear said,
“I believe we’ve saved money on
equipment purchases, replaced more
bridges and resurfaced more roads
due to the effectiveness of this group.
Rebuild Alabama is the third ‘once-
in-a-lifetime’ program we’ve seen.”
ACEA members area also active
at the national level, advocating
COUNTY COMMISSION | 13