BY HANNAH GOLDFINGER
FOR THE OBSERVER
LEE COUNTY — During the Lee County Commission Meeting Monday night, the county received an update on the broadband project taking place within the county.
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act funding, the county designated over $4.4 million to broadband coverage in Lee County. Although ARPA funds were designated following COVID-19, the commission was under no obligation to allocate or spend the money until the end of 2024.
The commission has been working toward reaching unserved or underserved areas of coverage since being awarded the funding.
Monday night, the county heard an update from BEAM Broadband, who is working with the county to help reach these unserved or underserved areas.
Justin Hurst, a representative for BEAM, said that BEAM is currently focusing on five areas, which include two areas from Phase 1 and three areas from Phase 2 of the project.
Hurst said BEAM wants to “grow right alongside the communities.” He said BEAM is preparing for two to three times the current usage in an effort to prepare for future needs in the communities.
“We didn’t just plan for today, we planned for the future,” Hurst said.
The gigabit speed can also be updated in the future, he said.
Mike Holt, a second representative for BEAM, shared that the Phase 1 Salem project has been completed. This project encompasses 10.5 miles and 110 homes.
The South-Central Phase 1 project is nearing completion, expected to wrap up in December. It covers 11 miles and 187 homes.
The East-Central Phase 2 project is under construction and will cover 370 homes and is expected to finish in November. Some areas have already begun receiving coverage, however, Holt said.
The South-Central Phase 2 project is also under construction and will cover 3.6 miles and 127 homes. It will begin first activation in October and completion in March of 2026.
The South-East Phase 2 project is expected to begin construction on distribution in January of 2026 and be completed in September of 2026.
Helping Families Initiative
Lee County District Attorney Jessica Ventiere provided an update to the commission Monday night regarding the Helping Families Initiative, which has been in place about three years.
“This is created directly in response to the increase in juvenile crime that we have seen in Lee County,” she said.
Ventiere said that over the last ten years, juvenile crime and juvenile victims have “increased significantly.”
“Prevention is the best way to attack juvenile offenses, and our Helping Families project directly goes to that,” she said.
Over the course of two years, the juvenile court has gone from one part-time prosecutor to two full-time assistant district attorneys.
Additionally, there is now a full-time court administrator.
The court system has also instituted the Diversion Program for juveniles. This program allows for their record to be wiped clean if conditions are met. Juveniles who go through the Diversion Program receive a plan that is fitted to their needs and offense.
“No juvenile is turned away for the inability to pay,” Ventiere said.
The program includes their plan and a proctored essay.
One of the functions of the District Attorney’s office is to make sure children are in school.
Ventiere said the Helping Families Initiative — along with the school systems, parents and teachers — has significantly helped increase the number of students staying in schools.
The absentee rate (truancy) for 2022-2023 was over 20%, but it has decreased to 12.84% now.
“We’re hoping to expand our efforts in truancy and we’re also hoping to expand our efforts in behaviors that are disruptive in the classroom, as well, to keep our schools safe as possible,” Ventiere said.
One of the projects that the Helping Families Initiative is currently pursuing is the Next Man Up Mentoring Program.
This is a nine-week program led by the juvenile prosecutors.
Local mentors will reach seventh to tenth-grade boys, Ventiere said. The program will launch first in Loachapoka High School and move from there into Beulah, Beauregard and Smiths Station schools. Following that, it will move into Opelika and Auburn City Schools.
“They will talk about a whole lot of different things, including leadership, self-respect, good judgment, good decision making and most importantly, civil discourse,” Ventiere said.
The initiative is also partnering with Southern Union, the Work Force Council of Opelika, Auburn University and the school systems to host the Lee County Student Summit.
This will be a one-day event for upcoming graduates to make a plan for themselves following high school graduation.
“We want those students that fly below the radar that maybe aren’t the best students, they’re not the most tied-in in school and they don’t have the network that some of our other students do,” Ventiere said. “Those are the students that we want.”
Text My Gov
The county will launch its TextMyGov program for citizens on Aug. 4. The county announced this text message program Monday night, sharing that it will allow the county to text residents updates.
Number 80946 will be the county text number, and citizens can opt out.
Any resident who doesn’t receive a text can opt in manually by texting that number “Lee.”
Over 42,600 numbers are already in the county system, said Wendy Swann, governmental relations coordinator.
“We have created lists for specific notifications such as agendas, garbage billing, etc.,” she said. “And we have created lists for each of the commission districts.”
District 3 Commissioner Jeff Drury said he’s excited for the program and has already been telling his citizens about it.
“I think it’s going to be really good for the citizens to be able to narrow down some of that information and just another resource for them to be able to get different information,” Swann said.
Other Business:
The commission recognized several sports teams and clubs from Lee County Schools.
Samantha Brasher Godsy approached the commission Monday night with an update on the Horseshoe Bend Regional Library and to ask the commission to consider an appropriations request by the library.
The commission updated the county on a public records request made by citizen Lance Farrar. During the last meeting, Farrar expressed dissatisfaction with the county’s record policy, requesting access to documents he said he had been denied. The county confirmed with Farrar that he has now received the documents he requested.
The commission approved a Grant Consultant Agreement with Basic Administrative Solutions to have someone serve as a grant consultant to the county to help bring in more funding.
The commission tabled a vote on the termination of the Subdivision Review and Approval Process Agreement.
The commission approved an ABC Lounge Retail Liquor Application for Chalk it Up Bar & Grill LLC.
The commission approved an ABC Special Retail License for Clubs and Hatchets LLC (D4).
The commission approved a service agreement with Perigrine Technologies, Inc, for data collection for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
The commission voted to re-appoint District 4 Commissioner Tony Langley to a second term as the 2025-2026 Representative on ACCA’s Legislative Committee.
County Administrator Holly Leverette updated the commission on the County Attorney Search, outlining parameters and a timeline.
The commission voted to establish the 2026 Budget Work Sessions on Aug. 26 at 4 p.m., Aug. 25 at 5 p.m., Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. and Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. One of these days will serve as an extra. The 4 p.m. meetings on Aug. 27 and Sept. 9 will occur during the commission’s already-scheduled work sessions.
The commission approved F.Y. 2025 Local Resurfacing Bid – LCP 41-RALR-25.
The commission approved F.Y. 2025 Local Striping Bid – LCP 41-SRPM-25.
The commission approved the MAAP Subdivision.
The commission approved a vote for the Farmville Fire Department Parking Area Assistance. This would be for paving the parking area.
