Crenshaw County is soon to be one step closer to replacing a number of bridges in the county.

Last year, the county was awarded grant money for bridge renovations through the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP).

County engineer Benjie Sanders said on Monday that the agreements for the first two ATRIP projects had come through.

The resolutions cover the bridges over Sweetwater Creek and the Little Patsaliga on the Honoraville Highway.

Sanders said that the estimate for the project given by the state was lower than the estimated cost submitted.

“They’ve got a computer program that gives estimates based on historical data,” said Sanders, who added that sometimes that can cause estimates to be lower.  He said that he had placed a call to the Alabama Department of Transportation but had not received a response before the meeting.

In another upcoming project, Sanders said that the county’s solid waste management plan is set to expire in 2014.

The plan has to be updated every 10 years, and Sanders said he expects revising the plan to be “pretty involved.”

“There are some changes to recycling programs,” he said. “I don’t think you’d just be able to change a few things and move on.”

The Commission also voted to pre-apply for a grant to build a boat ramp in the county.

An application was made last year, but it was not funded by the state.

The deadline for pre-applications is May 31, and if accepted, a formal application would be due in August.

In other business, Commission member Charlie Sankey said the county needs to look at options to replace the windows in the courthouse.

“We’ve been talking about it for four or five years, but we need to figure out how we’re going to fund it,” he said.

He also said there may soon be enough money in capital improvements to do the project.

“If we can get that behind us, it’ll be behind us for another 20 years,” Sankey said.

The Commission approved a motion to get estimates on the cost of replacing the windows.

The Commission also approved the hiring of a part-time employee to act as a driver for county inmates as the inmates work to clean the county’s roadsides.

EMA director Jessica Seabrook said that the county had gotten $77,000 back in surplus grant money from the state.

The funds were related to the county’s storm shelters, and Seabrook said that with the refund, the county now has no money invested in the shelters.

“With the exception of the little bit we pay in electricity, we have nothing in the shelters,” she said.