The Chilton County Commission voted unanimously Monday to allow county Emergency Assistance Center Director Bill Collum to have the county’s warning sirens replaced.

Collum will contact vendors about immediately making the repairs, and a contract on such repairs will be bidded out.

The decision was a timely one, considering storms early Monday morning destroyed 17 homes in Chilton County—including the home of commission Chairman Tim Mims—and damaged about 75 more.

Commissioners thanked local emergency responders and residents who helped respond to the situation.

In other business, the commission:

•Approved spending $1,400 a year for an attraction sign for Minooka Park at the Interstate 65 Exit 219, plus a one-time fee of $300 to have an RV logo added to the sign. The commission voted 5-1 in favor of the action, with Mims absent from the meeting and Joe Headley opposed.

•Nominated Neal Bice to the Chilton Medical Center hospital board.

•Rescinded the county’s drug testing policy and instituted a new one that was recommended by the Association of County Commissions and the Alabama County Commission Association, and approved by the commission’s legal counsel.