Pike County commissioners approved signing an agreement with Regional Environmental Solutions and Recycling, during its weekly meeting Monday.

The agreement would help the county in acquiring $100,000 in grant money through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in an effort to clean up illegal dumping sites throughout the Pike County area.

Cornelia Sanders, Assistant County Engineer, said the contract agreement allots the company a minimum of $10,000 or 7.5 percent of the grant money off the top, whichever happens to be the greater amount.

“Acquiring grant money through ADEM is something we’ve done three times on our own now,” Sanders said.

If the county receives the grant money through ADEM with the assistance of the company, then, of the $100,000 that is supposed to go toward county-wide clean up, the county can bank on acquiring at the most $90,000.

“As far as how the contract reads, the company doesn’t offer to clean up anything,” Sanders said.

The company only helps in acquiring the grant money, but not the clean up efforts, according to Sanders.

“We have 365 days to do up to $100,000 worth of clean up to the illegal dumping sites however we see fit,” Sanders said.

“We find the sites, submit them and then get them approved for clean up.”

However, less money for cleaning up means fewer sites that get cleaned up, according to Sanders. In other items on the agenda during Monday’s meeting, Pike County Probate Judge Wes Allen requested the commission approve the hiring of Lee May, of Troy, to serve as Probate Court Clerk.

The commission approved Allen’s request and, according to Allen, May will start Monday.

Jeanna Barnes, Pike County EMA director, submitted a request to accept almost $12,000 of state-awarded grant money to aid in updating EMA equipment and to fill a full-time position, which was already approved in the budget, but was denied by the commission. The commission also approved a grant awarded to the Pike County Sheriff’s office for new fingerprinting technology.