New Madison County Chairman hits the ground running on first day in office

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - Rex Vaughn, newly sworn-in Madison County Commission Chairman, hit the ground running Thursday morning on his first day in the office.

His first official visitor was Commissioner Phil Vandiver, whom he used to drive to school at Sparkman High.

WAFF spoke exclusively to Vaughn this morning.

He is a sixth-generation Madison County resident, lifelong farmer, Alabama Farmers Federation leader, and, for the last 5 years, Chairman of the Alabama Cannabis Commission.

Vaughn says he is ready to deal with the “good problems” that need solving. First, rapid growth in Madison County. Second, residential and business growth, especially with no county-wide zoning regulations.

“We’ve got to manage those issues carefully. And the developers, they have their agendas. They wanted to get their projects built and built out fast. But at the same time, the county’s got to help them manage things like sewage problems or filtration systems, what we use now. Because the days of septic tanks are, I think, are long past. So now we’re looking at these mega sewage systems within a development or an area or a region of the county that we’ve got to maintain carefully. They cannot be built haphazardly,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn faces building a new courthouse and hiring a new county administrator, too.

He will soon resign from the Alabama Cannabis Commission.

Click Here to Subscribe on YouTube: Watch the latest WAFF 48 news, sports & weather videos on our YouTube channel!