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The Drew County Quorum Court met at 6 p.m. in the District Court Building on Monday, February 10. After calling the roll, all of the Justices of the Peace were present except for Roger Harris and Sheila Maxwell. The court voted to approve the minutes from last month’s meeting and the agenda for this month’s meeting.
Charlie Searcy, County Treasurer, reported that at the end of January, County General was at $437,467.25. At the end of January 2024, County General was at $204,886. The discrepancy is due to the final payment for the courthouse repairs being paid in 2024.
Drew County Judge Jessie Griffin presented Judy Calhoun with a Certificate of Appreciation for her 30-plus years of service to the Monticello Branch Library.
“It has been my honor to serve the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library for over 30 years,” Calhoun said. “Please keep supporting our library.”
Judge Griffin then gave the following State of the County Address:
“Before I begin, I would like to thank the citizens of Drew County. I believe it is important to recognize that when I say “I”, “we”, or “you”, I am referring to all of us, it takes every one of us working together to get this job done.
I am pleased to report that Drew County is in excellent shape both financially and in terms of management. As your Drew County Judge, I feel blessed to serve in this role. Our elected officials have continually demonstrated their commitment by offering outstanding support, and the members of the Quorum Court have always prioritized the needs of our community.
I would also like to acknowledge several key departments:
The Road Department has made sure that our roads are well maintained, and our team is always ready to assist whenever needed. Landfill operations are good. Thanks to the hard work of a dedicated team and our close collaboration with AEDQ, the landfill has seen significant improvements and now meets all required standards. Our Sanitation Department is working on collecting past-due accounts, which is one of our more challenging tasks. We are making progress and are committed to resolving these issues promptly.
I also want to extend my gratitude to all the employees across every county office for their exceptional work ethic and positive attitude. Your efforts are the backbone of our success, and I am confident that we will continue to build on this momentum in the coming year.
Let it also be known that the City of Monticello and Drew County have stopped the “us and them” attitude. We are working closely on several projects.
It is also exciting to announce that Drew County was awarded $1,259,731 in grant money last year.
In conclusion, Drew County is in great shape, and I look forward to working with all of you to make this year even more successful. Thank you, and let’s continue moving forward together.”
Representatives from Options, Inc. were present to revisit adding them as a voluntary donation on Drew County citizens’ tax bills. The Justices all agreed that Options’ cause was a worthy one, and they were all for helping them, but several questioned whether or not this was the best way to do so. Justice Frank Appleberry questioned why out of the seven counties served by Options only two, Ashley and Drew, offered any financial support, and why the other five counties had not been propositioned for assistance before coming in to ask about being added to Drew County tax bills.
The Justices requested a budget and financial statements to see what Options needs. This would allow them to make a more informed decision.
Drew County Collector Tonya Loveless added that there are logistical issues as Animal Control is already on the tax bill. With the bills lacking a “check the box” option, there is no way to differentiate where people's money would go.
There was also discussion of removing Animal Control as an option. The funds collected in the voluntary donation go to 2nd Chance Fur Dogs, who do not pick up dogs in the county. Several members of the court felt that the county shouldn’t be funding them if they serve the City of Monticello. Some members present stated that whenever the issue came up to vote a few years ago, the court was misled about the fact that they didn’t take dogs from the county.
A motion to table all of these issues until next month was made.
The court then approved an ordinance to clean up budgetary items. These items were caused by items that were incorrectly calculated in the 2024 budget.
With nothing further on the agenda, the Drew County Quorum Court adjourned until the March meeting.
