The Drew County Quorum Court held its October meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 9, in the Quorum Court Chambers. The meeting opened with a word of prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. The roll was called, and all of the Justices of the Peace were present. The minutes from the September meeting were approved.
Charlie Searcy, County Treasurer, gave his report to the court. Searcy stated that the County General fund looks great right now, but that number is deceiving. He said that an insurance check for the garbage truck that turned over was in the account and that $250,000 makes it look way better than it is. Currently, the account is negative $1.6 million, compared to negative $1.52 million at this point last year. This is due in part to spending $687,000 on courthouse repairs. Searcy said that if you added the courthouse repairs back in, and subtracted the insurance check, the account would be pretty much where it was at this time last year.
“We are in decent shape right now,” Searcy said. “It’s been a good year so far.”
County Judge Jessie Griffin presented his report to the court next. He noted that there have been several county employees who have been involved in compiling a list of sanitation customers who owe over $200 and have not set up any payment arrangements with the county. The people on this list will have their balance added to their taxes moving forward.
Griffin said that the county is implementing new software that will track all work and projects done by county crews. This software will track what the project is, who performed the work, what equipment was used, what and how much supplies are used, and much more. Griffin said that this is important if the county has a big storm and damage occurs. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will only reimburse actual replacement costs instead of estimated replacement costs. This will help to ensure that the county receives the proper reimbursement in the future.
Griffin also noted that three projects are going on for the county. The roof on the jail will be repaired within the next few weeks. The county has also received a $74,000 grant that will be used to repair the basement of the courthouse. The final project is that there is a contractor who is working to replace the brick that fell off of the back corner of the courthouse. He is working to find matching stones at this time.
Griffin added that if anyone knows of any grants that the county could apply for, please contact his office.
Griffin said that there is a safe in one of the elected official’s offices that needs to go. He said that it has been there since around 1912. He said that the county would place an ad in the Advance Monticellonian asking people to bid on it. The ad would also state “If you win it, you are responsible for moving it”.
“That safe is going to go away soon, I promise,” Griffin said. “Even if we have to take the front windows out and shove it out the door.”
Griffin also asked the elected officials to let him know if they have employees who are doing exceptional jobs, or doing something positive that should be recognized. He said that the county should publicly recognize these employees because there are a lot of county employees doing good things.
Judge Griffin then asked all of the Justices of the Peace, as well as Sheriff Tim Nichols, to think about the roads in the county, and determine if speed limits need to be posted. The speed limit in the country is 45 unless otherwise posted. Griffin said that there are many roads in the county where 45 is far too fast. He asked Nichols and the court member to think about this and get back to him.
“I just want people to slow down on our county roads,” Griffin added. “Same for the log truck, get to a major highway. Use the bypass. It may cost you more in fuel cost, but that is far less of an issue than keeping the citizens of Drew County safe.”
Griffin noted that the county is in the second week of Big Smith picking up trash. Griffin added that so far, one person has stated that their trash wasn’t picked up, and a few people have complained that the cans were not put back where they had them. Griffin said that the cans were being placed where they needed to be for the truck with the mechanical arm to reach them. He added that if there is a customer who is disabled or physically unable to get the can to where it needs to be, that the county will work with them. Griffin added that Big Smith has said that everything is going well. They only have one complaint, which is everything needs to be in a garbage bag, even empty Wal-Mart bags because they can blow out of the truck.
“Please make sure to put these empty sacks in your trash bags,” Griffin said. “We don’t need these Arkansas Tumbleweeds blowing around.”
Sheriff Nichols said that repairs on the jail roof should begin in three to four weeks. He also said that the county is losing one deputy who is going to take a job as a Chief of Police in another county. He said they are taking applications. Nichols said that everything appears to be running fine right now.
Searcy presented an appropriation ordinance that would pay the Justices for their service at the recent Grievance Committee hearing. They all had to take a full day off of work, and either use vacation days or go without pay. The court members were not aware that this was happening, but they approved it unanimously.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned until they meet for the November meeting.
