Drew County Judge Jessie Griffin opened the April meeting of the Drew County Quorum Court at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 15. Sheriff Tim Nichols gave an invocation and all present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. County Clerk Stephanie Chisom called the roll and found that all of the Justices of the Peace were present. The members of the court then approved the minutes from March’s meeting and approved the April meeting agenda.
Judge Griffin informed the court that Caleb Bryan from the Office of Emergency Management had worked his final day for the county. He would be moving to Louisiana to be near his family. His replacement has been trained and OEM operations will continue as usual.
Judge Griffin announced that the county will be doing a bulk trash pickup soon. The pickups will take place over two weeks, and the landfill will offer a free dump day for Drew County citizens. Dates will be announced when all of the details have been ironed out with Big Smith, who does the trash pick up for the county.
Judge Griffin noted that he and other county employees had been working with Doug Owens to locate and clean up some of the old cemeteries located around Drew County. Several that have been found recently have been added to the historic registry.
He also stated that the county is also making sure that all of its cyber security protocols are effective and in compliance.
Judge Griffin also said that his office has received numerous calls about properties with excessive junk or trash in their yards. He said that there is a statute that would allow his office to fine property owners with nuisance properties, but they would need to be extreme situations.
“If they have an old truck in their yard with weeds growing around it I’m not dealing with that,” Griffin stated. “I mean this is Arkansas, what do you expect?”
Judge Griffin also announced that his office has started an information-based Facebook page. He stressed that the page is to get information out to the citizens of Drew County only, it is not and will not be the complaint department. All problems and complaints can be addressed by calling his office.
Sheriff Nichols reported that the Drew County Sheriff’s Office is preparing to launch a mobile app. It will be free to the public and is compatible with both Apple and Android products. Consumers can sign up for push notifications and will get sex offender notices, be able to view the jail roster, and much more.
Nichols also stated that the recent repairs to the roof of the Detention Facility were successful, as no leaks were reported after the copious amounts of rain Monticello has received over the past week.
A motion was made to appoint Marty Baker to the Equalization Board. The appointment was unanimously approved.
The court approved an Appropriation Ordinance regarding maintenance contracts and office supplies for the Drew County Health Department. The ordinance would allocate $3,250 for office supplies, and $1,408.50 for termite abatement and generator maintenance.
The court also approved an Appropriation Ordinance to build shelves, a front counter, and a safe box in the Collector’s Office. This would allocate $15,000 for labor and building supplies. These funds are in an account that the Collector already has, this will authorize the funds to be spent for specified purposes.
Chisom announced that the County Clerk’s Office is now taking passport photos to go along with the applications, making the Clerk’s Office a one-stop shop for passport needs.
With nothing further on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned until 6 p.m. on Monday, May 13.
