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Drew County Judge Jessie Griffin called the September meeting of the Drew County Quorum Court to order at 6:05 p.m. Monday, September 8. Justice of the Peace Steve Pigott opened the meeting with an invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Judge Griffin.
County Clerk Stephanie Chisom conducted the roll call, with all justices present except Ben Higginbotham and Donna Usry. Judge Griffin added a new item to the agenda regarding a grant application to fund improvements to the historic Jerome School site. The revised agenda and the minutes from the August meeting were both approved unanimously.
County Treasurer Charlie Searcy delivered a financial report next.
The County General Fund currently sits at negative $2.4 million, up from negative $1.8 million at the same time last year. When factoring in taxes and other add-back funds, the balance improves to negative $824,000, compared to negative $258,000 last year.
“All funds dealing with County General are cumulatively at a balance of negative $1.2 million versus the negative $646,000 from a year ago,” Searcy reported.
Searcy also noted that the 1/4 Cent Sales Tax Fund holds a balance of $7.1 million, and General Excess sits at $1.394 million.
“Property taxes are due next month, and we will see how we did collection-wise at the November meeting,” Searcy added.
During his remarks, Judge Griffin updated the court on efforts to improve the county’s household trash collection.
“As of September 2, we have $247,634 in uncollected solid waste bills,” Griffin said. “We are working to get this cleaned up and hope to have a better report for you next month.”
The county has now turned over all dumpster collection services to Big Smith, leaving individual customers to decide whether to continue with that provider or seek alternatives.
Judge Griffin shared that three companies are currently working to expand broadband internet access to outlying areas of Drew County. Talks are underway to keep costs manageable for residents.
“Broadband in more areas of Drew County is quickly becoming a reality,” Griffin said.
He also highlighted a recent Monticello Library ribbon cutting celebrating the newly renovated Story Walk, a walking path surrounding the library with children’s storybook pages posted along the route to encourage reading and outdoor activity.
Griffin issued a plea to local residents to stop stealing county road signs, noting that crews worked all summer to replace missing signs only for the new ones to be stolen again.
“This creates serious safety concerns and problems for emergency responders,” Griffin said.
Judge Griffin announced that the closure of the old Class I Landfill is now complete. The county plans to sell the property after determining its value, with advertisements to appear in the newspaper soon.
Two permanent Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality restrictions will apply to the land:
In new business, the court passed two appropriation ordinances.
The first ordinance allocated $9,276.87 from County General to replace the air conditioning unit in the District Court building.
The second ordinance authorized the Drew County Sheriff’s Office to purchase a new K-9 unit. Sheriff Tim Nichols stated that the $71,539 needed for the fully equipped vehicle is already available through his office’s funds, ensuring no county money will be used for the purchase.
Judge Griffin also discussed the opportunity to apply for up to $100,000 in grant funding to make repairs to the historic Jerome School site. The county would be required to provide a 10 percent match of the awarded funds.
Griffin said he would prepare the application and present it to the court for consideration at a future meeting.
The Drew County Quorum Court will reconvene in October, where updates on solid waste billing, and ongoing county projects are expected to be discussed.
