The County Roads Department received funding for a dump truck at Monday’s meeting, but the Quorum Court turned down a request for a pickup truck. County Judge Sam Barr had listed the dump truck in his budget request for this year, but the item was inadvertently left off during the budget process. Justices of the peace approved $150,000 for that truck, but not $32,000 for a used pickup.
JP Jack Deaton said he had confidence that the judge had found the vehicle he needed, but JP Lamont Richie said the Roads Department could find a new vehicle for less money, and vote was 6-5 against allocating the money for the pickup.
Richie also reported, regarding security cameras at the county detention center, that the county had been written up repeatedly for inadequacies in its camera system. The court had approved up to $200,000 for the project, which was put out for bid statewide. Of the four bids received, the lowest was for $197,000. Richie said jail administrator Lt. Jerry Williams would oversee the installation.
In other business
JPs approved $12,000 to upgrade the cameras in the eastern district courthouse. They took similar steps last month with western district courthouse cameras.
- Richie said he had received a request from Circuit Judge Scott Jackson about the courthouse in Berryville where Jackson proposed replacing carpet with a laminate floor and repainting the courtroom. The project will cost about $10,000, and an ordinance will come to the table next month.
- JP Craig Hicks said raises for county employees were not distributed properly at the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, although many of the 33 employees affected have already had their paychecks corrected. In the past, department heads usually had some discretion in distributing raises, but Richie reminded JPs that this raise had specifically given 40 cents per hour to each employee. “We wanted to give the lowest paid workers a higher percentage raise,” he said.
- With the number of calls to central dispatch increasing rapidly, JPs heard a report calling for increased staffing, as well as higher pay. They may consider adding two or three part-time workers to help fill in holes in the schedule.
- A new personnel handbook has been in the works for some time, and JP Noreen Watson said she is sending a draft to all department heads, JPs, and other elected officials. Richie explained that much of the new manual comes in response to the risk management firm that advises the Association of Arkansas Counties. He urged the JPs to look over the draft carefully since it will eventually be adopted by ordinance.