Justice of the Peace Caroline Rogers continued her efforts to impose controls and restrictions on the wind turbine project south of Green Forest. At the Aug. 19 meeting of the quorum court, Rogers said she has asked Scout Clean Energy to appear before the JPs to answer questions about plans to deal with the possibility of fire.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steven Simmons reminded her again that she had been party to a lawsuit against Scout, and she could not expect them to voluntarily enter into a discussion with her.
Rogers sponsored another agenda item, to discuss a grievance process. She said she would like the quorum court to put public complaints on the agenda for a full deliberation. JP Craig Hicks warned that most complaints are directed toward a specific department, and the quorum court has no authority over other elected officials. “We can’t make the county judge pave a road, or make the sheriff use a certain tow company,” he said. “We need to be careful not to overstep our bounds.”
The other JPs said the current procedure for dealing with grievances works well. Anyone can contact a JP, who can bring a topic to the quorum court. Rogers’ motion to create a grievance process died for lack of a second.
In other business:
- Public Comments have been a big part of meetings for the past two years. With most of the issues surrounding the wind turbines settled, there were no public comments at this meeting.
- During the miscellaneous portion of the meeting, James Kelley, foreman of the Road Dept. delivered an update on current projects. He mentioned that a wing wall had fallen at a bridge on Carroll Road 741. A bridge on Carroll Road 803 needs to have a rusted metal culvert replaced with concrete, and a bridge on Carroll Road 625 is starting to sag in the middle. Kelley explained that the department currently has two graders out of service. He also described steering problems with trucks bought a year ago.
- A resolution confirmed the resignation of Lamont Richie and confirmed the appointment of Suzanne Childers as a member of the Eureka Springs Library Board.
- A resolution confirmed the appointment of Harper Goodwin as a member of the Carroll County Airport Commission.
- An item appeared on the agenda to repeal a resolution passed earlier this year, but it was tabled for further study. The resolution under consideration had provided tax incentives for new businesses.
- JPs appropriated $16,000 to replace the roof on the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. JP Craig Hicks said the budget committee had considered the roof replacement last winter, and it has begun leaking again.
- During JP comments, Hicks said the $4,000,000 project to replace the county’s radio system is almost complete. He said the new system will better serve police, fire and other emergency personnel. Hicks also reminded everyone that no tax money was used in the project.