Although a proposed appropriation ordinance that would give the city of Pine Bluff $15,000 for its summer youth programs was approved by two committees of the Jefferson County Quorum Court, one member of the county’s legislative body wasn’t happy with the decision.
Justice of the Peace Mandy Alford, chairman of the Community Development/Grants Committee, said the county had already given the city $25,000 for the program earlier this year.
“We’ve never got a report back on how they used that money,” Alford said.
Sheriff Gerald Robinson had asked that $15,000 be taken from the adult jail Clean Team account and put into the jail budget for the summer youth program.
Justice of the Peace Ted Harden asked if the program was for Pine Bluff only and Alford said yes.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The proposal was approved by both Alford’s committee and by the Finance Committee and will be voted on during the regular Quorum Court meeting next Monday, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
In another matter, a resolution dealing with a consent order from the Arkansas Department of Enviro0nmental Quality about the county’s tire recycling program was also recommended for approval.
The order was the result of an inspection of the facility on Gravel Pit Road, which found that the tire recycling center was exceeding its maximum storage limit of processed tires.
Former County Judge Jack Jones, who was in office when the tire recycling facility first opened, questioned current County Judge Mike Holcomb about the order, asking where the money was going to come from since the order authorizes Holcomb and County Treasurer Elizabeth Rinchuso to spend funds necessary to comply with the order.
Holcomb replied that an engineering program has already started to correct the problem, and Holcomb said tire residue will be buried behind the landfill, then used for parking of county vehicles and other uses.
“We have plenty of time to do this and it’s not going to cost anything,” Holcomb said.
Also Tuesday, a proposed ordinance transferring $35,900 from various sources to the 6th Division Circuit Court Juvenile Court for a variety of uses was also recommended for approval.
Those funds will be spent for office supplies, fuel, oil and lubricants, expenses for teen and drug court, and expenses for Volunteer Probation Officers.
Asked by Justice of the Peace Alfred Carroll what those expenses are, Juvenile Judge Earnest Brown said they included training expenses for the officers, now called Auxiliary Probation Officers, and involve a number of individuals.
Although not on the formal agenda, Justice of the Peace Lloyd Franklin II questioned Holcomb about repairs Franklin said were needed at the Historical Museum.
Franklin said he had received a letter from the director of the museum complaining about buckling sidewalks, roof leaks and other problems, and wanted to know why those problems hadn’t been addressed by the County Building and Grounds Department.
“We’ve fixed things over there and we will continue to fix things but we’ve got a lot of county buildings and a lot of them are old buildings,” Holcomb said. “Building and Grounds doesn’t have the money in their budget but if you want to appropriate more money to them, they will fix everything.”
Alford said she had talked to several members of the museum board who said the problems “weren’t as bad” as those the museum director had reported, and Franklin said he hadn’t talked to members of the board.
Franklin also complained about Holcomb issuing a court order to finance the moving of the Watson Chapel Volunteer Fire Department building without telling the Quorum Court members about his action.
Holcomb responded by saying that court orders have been issued for a variety of things for a number of years and he would “continue to do so” if the need arose.
Justices of the Peace Vannette Johnson and Paul Jones were absent Tuesday night.