Ordinances that will allow Jefferson County to borrow money to purchase used dump trucks and a chiller unit for the air conditioning system at the county courthouse were approved without dissent Monday night, after some initial confusion over how many times the proposals must be read.
Because they were appropriation ordinances, state law required them to be read three times, but an initial vote to suspend the rules and read them by title only was approved, speeding up the process.
The county will borrow $81,157.46 from Relyance Bank to buy three used dump trucks, and repay that amount in three annual installments of $21,157.46 with the money coming from the county’s road fund.
In the case of the chiller, the loan will be $215,105, also from Relyance Bank, and will be repaid in in 60 monthly installments of $3,830.64 from the county general fund.
A proposed appropriation ordinance that would transfer $40,000 from a grant the sheriff’s department received from the U.S. Department of Justice to the construction of the new sheriff’s department office building was also approved.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Justice of the Peace Ted Harden said he had talked to Sheriff Gerald Robinson, who has requested 10 percent of more than $2 million that was seized by federal authorities in a joint investigation with the county in 2011.
According to federal guidelines, the money from the Department of Justice’s Equitable Sharing Program for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies may be used for the “purchase, lease, construction, expansion, improvement or operation of law enforcement or detention facilities.”
Harden said the federal statute also provides that the maximum amount that can be held in the Equitable Sharing Program is $240,000, so it is necessary to clear out the money that is in the account now. He said Robinson expects to receive about $230,000 additionally from the program soon, and that money will also be transferred into the fund for the new sheriff’s department building.
On another matter, a 2013 budget for the operation of an electronic waste recycling center for the five northern counties of the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District was approved.
A $165,601 grant has been received from the district for the center, which will serve Jefferson, Arkansas, Cleveland, Grant and Lincoln counties, and will be located in a building the county owns behind Pope Furniture Co., on East Harding Avenue in Pine Bluff.
All of the renovation and operating expenses for the center will be funded by state recycling grants, and no county money will be required.
An ordinance that will allow the recycling department to purchase a used air conditioner from a current county employee also was approved. The department owns an enclosed trailer that is used during recycling events and the air conditioner is needed to allow personnel to cool off during summer events. The cost of that used unit was listed in the proposed ordinance as $500.
A proposed ordinance to pay attorney Burt Newell up to $20,000 to represent the county in its case against the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System and J. Y. Williams was approved.
The county is contesting a claim by the retirement system that Williams is owed retirement benefits and interest. County officials contend that Williams was never a county employee.
County Judge Dutch King said Newell has been in contact with the retirement board and it has agreed not to attempt any collections from the county until the matter is settled. King said the board will set a date for a hearing on the matter.
“Burt said he has not seen anything so far that would lead him to believe Mr. Williams was ever a county employee,” King said.
King said that while he hopes the issue can be settled without a lawsuit, at some point “we’re going to have our day in court.”
County Treasurer Elizabeth Rinchuso said the county has received its first payment from the road tax approved by Arkansas voters, about $25,000 for “the first few days of the month.”
Rinchuso said the county is anticipating receiving from $50,000 to $60,000 per month from the tax for the next 10 years.
A portion of that tax is being used to pay for highway improvements statewide, and a smaller share is being turned back to the cities and counties of the state.