QC discusses hazard plan, equipment purchase

PRESCOTT – February’s meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court Tuesday evening was lengthy, and at times, contentious.

The meeting opened with Justice of the Peace Pat Grimes asking where $31,000 transferred from Solid Waste went. She was told these funds were used to buy the new truck for the county judge. She followed this asking about he jail tax refund. Nevada County Treasurer Ricky Reyenga said it’s the sales tax that runs the jail, but there was a technical error with voided checks as one was entered into the system three times. This was corrected. He said money from the solid waste tax has been used to buy equipment as well as fuel.

Reyenga will be attending a treasurer’s meeting in Little Rock next week, where the treasurers will be informed exactly how American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) money can be spent. Nevada County Judge Mike Otwell will be attending that meeting as well. Reyenga said the county is getting good interest on the ARPA money, especially since interest rates have gone up.

Katie Hardy, with the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District (SWAPDD), talked to the court about updating the county’s hazard mitigation plan, saying it must be done every five years to be current and keep the county eligible for federal disaster mitigation funds. She said each city council will be visited to update their plans. The plans include information from five databases going back to 1950, detailing the types and severity of disasters not only  in each city, but the entire county, along with what it cost to recover from them. This takes a lot of time, she said, and once it’s done, the report is edited and sent to the state. The state also edits the report and sends it back for corrections. After the corrections are made, it goes back to the state, and, if approved, is forwarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for final approval.

Hardy told the court most cities participate in the plan as it helps them get federal disaster mitigation funds. Not being part of the plan, though, means those not participating can’t get these funds, but are still eligible for FEMA funds.

Nevada County’s plan, she said, expired on Oct. 22 so the county isn’t eligible for federal disaster mitigation money, but still qualifies for state disaster funds. Hardy continued, saying the SWAPDD will try to have the plan finished by the end of this year so the county will be eligible for federal funding, pointing out the court will have to pass a resolution approving the measure.

Participating in the plan isn’t free, she said, as it costs  $35,000. However, the county will be reimbursed 75 percent of this amount once the plan is approved. She told the court along with natural disasters, federal and state funding now includes chemical spills. She said for every dollar put in for disaster mitigations the return is $6, but eligibility depends on what’s being applied for.

Talk turned to a proposed new maximum security prison the state plans to build. Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said the prison will house 1,000 inmates and take two or three years to build. It must first go before the board of correction’s review board and the location of where it will be built isn’t known at this time. She added, Prescott has applied for the prison.

In addition, the state is planning to build a minimum security jail that will house 100 inmates. Prescott is also vying for it as well.

The court approved changing its phone and internet provider and going with Telogix. Lewis Fitch was on hand to show how the county would save money by switching. He said the county currently pays around $3,600 a month for phone and internet service with Brightstar, formerly Centurylink, but Telogix can do the job for $2010 a month, with the installation of phones being done at no cost to the county. Additionally, he said, the switchover can be done and not interrupt services.

Fitch said Telogix will use the most dependable internet around, which, at this time, is Cablelynx, but will switch to SouthCentral Connect once it has its fiber optic cables in place in town. The system can be set up to do E-faxing or can be used for dual faxing, which is E-faxing and normal faxing.

The real fun began when Otwell started talking about buying equipment for the road department. He showed a picture of a Grade All he wants to buy for $300,000 (and was given permission to contact the owner and let him know of the county’s interest). He said the county is responsible for repairs to a grader that wasn’t insured and burned up, which will cost $100,000 to $125,000 to repair. He will be asking Caterpillar for a purchase price and get a loan from a local bank. Cat, he said, charges 6.99 percent interest, while banks are charging 4.25 percent.

Going back to the Grade All, he said it will be able to reach out and pull gravel into the roads and is capable of digging ditches as well as being more precise in placing culverts. The best time to dig ditches, he said, is when it rains.

The equipment in question has a three-year warranty and has 786 hours on it. With the price of gravel having gone up another $2 per ton, he continued, the Grade All will pay for itself in five years, if not sooner, as it can pull gravel from ditches back onto county roads.

Questions were raised about how to pay for the equipment. Godwin said ARPA funds could be used, only to have Reyenga say the rules governing ARPA money have changed and a lot of things are no longer allowed.

At times, all of the JPs were talking at once, making it difficult for anything to be done. Still, the court approved buying the equipment.

Otwell asked for another piece of equipment, which will cost $198,000. This equipment, too, he said, will pay for itself as the county would be paid $175 an hour for its use, but paperwork will have to be done and  submitted. This equipment will be able to remove logs from ditches and has a 28 yard bucket. The county will need to designate a drop spot for the debris. It was discussed either to use the landfill or Hines Trucking, if Hines would agree. Talk on this equipment was tabled until the March meeting.

In other business, Jamie Hillery, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce updated the court on what the Chamber has been doing and on upcoming events. Hillery pointed out this year’s banquet will be held on April 18.

Eric Jackson was chosen to replace Curtis Lee Johnson as the county representative on the EDO board.