Otwell visits Rosston council
ROSSTON – Rosston’s City Council was visited by newly-elected Nevada County Judge Mike Otwell at its January meeting Monday night.
The board had dispatched its business after Mayor Dale Quarles updated the panel on his plans for street aid this year. He said he’d like to do scenic drive and a couple of county roads, completing NC17 and the school street. With luck, he said, this could be done with state aid, but he added he’ll be looking for other funding sources as well.
From there, he said new software is being installed for the water department. Quarles told the council the city would have to go to the new software sooner or later, and it’s best to get it done now instead of waiting. He pointed out the city used its call system to let customers know their water bills would be arriving late this month as the new software has to be merged with the existing program and the two getting in sync.
He pointed out everything is going technical and cities have to keep up. “Technology is taking over. We’re just trying to keep up.”
Otwell informed the panel he’d been attending meetings in Little Rock, learning what county judges can and can’t do. He said Justice of the Peace Herbert Coleman told him about a building needing to be fixed up, and another county judge said Blue Cross/Blue Shield has grants that could help. The grants, Otwell said, range from $5,000 to $15,000.
Otwell continued, saying he plans to attend council meetings when he can and offered to help in any way possible. He asked to be informed when Rosston is having a problem and he’d do what he could. He was asked if the information he gives could be shared with other councils. He said it could as communications need to go both ways.
“I plan to attend judges meetings and will get you all I can,” he said, “but I need to know what you need.”
This, he added, is the first years counties can get remill from the highway department. This remill could be used to repair county roads. Otwell told the council he plans to meet with the state to see why Hempstead County got all the remill from Nevada County.
He asked the council to be patient with him as he’s learning the ins and outs of his new position.