County board gets tour of courthouse renovation

Mississippi County Energy and Property Committee, followed by the Finance Committee, met on Monday followed by a tour of the Blytheville Courthouse.

Justice Molly Jackson, Energy and Property chairman, opened the meeting introducing Aaron Ruby, AIA, with Revival Architecture.

Ruby distributed copies of the budget tracking to date spent on the over $11 million construction/renovation project at the Blytheville and Osceola Courthouses.

He said they are in the first year and the cost is less than the base bid.

The $2 million for the Osceola roof project has been spent and he requested an additional $228,000. He went on to say the Osceola Courthouse dome itself is almost complete. There is some damage to the terra cotta and a need for reglazing to keep the water out. He said it is intricate work. Ruby said it would be better to do the work while the scaffolding is in place.

“Basically, we would be protecting the $2 million we just put in it,” Justice Michael White said.

Justices also discussed installing stainless steel spikes to prevent the pigeons from roosting.

The committee agreed to recommend the addition of $260,000 for the Osceola Courthouse project.

Ruby then said they had researched metal detectors and X-ray machines for the entrance of the courthouse. He said he wants to meet with Sheriff Dale Cook and let him meet with the vendors before any final purchases are made.

County Judge John Alan Nelson commended the construction is within budget and on schedule.

In the Finance meeting, Justice White, chairman, opened the meeting welcoming justices. Ten of the 11 justices were present for the meeting.

Justice White reviewed the budget to date commenting the county general is in good shape and all offices are under budget. Repairs have been done at the County Health Unit.

He said it is time to clean-up the 2020 budget.

“It is a normal process we do each year,” Justice White said. “It is similar to years past. We have nothing controversial or bad. We will add it to the agenda at the regular meeting next Tuesday night.”

Justice White said former Judge Randy Carney was committed to a mental health grant which is coming to an end. Finance director Kelli Jones and Bo McCollum take care of the grant and they are paid for the work they do on the grant.

Jones said she had talked to the auditors and she wanted to make sure the court is aware of it and it is in the minutes.

Justice White then asked the committee to consider paying dental expenses for a county employee.

“She works in the juvenile intake and three years ago she had an altercation with a juvenile that put her in the hospital,” Justice White said. “Workman’s compensation took care of it but damage has resurfaced and workman’s comp is timed out. Legally, I am not sure we would be accountable but she is our employee. She has $3,000 in medical bills.”

Justice White recommended covering the expense and having her sign a release letter.

Judge Nelson agreed, he thought it was right to pay the medical bill. Committee members all agreed in favor of paying the bill.

“I am proud to be part of Mississippi County where we try to take care of our employees,” Justice White said.

Justice White said they need to make a 911 Ordinance slot and appropriation for overtime for Wayne Reynolds, OEM coordinator, who recently accepted the additional position of 911 coordinator which has doubled his workload.

Reynolds addressed the committee saying his workload has doubled and he is learning about the 911 system.

Judge Nelson said they do need to look at it and he will have more information next month.

“We want you (Reynolds) to know we will not leave you hanging,” Justice White said.

Half of his salary and benefits for the OEM coordinator is paid through the state.

“With me taking the additional job duties, we could end up with money on the table,” Reynolds said. He said he is looking into all of the job duties.

Justice White said he would like for the justices to start looking at raises/bonuses for employees for 2022.

“If we start working on it early, we can make adjustments and maybe get people at the bottom on a better platform to start,” Justice White said.

Tax Assessor Harley Bradley said the conversion of his office’s software is going well.

Justice White said they will need to discuss the clean-up budget and the appropriation to the Osceola Courthouse project at the upcoming Quorum Court meeting next Tuesday.

Steven Savage, Mississippi County public relations officer, addressed the committee discussing the county’s status with the Arkansas Center for Research  Economics. Savage said they focus on county government. In 2020 Mississippi County ranked 18 in overall transparency; up from 2019 at 20 and 2018 at 54.

He went on to compare the physical transparency with the county ranking 17 in 2020 and 16 the year before down from 57 in 2018. In the administration transparency, public records, the county ranked 14, up from 17 in 2019 and 54 in 2018. The county was in the top 10 in political transparency at number 3 coming up from 17 in 2019 and 61 in 2018.

Savage pointed out what is needed to move even higher. He found a company that could help with uploading documents on the website starting with the current ones and moving forward.

Justice White said committee members could be interested and Savage will have a representative from the company make a demonstration at the next committee meeting.

Justice White said that could be a good tool for the county.

Following the meeting, Judge Nelson and Mr. Ruby invited anyone who wanted to take a tour of the Courthouse to view the work being done.