By Ray King
With just two new items on their agenda, committees of the Jefferson County Quorum Court sailed through their meeting and were out of the courthouse in less than five minutes Tuesday night.
Justice of the Peace Ted Harden talked about what happened in the brief meeting.
Sixteen of the 18 items that were listed for consideration had been discussed in meetings dating back to January but were not adopted because of squabbles between some members of the Quorum Court and County Judge Gerald Robinson over policies and procedures that would be used for the next two years.
Several members of the county’s legislative body disapproved of a policy and procedures ordinance created by Robinson and created their own but Robinson has rejected that. No final vote has been taken on either proposal and without an ordinance, the Quorum Court is powerless to adopt legislation.
One of the two new ordinances was to accept a grant from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management to replace 57 radios bought in 2005. The grant was for $197878.06 and the county is required to provide a 25 percent match, meaning the entire project will cost $263,837.41.
The match will require the transfer of $34,086 from County General, $16,972 from the County Road Department and $14,901 from MECA.
The other new legislation was a request from Scott McGeorge, who is currently serving as the chairman of the Economic Development Corp., of Jefferson County, to be reappointed to another five-year term on the board which administers the 3/8 cent sales tax that was adopted for economic development. His current term expires May 9 of this year.
