JPs OK cash move to fund jail repairs
Nearly 8,000 square feet of rotted wood below the Pulaski County jail will be repaired after the Quorum Court approved Tuesday night a measure to move more than $100,000 into the detention budget for more repairs.
The Quorum Court voted 11-0 to approve $140,000 in Act 1188 funds for the repair project and $37,000 in additional funds for other sheriff's office equipment.
District 2 Justice of the Peace Tyler Denton, D-Little Rock, District 3 Justice of the Peace Kathy Lewison, D-Little Rock, District 9 Justice of the Peace Wilma Walker, D-College Station, and District 10 Justice of the Peace Robert Green, D-McAlmont, were absent from Tuesday's meeting.
The county awarded a $36,200 contract in July for replacing the asphalt above two jail units after the Quorum Court approved moving money into the detention budget for repairs in May.
In both cases, the money comes from funds already designated for the sheriff's office. The Quorum Court must approve its use.
Act 1188 levies a $5 fee on people found guilty of misdemeanor and traffic offenses.
In 2014, the Quorum Court has approved the use of thousands of dollars in Act 1188 funds for a new holding cell at the courthouse, five new air-conditioning units at the jail and radios for detention officers. Last November, the county approved spending more than $200,000 on nine cars for the sheriff's office.
The measure before the county this month also includes appropriating $19,000 in federal drug seizure money for five protective suits for meth lab investigators and $18,000 in Commercial Mobile Radio Services money for five portable radios.
Public Works gets interim director
Pulaski County Road and Bridge Department Director Barbara Richard is serving as acting director of the Public Works Department in place of Sherman Smith, who died last week of cancer.
County Judge Buddy Villines, who said Smith was a good friend, told the Quorum Court on Tuesday he was a "great loss" to the county.
Smith, 60, worked for Pulaski County for 17 years. As Public Works director, he oversaw the Road and Bridge Department, the Planning and Development Department, the Office of Emergency Management and Sanitation/Animal Services Department.
The Public Works director job description calls for the director be an engineer, but Villines said he believed Richard would be able to handle the job in the interim.
Water authority's loan gets approval
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission approved a $1.5 million loan to the Sardis Water Association Public Water Authority, which serves parts of Pulaski and Saline counties.
The loan, approved last week, will go toward construction of a 500,000-gallon water storage standpipe for residents who do not have running water and lines to connect the system to it, according to a news release from the commission.
The loan is a part of the Arkansas Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund Program, and repayment will not exceed 20 years, the release said.
Racial data target in juvenile crime
Pulaski County's Juvenile Crime Prevention Board will hire a part-time coordinator to help update data on racial disparities among those accused of crime locally.
Pulaski County Youth Services received a grant for the position that the Quorum Court approved 11-0 Tuesday night.
The position will allow the board to make an annual report of its findings, board member David Montague told the Quorum Court. Montague is also an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The data collection and study are part of a larger project that will be reported to the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Youth Services Director Charles Mobley told the Quorum Court at the Sept. 9 meeting.
Metro on 09/24/2014