Washington County Justices of the Peace want information on new radios, dirt mine operation

FAYETTEVILLE -- Questions about new radios for emergency personnel and a red dirt pit took up most of Thursday night's meeting of the Washington County Quorum Court.

The justices of the peace asked County Judge Joseph Wood to give them more information about planned improvements to the emergency communications system.

Voters approved a .25% sales tax in March to pay for the project, which will build several communication towers, provide new dispatching equipment for the Sheriffs Office, Washington County Emergency Management, Central Emergency Medical Services and rural firefighters and new hand held radios for use with the system. The new system is meant to tie in with the Arkansas Wireless Information Network and provide improved communication across the county.

Several justices of the peace said they have been told by local fire departments the portable radios proposed are inadequate for their working conditions. The network's system is built by Motorola and the company has proposed its own radios for use by the county and other entities.

Patrick Deakins, justice of the Peace for District 5 in Springdale, said he has had several conversations with local agencies who say they don't want Motorola products.

"They tell me they are not rugged enough for the fire service," Deakins said. "They do not want Motorola."

Willie Leming, justice of the peace for District 13 and Lincoln fire chief, agreed with Deakins. Leming said the $1 million earmarked for hand held radios would be wasted if they don't meet the needs of the local departments.

"Why buy radios if you're going to throw them in the closet," Leming said. Brian Lester, county attorney, said the contract with Motorola allows for changes if the county finds it necessary.

Wood said the county will have it's first report on the sales tax revenue in October and should begin work on the infrastructure part of the two-year project early in 2021.

Wood said buying the portable radios will be something done toward the end of the project to there's still time to consider alternatives.

"If we're not satisfied with the product we can upgrade or go look at another vendor," Wood said.

The justices of the peace also asked Wood for information on a red dirt pit being operated by the county near Brentwood.

Sue Madison, justice of the peace for District 12 in Fayetteville, said she was contacted by a concerned resident about some of the activities at the mine and went to the site herself.

"There's a deep ravine before you get to the dirt mine and there's an enormous dam that's been built across it," Madison said. "It's shocking to me that our county people would build such a dam."

Madison said she contacted the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the agency is working on a report on the site. She said they department indicated they had some "minor issues" with the dirt pit but "major issues' with the construction of the dam. The report is not yet complete, Madison said.

"We could be required to take the dam down," Madison said. "We need to take a very strong look at this. It took a lot of county time, manpower and equipment to build this dam."

Deakins asked for a history of the site, including information on county ordinances and state permits for the operation, and information on the costs to the county in developing the dirt mine and the benefit to the county of the operation.

Leming asked for county records showing how many employees have worked there and the hours they worked, what equipment was used at the site and how many hours that equipment was used, and what improvements were made by the county.

"I just want a true record of what's out there," Leming said.

Wood said his office is working on the requests for information. Deakins said he'll wait for Wood to complete his review and provide the information to the Quorum Court.