A vote on allowing the Jefferson County assessor to waive the bidding process will be needed during today's regularly scheduled Quorum Court meeting, at 5:30 p.m. at the County Courthouse, in order for the county's appraisers to discover and measure property within the county.
Jefferson County Assessor Yvonne Humphrey has asked the Quorum Court to allow her to renew and sign a contract for Eagle View/Pictometry for its services.
During Tuesday's Quorum Court committee meeting, Humphrey told the justices of the peace that she had not found a company that could do the kind of work that her office needs in order for the appraisers to do their work.
"They [Eagle View/Pictometry] are the only ones that can integrate with a program that they already have on their [the appraisers'] computer system," said Humphrey.
According to Humphrey, there is no other company that can provide her appraisers with oblique imagery and integrate those images with their current One Map program.
There would be a slight increase of $3,000, with the total cost paid over six years from the county's General Fund.
According to Humphrey, the entire amount is reimbursed by the schools.
On another topic, a proposal on allowing the road department to hire an employee to assist with the environmental enforcement officer and an employee to help with the Sanitation Billing Department will also likely be decided at today's meeting.
Since January, four water companies have decided not to bill and collect for the county, leaving only two companies, Liberty Utilities and Wright Pastoria Water Association, on board.
With the county still waiting on Harding Water's response, the responsibility of billing and collecting has fallen on the county judge's office, which had been billing some 500 customers and now has to manage the bills of 7,493 customers.
"When they decided not to renew, that left us with a collection of almost 7,000 people, and right now that assignment is given to my administrative secretary," County Judge Gerald Robinson said during last week's committee meeting. "It's almost impossible for one person to take on that task. She is, to say the least, very stressed in taking this on. To put it simply, she needs help."
Also discussed during last week's committee meeting was the increase in the sanitation and water bills for residents who live in certain districts.
Complaints to the county judge's office have been coming from areas that have been having trouble with their water companies.
According to county officials, the sanitation bill has only gone up a few dollars, and the issue has been with the noticeable increase in water bills.
County officials are instructing those customers to reach out to their city's board concerning the increase in their water bills because those local water companies are not monitored by the Public Service Commission.