JP Park questions county government's priorities

An ordinance designed to pay the county’s monthly bills raised questions about the Falkner County Courthouse from Justice Jerry Park during Tuesday night’s Quorum Court meeting.

The appropriation in question transferred $18,000 in the building and grounds maintenance expenditure line from buildings to engineer and architectural. 

Park questioned the appropriation thinking that money came from a fund set aside for courthouse renovations and improvements. 

“This money is for the maintenance and upkeep of the existing courthouse,” Park said. “We passed a levy to fix the roof. We have only fixed part of the roof.”

Judge Preston Scroggin told Park that he did not want to “rehash” the issue, and the $18,000 was a claim that had to be paid. 

“It is a bill we owe,” Scroggin said. 

Justice Johnnie Wells also told Park it was a bill for engineering. 

Park said that there are alternatives for use of the current courthouse. Park said the county had its priorities “messed up,” paying more attention to the criminal justice system than to the people.

Wells told Park that before anything could be done to the courthouse, the employees who work there would have to be moved out. 

“We will use the money you are talking about to put people in a safe environment,” Wells said.

Park said the use of the money was tied together. He said that although a structural engineer said concrete was falling from the ceiling, he and another engineer had gone to find that the material falling from the ceiling was not concrete but plaster. 

To end the discussion, the court voted to refer the issue back to the courthouse task force. 

The appropriations ordinance passed with Park casting the lone “no” vote.

Scroggin and Justice Dan Thessing said the money used to pay the bill came from county general rather than the increased millage money. 

After the meeting, Park said the millage increase should be used to fix the courthouse as taxpayers intended. 

Park said the courthouse was a structure worth saving. He said gutting the building or tearing it down would be an “environmental travesty.”

Thessing said before anything could be done about the courthouse, all employees would need to be moved from the building. 

“We are moving forward to design something that we can use and afford,” Thessing said. He said the first building needed would be a courts building that could be placed on the German Street property near the Faulkner County Jail. 

After that building is completed, all courts would be moved to that facility. 

“We have to have the courts building up and running to do anything,” Thessing said.

Thessing said before the building could be started, the county would need $5 million from the millage tax and another $5 million in the form of a loan. The borrowed $5 million would be the maximum allowed by the state, and it would have to be repaid in five years.

In other business:

• The court voted to affirm the current millage taxes for the upcoming year. There were no changes made to the amount of the tax. Justice Jimmy Bryant pointed out that the county general millage would remain at 4.5 mills.

• The court approved a resolution to announce a vacancy in the Mountain Township constable position. The position has been vacant since 2004. A candidate was interested in the position, but he was found to not live in the township. The resolution allows Gov. Mike Beebe to appoint someone to the position if someone is interested.

• Dr. Andy Connaughton was appointed the county health officer. In the position, Connaughton will serve as a key public health representative, collaborate with the state health officer and Arkansas Department of Health in emergency preparedness and response efforts and support the department of health during infectious disease outbreaks.

• Jacquita Lee Isbell was appointed to the Saltillo Fire Department board.