By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
The Lonoke County Quorum Court voted Thursday night to appropriate the $200,000 state grant it received to purchase the former daycare building on Hwy. 70 that now houses the Wade Knox Child Advocacy Center.
The center, which helps law enforcement officers interview victims of child abuse, opened in cramped quarters in 2005 and moved into the larger facility in January. The vote to appropriate the grant money to purchase the building was unanimous.
The county will be the actual owner of the building, and the center will lease it for one dollar a year. If the center closes, the county resumes control of the building.
The quorum court also voted to support a resolution that will allow the Lonoke County Fire Chiefs Association to apply for a $130,000 state grant to improve the paging system for fire departments in the county.
Revenue from the half-mill voluntary tax that helps support the beaver-eradication program in the county is about half the amount it has been in the past, said Neal Anderson of the Lonoke County Conservation District. He asked the quorum court to increase it to support bounties.
Currently, the state pays $10 and the conservation district and the county each pay $5 for a total of $20 for each beaver killed.
The county’s portion of the bounty comes from the county judge’s road and bridge budget. County Judge Doug Erwin told the quorum court that he doesn’t have to ask their permission to pay an additional $10 for each beaver killed, but had promised to be open with his spending.
J.P. Adam Sims told the quorum court that he knew of one death in the southern part of the county that could be attributed to road flooding caused by beavers. The man who was killed saved his baby by holding him out of the water until help arrived but was unable to unbuckle his own seat belt and drowned, Sims said.
With the additional funds available, the bounty on one beaver will be $30. To collect, the trappers must present at least the round end of the beaver’s tail and the right, front paw. The pelts not required to collect the bounty may be sold to fur buyers.
In 2010, the voluntary tax for the conservation district brought in $18,653.25. The deadline for paying 2011 property taxes has passed and only $9,545.61 has been collected.
In 2010, the conservation district paid $16,080 in bounties on 804 beavers. So far this year, it has paid $16,740 in bounties on 837 beavers.
Beaver eradication programs never fully eradicate beavers but Anderson told the quorum court, “Our objective is to relieve the county of as many beavers as possible.”
The last item on the quorum court agenda was a presentation by Bill “Pete” Pedersen, a former member of the quorum court who said he had been trying for a year to address the quorum court about the misuse of tax money.
On top on his list of complaints was a recent audit finding that former County Judge Charlie Troutman overspent his 2010 budget by $1.2 million.
The current judge said in a later interview that his 2011 budget is about $4.4 million.
In January, he had about $900,000 in the road and bridge account but he had to pay a $92,000 settlement for an easement on the road Troutman built between Cabot and Austin.
Pedersen also had pictures that he said showed that Troutman had illegally spread fill dirt on his son’s property, chip sealed a driveway for J.P. Roger Lynch and used county gravel to build a platform for a metal building that houses the non-profit Hope’s Closet, located on the road off Hwy. 5 into Wal-Mart on property owned by J.P. Larry Odom.
County Attorney Jeff Sikes told the quorum court that he had talked to Pedersen about those issues a year ago and told him the quorum court had no authority.
If Pedersen thought the law had been broken then he could either contact the prosecuting attorney or hire a lawyer and file suit.
Erwin, who took office this year, said after the meeting that he intended to look into the allegations.
“I would be very disappointed if any elected official misused funds or used his position to receive additional benefits,” he said.
In other business, the quorum court:
n Appropriated $1,081 for the sheriff to use as drug buy money and to pay confidential informants.
n Declared a vacancy in the Dist. 13 position held by Mark Edwards, who was transferred to Washington state.
n Heard a report about a possible state grant to help pay for a computer parcel mapping program for the assessor’s office.
n Approved a change in the personnel policy book that would give only the county judge power to close county offices because of bad weather.
n Approved a resolution of support for a state grant to help build bathrooms at the fairground.
n Heard an update from J.P. Bill Ryker about a committee formed to look into security for buildings in the county where court is held. Ryker said the committee is working with federal marshals. Some money might be available from the state to buy equipment, but the county would have to pay wages for staff, Ryker said.
