Quorum Court to talk Complex today

The Union County Quorum Court will meet today at 10 a.m. in the third-floor courtroom at the county Courthouse. Social distancing measures will be in place and attendees are urged to wear masks.

The agenda for this month’s meeting is relatively light, with one appropriation ordinance up for consideration and a discussion on the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex planned.

The appropriations ordinance would move $2,600 from the County General Fund to the County Jail budget under the machinery and equipment heading. Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts said the $2,600 was a refund on a washing machine that was installed incorrectly and unable to be repaired.

“It’s the 15 year plus washer we have been limping along,” he said in a text message to a News-Times reporter. “It’s about to go out.”

The refunded money would be used to replace the washer if the ordinance is passed by the Quorum Court, he said.

District 3 Justice of the Peace

Greg Harrison is also expected to give an update on the Recreation Complex. The Complex closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in March, and last month, the Quorum Court voted to reopen the Complex; however, the body handed over adminstration of the Complex to the City of El Dorado earlier this year.

While City Council member

Billy Blann, who attended last month’s Quorum Court meeting and agreed to relay their vote to reopen the Complex to the Council, favored reopening the facility, a motion to do so died during the Council meeting held June 22 due to lack of a second, according to past reporting by the

Harrison, who chairs on the Complex Board, has been helping to oversee a major expansion and renovation project at the Complex, the first phase of which involves the addition and completion of several youth baseball, softball and soccer fields and the installation of turf, lighting and fencing, along with construction of a new concessions area.

Phase one of the project is nearly complete, with construction of two youth soccer fields and the concessions plaza still unfinished.

Two JPs and other county employees also said they expect to receive an update on the legalities of the potential removal or relocation of the Confederate monument on Courthouse grounds today.

A Monument Committee was formed after last month’s Quorum Court meeting, when a local resident asked the body to consider relocating the monument from Courthouse grounds.

The committee agreed at a meeting the following week to explore the legalities of the monument’s potential relocation or removal, which was to be discussed at today’s meeting, followed by a vote on the matter in August; however, JPs for Districts 1 and 5 Mike Dumas and Carolyn Jones, respectively, said it is possible the matter could be voted on today.

The Quorum Court accepted public opinion on the matter through July 10, including letters and petitions from Union County residents, some of which were distributed to JPs last week and the rest of which are to be distributed today.

Jody Cunningham, executive assistant to County Judge Mike Loftin, said seats will be blocked off inside the courtroom where the Quorum Court is meeting today to ensure social distancing measures are taken in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any overflow crowds will be permitted to listen from the lobby outside the courtroom and the courtroom doors will remain open throughout the meeting.