Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Crawford County panel advances proposals
VAN BUREN — An effort to give Crawford County essential employees an extra one-time payment through American Rescue Plan money advanced last week.
The Crawford County American Rescue Plan Committee approved proposals from four county entities totalling more than $2.3 million at its meeting Tuesday.
Mark Shaffer, committee chairman, said the proposals will go before the Quorum Court for approval. The committee consists of six Quorum Court members.
The largest proposal came from County Judge Dennis Gilstrap and Treasurer Beverly Pyle: more than $1.08 million for employee premium pay.
The application states it would give employees additional payment for hours they worked during the covid-19 pandemic. This would sustain employee morale by showing how employees are essential to county government, according to the application.
Pyle said premium pay would be awarded to full-time and part-time employees, as well as elected officials such as Quorum Court members, who worked in their respective offices within a certain time frame as opposed to working from home. The amounts would range from $2,000 to $7,500, according to a table included with the application.
Joanie Best, director of 911 communications for the county, petitioned the committee for more than $1.07 million to build a new facility for the county emergency communications center. Although the size of the proposed building hasn’t been determined, it would be on land the county owns next to the county sheriff’s office and jail.
Best said Wednesday the county is consolidating its 911 system to comply with legislation passed in 2019. This
will cause the county’s three call centers, which are at the Sheriff’s Office and Van Buren and Alma police departments, to be folded into one center housed at the Sheriff’s Office, according to her explanation in her application for the money.
However, Best wrote all three call centers were built before the pandemic, meaning they aren’t designed for social distancing and ventilation.
“The intent for this project is to provide a replacement facility with improved separation from the public and jail, which is a congregate setting, and also provide proper ventilation,” Best wrote.
Committee members Roger Atwell and Jason Cox raised concerns about the cost of the proposal. Cox motioned to accept the proposal in order to bring it before the Quorum Court.
The committee also approved a proposal from Bill Coleman, chairman of the county Election Commission, to buy 43 new poll books for $62,405 and a proposal from county Coroner Pam Wells to spend $99,827 on a new transport vehicle for her department.
Shaffer said the committee had received seven applications requesting American Rescue Plan money as of Tuesday night. The committee is waiting to hear from the federal government about how this money can be distributed.
Shaffer previously told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette the county must allocate all its American Rescue Plan money by 2024, which must then be spent by 2026.
Thomas Saccente can be reached by email at tsaccente@ nwadg.com.