The Baxter County Quorum Court’s regular July session began with a few presentations, and one was courtesy of the North Central Arkansas Chamber Foundation to propose a partnership for the purpose of addressing economic development. Matt Sharp has the details.
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Last week, the Mountain Home City Council entered into a partnership with the foundation at a cost of $40,000. While no vote was taken on the matter on Tuesday, the quorum court heard from Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dani Pugsley and local business owner Russell Tucker on a similar proposal. The meeting ended with a few citizens voicing their opinion, and the reception was mixed. Most of the citizens speaking had concerns on the issue of “pay-to-play” and using taxpayer money for such a partnership. Others on the other side of the debate wanted to look to the future and ways to keep the younger generation in Mountain Home instead of looking elsewhere. It is unclear how the court will address the matter in the future.
A few items voted on by the court addressed matters in the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office. The court unanimously agreed to appropriate $60,000 from the general fund into the sheriff’s office budget following its recent data breach. Sheriff John Montgomery said $50,000 were needed for extra computer services, the other $10,000 were for employee insurance due to the ransomware attack. At the same time, the court unanimously approved the sheriff’s office to add a full-time IT administrator position. In addition, the office will receive funds from fees and reimbursements received during May.
The lone vote that wasn’t unanimous was a noise ordinance. Equipment associated with cooling systems and generators needed to operate data centers used for cryptocurrency mining and other tasks are known to generate low-frequency hums. The ordinance to regulate noise disturbance from data centers in the county passed by a vote of 9-2.
The matter of the NABORS landfill was also addressed by the court. A resolution was presented to have Judge Kevin Litty send a letter to the Environmental Quality division of the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment to close the landfill in northern Baxter County. The resolution was unanimously approved.
The court also approved of a full-time election coordinator position for the Baxter County Clerk’s Office. Another ordinance was agreed upon to provide compensation for county election officials.
Several other budgetary items were unanimously agreed upon. The court also approved the appointment of Carmen Rossen to fill out an unfinished term on the Baxter County Board of Equalization, and they agreed to the appointment of Keith Stokes and reappointment of Scott Tabor to the Tracy Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners.
The meeting lasted just over an hour.
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