BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace took the first steps Tuesday toward filling a pair of vacancies on the Quorum Court.
The county's Committee of the Whole approved two resolutions declaring the District 3 and District 5 position vacant. The resolutions will be on the agenda for the Quorum Court at its Jan. 26 meeting.
Once the resolutions are approved by the Quorum Court they will be sent to the governor's office, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson will fill the seats for the remainder of the current terms by appointment.
Mary Jane Comstock was elected to the District 3 seat but notified the county after the Nov. 8 general election she would not serve. Jay Harrison, who was elected to the seat in 2014, will continue to serve until the seat is filled.
Kevin Harrison was elected to the District 5 seat and resigned that post after the election when he decided to take a job with the Benton County Sheriff's Office. Since Harrison was the sitting justice of the peace, that seat will be vacant until someone is appointed to serve.
Also Tuesday, County Judge Barry Moehring had a presentation on the technology he hopes to use to do a survey and analysis of the county's roads.
Darryl Gardner, with Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions Inc., and Michael Morgan, with GreenbergFarrow Architecture Inc., gave the committee a video representation of how the program works. Moehring said the data gathered will help the county in setting priorities and planning road work.
"This is going to give us a planning tool," Moehring said. "We will be able to start making some intelligent decisions about what road we're going to do and why."
Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7, said he wants to be sure the county is able to have the information updated regularly if the program is adopted.
"Six months after we do this there are going to be things that are dramatically different," Jones said.
The committee also discussed the creation of an employees "sick leave bank" so county employees can donate their accumulated sick time for use by other employees. Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said Bruce Rutherford, an investigator in his office, has experienced a series of health problems and has used all of his own sick days and vacation time. Smith said other employees have offered to donate their time, but the county has no mechanism for doing so.
The justices of the peace agreed they are in favor of a sick bank plan to cover all county employees who may meet approved criteria. The committee approved a motion directing George Spence, county attorney, to work with Smith; Barb Ludwig, human resources administrator; and Brenda Guenther, comptroller, to draft a "bridge ordinance" for the Jan. 26 Quorum Court meeting to create a sick bank program while a permanent policy is being considered.
NW News on 01/11/2017