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GRANT APPLICATIONS, OPERATING FUNDS ON QUORUM COMMITTEES’ AGENDA

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:08 PM CDT

Applications for several state grants and money for county offices to operate through the end of the year will be discussed Tuesday when committees of the Jefferson County Quorum Court meet at 5:30 p.m.

The Linwood/Moscow Fire Department is asking for a $27,557 grant from the 2009 General Improvement Fund Rural Fire Protection Grant, with the money to be used to add a bay at the existing fire station.

The application indicated that the bay would be used to house equipment, including a brush truck and other equipment that is presently stored in the main building.

An application from the Linwood/Moscow Fire Department seeks $20,259.92, to be used to buy additional equipment, including automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), with the funds also coming from the fire protection grant.

The county’s legislative body will also consider an application for a $100,000 community enhancement grant for Hestand Stadium.

According to the grant application, the money will be used to re-roof the building, repair electrical outlets in the arena and bathrooms, and add 26 new recreational vehicle hook-ups, including water, sewer and electrical connections.

Another community enhancement grant to be considered calls for $50,000 to support the 2-1-1 call center in providing 24 hour service, seven days a week for disaster and emergency assistance.

The application calls for spending $20,000 for an emergency generator for the building, computers, back-up battery units, printers and software.

Also on the agenda is a $4,689 appropriation from the county general fund that would pay for three radar units for the Arkansas State Police, who generate money for the county through the issuance of speeding tickets.

In 2008, there were 2,808 speeding tickets written in the county by troopers, an average of 234 per month, and that generated $210,600 in fines, a report from Troop E in Jefferson County indicated.

Regarding additional operating funds for county departments, the county clerk’s office is asking for $25,000 to finish out 2009, with the funds to be used for additional recording books and binders, a scanner, and for training.

Circuit Clerk Lafayette Woods Sr. wants to transfer $35,000 from the county recorder’s cost fund to purchase a new copier, computers and printers, and additional recording books, and First Division Circuit Judge Berlin Jones is asking for $2,500 to cover expenses for the rest of the year.

The county’s legislative body will also consider a $3,000 appropriation from the general fund for their own expenses, which include the cost of publishing ordinances and resolutions in The Commercial.

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