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The Baxter County Quorum Court met for a brief session Tuesday evening.
This month’s session saw the court hearing from Dawn Downing-Wahl of the Baxter County Conservation District, who asked for $4,000 in supplemental funding to continue providing their services to county residents.
The Baxter County Conservation District was formed to assist the county in conserving water and soil needs of the district area. The district offers a variety of financial incentives to woodland owners to engage in conservation activities on their property. Activities include curbing water erosion, conserving soil and water resources, establishing wildlife habitats, managing forest lands, and restoring wetlands.
The district also provides landowners with equipment to help in conservation efforts.
“The conservation district participates in several events annually,” said Downing-Wahl. “This year, we’ve participated in the local farmer’s market, the Baxter County Fair and the fishing derby at McCabe Park. Most recently, we hosted our field day pasture conference at the Baxter County Fairground and our annual fall harvest net sale.”
The Quorum Court took no action on Downing-Wahl’s request. Following her presentation, the court quickly moved through its new business for the evening.
Those ordinances included:
- An ordinance appropriating fees and reimbursements for the month of Sept. to the Sheriff’s Office.
- An ordinance appropriating $25,000 from the special jail fees fund and $3,000 from the county detention facility fund into the jail maintenance and operations budget.
- An ordinance appropriating $49,470 for the purchase of a generator for the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office Administration Building. The funds were originally approved in 2022 and needed to be approved a second time to carry over into the 2023 budget. The generator was purchased and installed several months ago.
- An ordinance re-appropriating $373.80 into the County Clerk’s budget and $467.59 into the recorder’s cost fund budget for expenses.
- An ordinance appropriating $32,043.97 from the employee liability fund into the airport and sheriff’s office budgets to fund employee payouts.
- An ordinance re-appropriating $2,500 within the Prosecuting Attorney’s budget for future overtime expenses.
- The court amended Ordinance 2023-42 to include reimbursements for state-mandated training for election officials. Baxter County Clerk Canda Reese explained that the state used to reimburse commissioners directly for their training, but now sends the funds to the county to be distributed instead. The county’s rate differs from the state’s rate, and the amendment was needed to reflect the change.
- An ordinance adopting First United Methodist Church as the central polling station for 2024’s election cycle. The new polling site consolidates the Baxter County Courthouse and the Election Commission Headquarters into one location. The courthouse and election headquarters will be used as backups. The new site will offer a bigger ADA-compliant parking lot and building and will feature 28 voting booths for residents to use.
- An ordinance levying millage taxes in all political subdivisions of Baxter County for 2023. Millage rates will remain at their current rates. These taxes are not new. State law requires the court to vote on imposing taxes each year.
- A resolution confirming Sherry Milhon to the Henderson Volunteer Fire Department Board of Commissions for the next three years.
