Problems noted with Sebastian County fire system
by March 21, 2012 7:25 am 111 views
The Sebastian County Fire Association (SCFA) came to the quorum court meeting Tuesday night (March 20) seeking help for its pager system. President Gary Lawrence told court members that “we’ve already lost a house in Greenwood because the pager system wasn’t working.”
He added that “something needs to be done before someone gets hurt.”
Lawrence continued: “We did a pager test, and only four went off. The rest didn’t. We need someone to come in here from outside DCS (Diversified Computer Services, Inc.) and figure out why this system isn’t working.”
Lawrence recommended someone “from outside DCS,” because, he said, DCS technicians have looked in to the problem and been unable to correct it, in spite of being the company that installed it.
Sebastian County Judge David Hudson said that he was “totally committed” to solving the problem, and he would “look into the matter and figure out what it will take to fix it and have a report ready in a month,” but for court member Shawn Looper, that wasn’t good enough.
Responding to news that the SCFA has no back-up in place, Looper said: “This should be a priority, and it doesn’t sound like we’re doing anything about it.”
Also Tuesday night, the quorum court voted unanimously to increase the following line items from the General Fund:
• Machinery and equipment to repair a damaged ambulance: $8,078
• Computer software support: $2,235
• Office equipment for the Circuit Clerk: $2,235
• Ten electronic voting machines: $23,000
• Wildlife Observation Trail Grant: $96,265
• ARDC Community Enhancement Grant (soccer fields): $93,000
The court also appropriated $2,539 from the Collector’s Automation Fund for a computer equipment purchase.
Finally, the quorum court unanimously voted to earmark $100,000 for adjustments to the county pay system based upon completion of the 2012 Compensation and Classification Study, which is currently in progress. The earmark would effectively take care of any pay increases that would arise from the study.