The Carroll County Quorum Court completed a lengthy agenda at its regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19, but that agenda didn’t include the issue that has loomed over the court’s monthly meetings for most of the year.
Scout Clean Energy’s planned Nimbus wind farm near Green Forest has been a subject of controversy since the spring, with opponents of the project turning out regularly to fill the courtroom of the Eastern District Courthouse in Berryville and voice their concerns during the public comments portion of the quorum court’s monthly meetings.
Two proposed ordinances designed to address the project — one that would have established minimum setback distances for the wind turbines that are planned to be installed on private property to facilitate the project and another that would have imposed a moratorium on the project — have been voted down by the quorum court.
No such legislation was on the agenda for the Dec. 19 meeting, however, and County Judge David Writer limited public comments to agenda items — a deviation from the normal practice that Writer said he was making in light of the lengthy agenda.
After the meeting adjourned, one man approached the table and loudly stated his objections to not being allowed to address the quorum court, saying he had driven to Berryville specifically to do so. Another opponent of the project held up posters in each hand outlining her concerns.
The project did come up as a topic of conversation near the end of the meeting.
District 11 Justice of the Peace John Howerton, speaking during the portion of the meeting designated for JPs’ comments, said he plans to introduce an ordinance at the January meeting to address the decommissioning of the project should Scout opt to halt the project ahead of schedule.
Mark Wengierski, vice president of East Region development for Scout, had said during the quorum court’s November meeting that the company is required to place a bond on the project to remove the turbines. The landowners who have signed leases with Scout are named on the bond and Wengierski said Scout is willing to name the county on the bond as well.
At the November meeting, Howerton asked Wengierski if Scout would be willing to “put that bond on Day 1 instead of Year 20.”
Wengierski said most of the contracts with landowners are between 15 and 20 years.
“We’d be willing to work with the county and place it before that contract terminates,” he said. “Maybe not on Year 1 … but we’d absolutely work with the county and place it before that contract terminates.”
At the Dec. 19 meeting, Howerton said he would sponsor ordinance to have the bond set at seven years.
“I feel comfortable that (the project) will be productive, or in use, at least through, I would think at least through 10 years. But I will write the ordinance to where it has to be placed on year seven, with the landowner and the county together as beneficiaries of that bond.”
During her comments, District 3 JP Harrie Farrow of Eureka Springs, who sponsored a discussion at previous meetings about the possibility of establishing a land use commission that would have authority for issuing permits for large-scale industrial projects in the county, reiterated that county should be prepared for such developments.
“I just saw this morning where Benton County’s got a new technology coming and it’s battery energy storage systems taking up, you know, new controversy. So new technology keeps bringing new things and we need to be prepared for that. I’d just like to keep reminding everybody, like, things are going to keep coming our way and we need to have some idea of how we want to deal with that or we just want to have a free-for-all …” District 10 JP Jerry King began to respond to Farrow, but she interrupted and noted that discussion is not allowed during JPs’ comments.
King expressed his frustration that JPs are not allowed to privately discuss county business that might come before a vote of the quorum court — a stipulation of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
JPs can discuss county business in public by placing the discussion on a meeting agenda, even without an accompanying ordinance or resolution. Such a discussion would not be time-limited.
Other business
In other business at the Dec. 19 meeting, JPs approved several resolutions and ordinances.
Those were:
• the second and third readings of an ordinance to establish a full-time position to be called the “justice-involved peer recovery specialist;
• the second and third readings of an ordinance to establish the process of reimbursement of to Criminal Investigation Division officers with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office for “street clothing” allowed to be worn by CID officers;
• the second and third readings of an ordinance approving the contribution of local matching funds to the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District for budget year 2024;
• the second and third readings of an ordinance to establish the threshold for the capitalization of county purchases;
• the second and third readings of an ordinance establishing the compensation for all county elected positions for budget year 2024;
• the second and third readings of an ordinance to establish the annual operating budget for fiscal year 2024;
• a resolution confirming the appointment of Jennifer Roney to the board of commissioners of the Eastern Carroll County Ambulance District;
• a resolution confirming the appointment of Leslie Echols to the Mundell Heights Subordinate Service District;
• a resolution confirming the appointments of Richard Ott and Ted Meyer as commissioners to the Sylvan Shores Subordinate Service District;
• a resolution confirming the appointments of Peggy Lodewyks and Linda Boyer as board members to the Berryville Public Library Board of Trustees;
• a resolution confirming the appointment of Peggy Lodewyks as a board member to the Carroll County Library Board of Trustees;
• a resolution confirming the appointment of Vickie Brown as a board member to the Green Forest Public Library Board of Trustees; • a resolution confirming the appointment of Lucilla Garrett to the Eureka Springs Library Board;
• a resolution authorizing the county judge to enter into an election security grant through the State Homeland Security Grant Program.
• an ordinance to approve a treasurer’s transfer of funds to the courthouse fund from county general;
• an appropriation ordinance to appropriate funds to the Courthouse Fund to pay for preliminary consulting on an Eastern District Judicial Building;
• a supplemental appropriation ordinance appropriating funds to the sheriff’s office for insurance reimbursement; • a supplemental appropriation ordinance to distribute funds to the road department;
• and a supplemental appropriation ordinance to appropriate funds to update the iSOMS software used by the sheriff’s office.
Judicial building
Howerton sponsored a discussion regarding the ongoing planning for a Eastern District judicial building. Howerton chairs an ad hoc committee that has been reviewing options for a new building, with a focus on constructing a new facility near the Carroll County Law Enforcement Complex on Hailey Road. The law enforcement complex houses the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Carroll County Detention Center.
Another potential option that had surfaced recently was the possibility of purchasing the space formerly occupied by Walmart in the Carroll Center shopping plaza on West Trimble Avenue in Berryville.
Howerton told his fellow JPs at the Dec. 19 meeting that the Carroll Center property had recently been purchased by a private individual.
“So that option is off the table now,” Howerton said. “So I guess my question is: Is everyone still comfortable with pursuing a new courtroom building out by the jail?”
The next step in that process, Howerton said, is to begin soliciting bids for the construction.
“Our architect and our building consultant team will prepare a bid package to go out for bids. That comes with a significant cost that we would pay for out of our courthouse funds we’ve been saving for. So is everyone still in favor of going down that road? That significant cost is about $200,000 … That’s not lost money. If we can’t afford it when we get the bids back, we still have that bid package. A year down the road, after we’ve saved some more money, or get some more revenue or another way of financing it, we would not be out that money again. We could resubmit that to the builders at that time. But it is a significant cost right up front.”
District 6 JP Craig Hicks said the committee has been looking options for about two years. He said he believes the quorum court should proceed with the bid process. He said he believes bids will come in below a preliminary of more than $700 a square foot.
“I truly believe that we will easily have the money to pay for it,” Hicks said.
District 1 JP Jack Deaton noted that the county already has invested $20,000 into the project. Other JPs voiced support for moving forward.
Judge’s comments
During his judge’s comments at the end of the meeting, Writer detailed the results of a recent auction of road department equipment that brought in $122,960.
OEM Overview
JPs also heard a brief overview from Mike McKelvey, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, who described the office’s functions and responsibilities.
Next meeting
The quorum court’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Jan. 16, in the courtroom of the Eastern District Courthouse in Berryville.
