Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass Recent court filings indicate that some of the documents at the center of a Freedom of Information Act dispute between a
Baxter County justices of the peace Tuesday night signed off on purchasing a new rock crusher for the county’s quarry.
Quorum Court members voted 10-0, with one absent, to approve a resolution supporting the purchase of the crusher, which will cost $715,000. That resolution also gave County Judge Mickey Pendergrass permission to borrow $343,000 from Arvest Bank to help cover the cost of the machinery.
The new crusher will replace an aging 2004 model that is prone to mechanical breakdowns, Pendergrass said. Despite the machinery’s advanced years, it is still expected to sell for at least $200,000 when the county puts it up for auction.
The Baxter County Quorum Court has raised the county’s minimum expense threshold to inventory items.
Previously, any item purchased by the county costing $1,000 or more required that item be catalogued and maintained in inventory. Now, only items costing $5,000 or more must be tracked through the county’s inventory process.
State law requires that counties set a minimum price point to track purchased items and equipment, but does not set a specific dollar amount, County Judge Mickey Pendergrass said. The $1,000-threshold is believed to have been established by the Quorum Court back in 2002.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery told Quorum Court members that two decades’ worth of inflation meant many routine items like computers and lightbars for patrol vehicles now exceed the $1,000 cost point and must be tracked through the inventory.
Baxter County is expected to receive $4.05 million in federal funds in the coming days, County Judge Mickey Pendergrass told the Quorum Court at Tuesday night’s May meeting.
Justices of the Peace voted 10-1 to create a special fund to house the money, which is being given to the county as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. That act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11 to speed up the nation’s recovery from the COVID-10 pandemic.
Baxter County will eventually receive a total of $8.1 million from the American Rescue Plan, with the first half expected to be turned over to in the next 10-14 days and the second half to arrive a year from now.
Updates for 2021 Baxter County Farmers Market discussed ktlo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ktlo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.