The Sharp County Quorum Court met on Monday, April 11 at 6 p.m. at the Sharp County Courthouse. Judge Gene Moore presided over the proceedings, and the minutes from the March meeting were approved.

County Treasurer Wanda Girtman had mailed out the financial report to all the JPs, who had no questions. “Things are holding on,” said Girtman.

County and Circuit Clerk Alisa Black reported new voter registration cards had been mailed out to all the voters, updating their district information. Black stated, “It’s going to be a little over $5,400 for the mail out, which is about $2,000 cheaper than what we thought it was going to be.” She wanted to give the court a heads up since it was an unbudgeted, yet mandatory expense.

Under new business, discussions on bids for improvements to the courthouse were considered. Administrative Assistant Denise Frame explained only one bid for courthouse flooring had come in from Quality Floor and Homes, Inc. and depended on whether the court wanted 12 or 20 mils flooring. The bid for the 20 mils, the higher quality tile, came in under what the court had previously estimated by $27,000. The 12 mils flooring bid was about $50,000 less than the court’s estimate.

They had received no bids on the courthouse bathroom renovations. Frame continued, “Instead of getting a general contractor to do the bathroom…we will call a plumber and we will call a tile guy, have them come and give us bids.” If each of their bids is under $50,000, they do not have to advertise for other bids. If over $50,000, the county can buy the material separately and just pay the labor fees.

As for the fairground projects, the only bid they received was for the ceiling tile from RGB Material of Jonesboro, who does tile only, no electrical. James French of the fairgrounds board is also considering buying the materials separately and just paying for the labor.

North Arkansas Electric came out to make a bid for the electrical work on the concessions stand and the pageant building at the fairgrounds. He noticed the concessions stand was on a 40 amp meter box and changed out the meter with boxes he had on his truck, two 100 amp boxes for the concessions stand and another 200 amp meter box for the pageant pavilion. He did this at no charge, explained Frame. Changing the boxes should take care of the breaker problems they were previously having at those locations.

JP Chuck Murphy said there were two more electricians that were coming out to bid on the fairground projects, one of which does heating and air.

Discussion came back to the courthouse project, and getting the bathroom projects and the flooring in the hallway done as quickly as possible to limit construction traffic in the hallways.

After Frame handed out copies of the courthouse bids on the flooring, the court decided to go with the 20 mils bid from Quality Floor and Homes. Motions were made and the JPs voted to accept their bid to allow them to get started on the courthouse floors.

Another motion was made to break up the other courthouse and fairground projects into separate bids under $50,000 for labor costs, materials to be purchased separately. The motion was seconded and the court approved.

The JPs discussed the timing of the upcoming projects. As for the courthouse, it was generally agreed that the bathrooms and exterior hallways could wait until after the elections. The fairground board had decided they could wait until after the 2022 fair was over to make their renovations, especially after North Arkansas Electric had made the changeover to higher amp meter boxes at the concession stand and the pageant building.

An ordinance to transfer funds was considered in regard to the “revenue lost” option available if ARP funds were under $10 million. Those ARP funds would be ultimately transferred to an account making that money available for general use by the county. After the ordinance was read, the court made motions and it was passed unanimously.

Girtman responded to a question regarding news on the next expected payment of ARP money. While she had to file a detailed report by the end of April, the next payment should be coming around the middle of May.

JP Joey Barnes thanked the court for their kindness and prayers over his father’s passing. Barnes also honored fellow JP Murphy, and shared the story of how Murphy had been involved in possibly saving the life of Sarah Huckabee. Decades ago when she was working on Mike Huckabee’s campaign for governor, her car had flipped over and was hanging off an edge near Mountain View. Murphy had been one of the “two good ole boys” as Huckabee referred to them who came along and “saved their lives,” as she put it, to help them out of their precarious position.

County Clerk Black also congratulated the Highland High School concert band winning the state championship that same evening on April 11, which Black had just learned about. The court responded with congratulatory applause.

One announcement from the audience was to encourage everyone to vote in the upcoming primary election on May 24. Regardless of party affiliation, it was an important election and people should get out and exercise their right to vote.

The Sharp County Quorum Court meets the second Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Sharp County Courthouse.

Posting a comment requires free registration: