Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City Council Digs Into Municipal Clerks

Figuring out exactly who the municipal clerk works for caused much debate for the Prescott City Council.

At its regular monthly meeting, Monday, Nov. 15, Municipal Court Judge Gene Hale, on behalf of Michelle Glass, the municipal clerk, asked why the city didn't give the clerk's office a raise in 1997 as it did all other city departments and employees.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said when the municipal clerk's office was established it was done on a 40-60 split with the city paying 40 percent of the salary and the county picking up the tab for the rest.

The municipal court employees, he said, do not actually work for the city, and this court is an entirely different department.

City Attorney Glenn Vasser said those working for the municipal court are dual employees, as they work for the city and county simultaneously.

The judge, though, is an elected official and an employee at the same time who works for the city and county.

Returning to the topic of raises, Hale said Michelle and Candy Glass did get a 3 percent raise from the county, but nothing from the city.

"Tell us what we need to do so we can get on the right page," he said. "We need to know who to notify."

Larry Stockton, city treasurer, told Hale someone needs to let the city know at budget time.

This, councilman Ann Stockton said, is the only way the city can give these employees a raise the same time the county does.

Hale questioned the council to make the raise retroactive to when the city workers got their last raise.

Vasser informed the panel the statute creating the municipal court system dictates how the money for the court can be used and divided between the city and county. This, he said, is done on a percentage basis.

Glass, when asked, said a 3 percent raise is factored in annually when the office's budget is prepared. The budget then goes to city accountant Carl Dalrymple, who compiles the budgets into one document and presents them to the council.

Glass said her office also has no insurance or other benefits.

Hale told the council these workers need to have access to insurance like any other city or county employee.

Vasser agreed to call the Arkansas Municipal League to get more information on the municipal court and see how the city can help.

At this time, Hale said, there is no backlog of cases in the municipal court, as the docket is kept clean by getting the cases in and out as quickly as possible.

Glass told the council she handles the county's court docket, while the city does its own docket. She also does other work for the court.

Councilman Howard Austin suggested Glass get on the council agenda and submit a budget. This way, he said, the city's governing body would know about the request.

The city, Taylor said, is working on its 2000 budget. Glass told him she has one ready for her office already.

All agreed the municipal court's office should have access to insurance and retirement benefits. Vasser suggested Glass look at the ones offered by the city and county and pick which they preferred.

Councilman Dick Bright said the city can get this worked out and suggested giving both Michelle and Candy Glass back pay for the money they didn't get when other city employees were given a raise.

From there it was on to other issues.

One of these had Jim Dickerson, with Prescott Video, telling the progress of upgrading the cable television system in the area.

Dickerson said a total of 39 miles of cable will be installed when the project is completed. At this time, however, about 28 miles of strand have been strung, while almost 19 miles of cable have been put in place.

The messenger strand, he said, is put up first with the cable lashed to it later.

Work began on Aug. 10, he said, with the company three months into the project.

At times as many as three crews have been working to string the cable, but this has dropped to one depending on the demands being placed on the company.

Dickerson said the system is being rebuilt in phases, with new cable the first one, along with grounding and bonding the coaxial line.

Once the cable is in place, the electronics will be activated and balanced out.

From there the service will be switched from the old plant to the new one. When all of the service has been changed over, he said, the company will launch new products.

If everything stays on schedule this should happen by the end of March, he said.

There will be a backup for the head end equipment, along with a battery backup system good for eight hours at a stretch, he added.

Dickerson explained there will be five fibernodes for the Prescott system, with each node split off to a different part of the city. Then, he said, if something happens in one area to knock the cable out, the entire city won't lose its signal.

This will provide better reliability for cable customers.

The upgrade, he said, will include a 550 megahertz system capable of holding up to 76 channels. Currently, Prescott Video has 36 channels available.

With the extra space, Dickerson said, the system can handle an upgrade to stereo for better sound.

A survey was done to see what programming area customers wanted, he said, but of some 1,200 customers only 48 bothered to respond.

The company, he continued, will work to provide the channels most people want, as it is impossible to please everyone.

This system will be state-of-the art once the upgrade is done, and can be upgraded further. Future plans will be to examine Internet capability later on.

Next on the list was discussion about the industrial park.

Taylor said a lot of work still needs to be done, but dirt is being moved for the entrance.

The city needs to get in touch with an architect and have plans for a spec building drawn up as well.

Vasser returned after a brief absence from the meeting, to talk more about the municipal court.

He said it is a hybrid entity which began in the late 1960s with only a judge.

In 1971 a clerk was added, with payment on a 50-50 basis between the city and county. This was later changed to 60-40.

He said the clerks should be able to get on either insurance plan with no problem, but only one entity, the city or county, should make the actual payment. The other, he continued, should reimburse the one making the payments so everything would be fair.

Vasser said the Nevada County Judge needs to be involved in this as well, so he can keep the Nevada County Quorum Court apprized of changes with the municipal court system.

Hale, he added, does not qualify for insurance as he is an elected official.

Austin said the insurance for the clerks could be placed in the budget as a line item, then when they get a raise, it would be automatic.

Karen Ward changed the topic to a booklet for the depot museum.

She said TEA-21 grant information concerning the depot was delivered to Little Rock in the form of a booklet.

Jon Chadwell, the new executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, helped Ward, as he had some something similar at Camden, where he held the post of EDO.

If approved, the city could receive a grant for $300,000.

Chadwell said there are a number of private foundations across the nation the city can contact for grants as well.

He will send for a book listing these foundations. There is less red tape involved in dealing with them, he continued, than working with state and federal agencies.

The council also passed a resolution to apply for a cops grant through the U.S. Department of Justice.

This 90-10 matching grant will be used to purchase equipment for the Prescott Police Department, including buying a new computer.

In all, the city's part will be $556, while the grant will be $5,004.