Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Court Discusses Policies

Amendments to the Clark County sick leave policy were discussed at a recent meeting of the Clark County Quorum Court.

David Harrison informed the court the only item of not added to the previous notations for the policy was a table of contents. This, he said, would make it easier for the employees to read and find the information they need.

A conflict in the policy was pointed out. In one section it reads the county will be an equal opportunity employer, with no discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or disability.

However, on the very next page, it reads "Nothing herein establishes grounds upon which hiring or promotion must be based."

Harrison said as Clark County has chosen to be an at-will county, there is no property right in employment and, therefore, no specific due process rights involved.

He said should discrimination be involved, Federal Labor would supercede the county's policy.

When questioned how this would prevent a supervisor from promoting whoever they want, Harrison said the public policy procedure would protect those from arbitrarily and capriciously making a decision unless it is supported by documentation based on performance.

Seniority rights, Harrison said, are not considered in at-will employment. Under this term of employment, he added, seniority means nothing unless it is based on performance.

However, he pointed out, the county can have at-will and grievance procedure employment simultaneously and not be in direct conflict. Both systems, he said, are for termination of employment primarily.

Questions were also raised concerning construction costs for the courthouse annex and restoration of the 1899 courthouse structure.

Twin Rivers Architects added $8,903 to its bill for a change order for moving employees back into the old courthouse offices.

Jerry Simmons, with Twin Rivers, said this was based on changes made on the old courtroom being converted into office space and rebuilding walls.

Justice of the Peace Juanita "Dot" Curry asked why the county still owed $8,900, as in previous conversations with Simmons she recalled discussing a bill for $8,000.

The county, she said, paid the firm $4,000 then and was told it would owe another $4,000 when the project was done.

Simmons said he went back over the account and saw the engineers had to be paid for redoing electrical work.

The majority of the costs, he said, came from renovations to the old courtroom and changes made near the end of construction.

JP Bill Conine suggested the county multiply the $8,900 by the 5.5 percent contingency fee and compare what has been paid to see what is actually owed to Twin Rivers.

In other business, the court accepted a bid from Bunn Appliance for a new ice machine for the county road department. The bid was $2,800, with the machine having a 600 pound capacity.

Brown Hardman, president of the Clark County Industrial Council (CCIC) spoke to the court concerning a sales tax for Industrial Sewer Improvements to the Clark County Industrial Park.

The original sales tax, he said, came about for the existing industrial park more than 10 years ago, with the voters promised the tax would be removed when the sewer improvements were completed.

However, Hardman said, sales tax collections stopped a month early, but money continued to flow, with these funds being placed in the county general fund.

He said there have been three prospective businesses showing interest in Clark County of late, with the county having a good chance at landing all three.

Once Hardman finished his talk, the court voted to amend an ordinance specifying the use of revenues remaining in the bond fund created by the sales tax for the sewer system to the industrial park.