The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

County Board votes to assist Hend. Co. Health Department

By Sally Day for the Quill

Board members decided to assist the Henderson County Health Department with payment of some of their insurances, during the Henderson County Board meeting, November 10, 2014.

The board's vote was to pay the liability portion of their insurance and to pay the health insurance for their employees. Of the approximately $800 in total the county will pay, the Health Department will reimburse approximately $300 toward the health insurance. The motion passed unanimously. This agreement for the insurance is the same agreement the County Board has with the Highway Department.

The board also chose to raise the fees for filing court cases. The filing fees went from $10 to $25 to file each document. A problem which many courthouses have found is the difficulty in recovering fines to be paid to the court.

Henderson County was once the top county to receive their fines in full payment. These unrecovered fines have now reached nearly $1,000,000 in Henderson County alone.

Another nearby county has unrecovered fines three times that high. The board passed two motions in regards to this situation. The first was a Court Document Storage Resolution, which was passed with the following roll call vote:

Marty Lafary, yes; Albert Renken, yes; David Hinshaw, no; Stan Torrance, yes, Bob Peterson, yes; and Tex Stewart, yes.

The second was a Court Automation Resolution, which passed as follows:

Marty Lafary, yes; Albert Renken, yes; David Hinshaw, no; Stan Torrance, yes, Bob Peterson, yes; and Tex Stewart, yes.

Stephanie Arnold was present at the meeting to discuss the PILOT tax.

Arnold is the Director of the Henderson County Housing Authority. PILOT refers to Payment in Lieu of Taxes and is a form of tax, paid for at one time by the Housing Authority.

The county has waived this tax for the past few years and voted to do so again.

Arnold also mentioned how her organization is in need of volunteers. They are asking for people to paint apartment rooms, etc.

Board President Marty Lafary said he thought many people would like to volunteer if they knew where they were needed.

He said he personally has been approached by people who would like to volunteer.

In other business, the board:

• heard from board member Tex Stewart who told the board that Gladstone was wanting to purchase a new ambulance.
  
  Stewart said his department had the oldest ambulance and he asked that if they were able to purchase a new ambulance, they would like to keep the old ambulance for the First Responders in Gladstone.
  
  After some discussion the board voted to give Gladstone $20,000 for that ambulance and pay the remainder in December.
  
  Stewart was looking for a used ambulance under $30,000.
• The roll call vote was as follows: Marty Lafary, yes; Albert Renken, yes; David Hinshaw, no; Stan Torrance, yes, Bob Peterson, yes; and Tex Stewart, abstain.
• appointed Ernie Pilkington to the Zoning Board of Appeals to replace Bill Knupp, effective December 1, 2014.
• noted that there was now $30,000 in the budget for mapping for rural addressing. Board member Bob Peterson says he has found a consultant for this.
• passed a motion to renew the contracts with a two percent increase, for the public defenders, Mike Neff of Carthage and Sherry Weaver of Gladstone.
• passed the 2015 Salary Resolution.
• passed the County Highway Bond Abatement Resolution.
• thanked Amanda Rousonelos and board member Albert Renken for their diligent work in preparing the budget.
• received a thank you from the Health Department for assisting them with the insurance, etc.
• set the 2015 board meeting and Holiday Schedule.
• agreed to pay claims made in October 2014.
• approved the minutes of the October 14 and November 3 meetings.
• heard roll call as follows: Marty Lafary, present; Gail Russell, absent; Mark Lumbeck, absent; Albert Renken, present; David Hinshaw, present; Stan Torrance, present; Tex Stewart, present; Curt Eisenmayer, absent; Bob Peterson, present; Jim Alexander, absent; Terry Myers, absent.