Clinton County Fiscal Court held its regular meeting last Thursday, November 16, with a full six member body of magistrates present, including newly elected and former magistrate Terry Buster.
Due to the untimely passing of former 3rdDistrict Magistrate Gary Tallent earlier this year, the seat had been vacant as the Governor had not made any official appointment to fill the term.
Buster, a Republican who had previously served as magistrate of the district, was chosen by the GOP to fill the seat and with no Democrat nominee being selected to seek the office, he was able to assume the magistrate’s role immediately following the November General Election.
The meeting last week saw only routine items of business being taken up, including board appointments, advertising for bids on county equipment, as well as various department head reports.
The court acknowledged receiving the treasurer’s report, voted to approve the monthly report and claims and bills–which also included election expenses– and on separate motions, approved three cash transfers.
The cash transfers totaled $81,000, all from the occupational tax checking account and included the monthly payroll.
Magistrate Buster made the motion to approve a $30,000 transfer to the jail account; Magistrate Jason Pitman moved to transfer $50,000 to the ambulance account, and Magistrate Gary Ferguson made a motion to transfer $1,000 to the DES account, all which passed unanimously.
The court then voted, on a motion by Magistrate Mickey Riddle, to advertise for bids for a 289 CAT steer compact loader with tracks.
A representative from CAT was present, giving some information and answering some questions about the equipment the company had available.
On a motion by Magistrate Pitman, the court also voted to advertise for bids on a John Deere tractor with boom and accessories.
Clinton County Library Director Margaret England had presented names of two individuals recommended to fill appointments on the Clinton County Library Board. On a motion by Magistrate Ferguson, the court voted to appoint Pam Morgan and Ray Marcum to the board.
A pair of appointments were also made to the Clinton County Extension Service Board, as the court, on a motion by Magistrate Tony Delk, voted to appoint Nancy Mims and Nathan Stockton to that board.
Emergency Management Director Lucas Abner addressed the court on some topics related to emergency services, beginning with the annual Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Each county has to submit a plan to the state, based on the percentage of possible damage a disaster may cause, such as flooding, weather related, dam failure, etc.
Abner noted there was no change in this year’s Hazard Mitigation plan, with the exception that the Albany city limit area is included in the overall plan.
A motion was made to approve a resolution accepting the plan by Magistrate Jerry Lowhorn and passed unopposed.
Abner also gave the monthly EMS report, noting 132 ambulance runs had been made during the month of October and collections were over $54,000, with total deposits into the ambulance service in excess of $71,900 for the month.
He also noted to the court that over the past year, the ambulance service had made over 300 out-of-town runs and billed over 2,800 payable miles as a result of those runs.
The emergency services director also noted that all of the outdoor warning sirens, including the four new sirens, have been tested and all are working.
Abner also briefed the court on the new radio communications tower that is now up on the mountain behind the EMS/fire department location.
He noted work would still have to be done to the antennas and hopes the new tower and equipment will vastly aid in output of communications power and frequency for emergency personnel such as fire, police and ambulance services.
He also thanked the Albany City Council for helping with the purchase of two new antennas for the tower.
Finally, he updated the court on the new ambulances recently purchased by the court. He said they were now expected to come off the assembly line in December.
He added, however, the EMS still has four full-service ambulances and once the two new ones are in and running, it will be the best fleet the county has had in over 20 years.
Following Abner’s updates, the court, on separate votes, unanimously approved the Clinton County Clerk’s office 2024 budget, as well as maximum salaries for the office.
County Clerk Nathan Collins noted both were the same as the previous year.
Clinton County Jailer Bruce Stearns then gave the monthly jail report, including the number of inmate intakes for the month and amount of trash inmates have picked up along county roadways during the past month. He noting things were “going well.”
Clinton County Sheriff Ricky Marcum then told the court that 38 percent of property taxes have already been collected (as of 15 days into collections) and noted the online collections were doing very well.
He also noted his department has had to deal with some “bad calls” recently in difficult times and thanked the court for their support.
Magistrates Pitman and Delk also thanked the road department for their work, saying they had received compliments about the road department over recent weeks.
It was also noted that with the winter season quickly approaching, there was a good supply of road salt on hand and the road department is ready for the winter season.
Finally, Clinton County Judge/Executive Ricky Craig reminded the court members and public about some holiday dates coming up, including the Thanksgiving dinner that was held this past Tuesday, November 21.
The judge also invited and encouraged residents to attend the annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies that will be held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 29, and the Christmas Parade to be held Friday, December 1, also starting at 5 p.m.
The approximate 35 minute meeting was then adjourned.
The next regular meeting of Clinton Fiscal Court is scheduled for Thursday, December 21, at 5 p.m. in the upstairs courtroom of the courthouse and is open to the public.