Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Southeast Intermodal Authority Meeting

Six members of the Southeast Arkansas Intermodal Authority Board, just enough to make a Quorum, meet March 15th in the conference room of the Bradley County Economic Development Commission.  The board approved the minutes of the February meeting and the current financial report.  The meeting lasted less than an hour in duration.

Bob Milton, bookkeeper for the Authority reported that Drew County has sent $40,000.00 to the organization.  He also reported that he went back to 2008 and recalculated the amounts being listed as owed by the four local governments that created the Authority and found that some past credits were not counted.  Based on the new calculations, the new numbers are as follows:
City of Monticello-$30,294.54
City of Warren-$41,944.35
Drew County-$40,740.22,  It should be noted that Drew County just paid $40,000.00.  That leaves their balance at $40,740.22.
Bradley County-$150,612.77
According to Mr. Milton, Monticello has stated they will be paying $35,000.00 in 2017 and Warren has budgeted $30,000.00 for the year.



Board member Dr. Bob Smalling told the board that while Bradley County has not committed to additional payments, he got a good feeling from the reception the board representatives received while attending the recent Bradley County Quorum Court meeting.  He stated that he thought the new County Judge is still getting a grip on the county budget, and along with the quorum court members, wants to continue as part owner of the authority.  Comments to that effect were made.

The Authority board was informed the bill for insurance for  the water tank had been received and was $140.00 more than the bid price that was approved.  Board member Freddie Mobley questioned the legality of paying more than approved as a result of the bid process.  The board voted to pay just the amount bid.  After the meeting Mr. Mobley notified salineriverchronicle.com that he had checked with the insurance company and was informed the $140.00 was a credit for the authority.  The insurance policy cost $140.00 less than the bid amount.

Questions were also asked concerning the amount of money being paid to the Authority's consulting engineer.  Mr. Mobley asked if the Authority was paying Garver Engineers every time they attend board meetings.  It was noted that since the inception of the current grant projects, Garver has been paid over $740,000.00.  This includes design work and construction observation and inspection.

In a final vote, the board voted to pay $40,000.00 on the note owed to Commercial Bank.  This leaves the current amount owed at around $279,147.19.  It should be noted that further expenses are forthcoming.  The amount was not reported.

Also attending the meeting was J.D. Lowry, Community Development Director for the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives.  He talked about efforts the Cooperatives are making to promote economic growth and ways they are willing to help and assist the intermodal authority.

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