School Board Hoping to Strike Deal Soon on Land for New Pre-K to 2 School

April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The Board of Education may be getting closer to a decision on the purchase of property for a new Pre-K to 2 school.

During a work session prior to Thursday night’s monthly meeting, the board asked a committee to contact two property owners near Northside Elementary School for the purpose of negotiations and report back to the board on the outcome at its next regular monthly meeting on May 7.

The committee, appointed by Board Chairman Danny Parkerson in March, is made up of fellow board members W.J. (Dub) Evins III and Doug Stephens along with Director of Schools Patrick Cripps. Their mission is to formally recommend where to purchase approximately 25 acres of additional property (possibly adjacent to Northside Elementary School) to be funded (land purchase) by the school system.

The sites currently under consideration are owned by Dr’s Cripps, Rhody & Hooper, General Partnership and the Steve Colvert family.

“We have been talking about land near Northside Elementary School and we have been behind the doctors’ building and walked it. Between the three of us (committee) we all like that land as well as the Colvert property. I would like to see if we could go ahead and start negotiating with them to make a purchase in one of those areas for the new facility,” said Director Cripps Thursday night.

“I think we need to go ahead and make an offer one way or another to somebody and get the ball rolling. I think you as a committee could negotiate a price between the two (landowners) and bring one (recommendation) back to the board for us to discuss and hopefully vote on,” said Board Chairman Parkerson.

In addition to the purchase price, the board will have to consider the site prep costs based on the topography, the amount of fill dirt which may be needed, and the land compaction rate at each site.

April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The Board of Education is making plans to beef up security at DeKalb Middle School with the addition of a security vestibule.

While visitors to the school are already locked out and must press a button at the front entrance to be allowed in, there is no office staff, teacher, or principal close by to receive them.

During a work session prior to the monthly school board meeting Thursday night, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said creating a secure entryway vestibule that would allow school administrators to both identify visitors and have an extra layer of security is a priority.

“When you walk in at the Middle School its wide open and you can go anywhere you want to in that building without being stopped because there is no one there to receive you. We’ve had some contractors come in and bid on creating a vestibule holding facility and once its finished there will be a secretary to buzz you into the vestibule. Right now when someone is buzzed in they can go straight into the cafeteria, gym, or down the eighth grade hall without anyone being able to stop them. This vestibule will add another safety measure for the students and teachers,” said Director Cripps.

The cost of the project is $114,000. In addition to the vestibule, Cripps said plans are to also erect a wall to enclose the cafeteria for better security and noise reduction at a cost of $33,000.

April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Could the COVID-19 pandemic mean lost tax revenue for local governments?

For several weeks local businesses have had to alter the way they operate in providing services to the public due to COVID-19 and some have been forced to close completely because of the Governor’s Executive Orders regarding social distancing.

Since local governments rely on tax revenues including sales taxes and fees from services to help balance their budgets, concerns have been raised about possible revenue shortfalls for the county.

During Monday night’s monthly county commission meeting via a conference call, members Bruce Malone and Dennis Slager questioned if there should be a plan to cut expenses.

“I think everybody knows we are probably going to have a budget shortfall and we will have to go into cash (reserves) to pay all the budgeted expenses. Do you have a plan of trying to reduce expenses for the remainder of the budget year that would save us some money to help offset some of these shortfalls we are definitely going to be having”, asked Slager.

County Mayor Tim Stribling said the budgetary concerns will be addressed but in the meantime the business of the county goes on during the pandemic even though much of the work for the public is being done by officials at the courthouse and county complex behind locked doors .

“We are going to continue as we have been. As far as county offices, they may be locked but people are in there working. At the county complex, the Property Assessor, County Clerk, Register of Deeds and Trustee have their front doors locked but they are in there working. We are very fortunate that we have a drive through window for our County Clerk and are able to continue that service. We will have to look at the budget shortfalls and make adjustments. I am sure revenues will be less than normal and as far as the sales tax it will be affected but we might be able to get some money back for some things through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) ACT,” said Stribling.

Although he had not asked them directly, Malone questioned during Monday night’s meeting how the sheriff and the public officials serving the court system are using their employees during the pandemic.

“At the sheriff’s office we are utilizing the school resource officers and the court officers to work shifts. They work shifts when school is out. We are using them. We have a plan in place that we are using for COVID-19 until the threat of that is gone and the courts open back up. We also have a plan in place at the jail in case we have to quarantine shifts we still have enough employees to cover the jail and the county,” said Sheriff Ray.

“We are still receiving civil papers and those fees are paid up front. As soon as we get back to normal then we will serve those papers,” he continued.

“A few people have asked me what are the court officers and jailers doing since the jail is empty,” said Malone.

“The jail is not empty”, answered Sheriff Ray. “Inmates are still being brought in but the District Attorney General has given us strict guidelines on what charges to arrest on and when to use traffic citations in lieu of arrests but we still have arrests coming in,” he said.

“We are also taking advantage of the smaller inmate population to get the cells cleaned, painted, and repaired while we can because I assume when the courts open back up we will probably get the inmate population back up,” added Sheriff Ray.

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