HIGHFILL -- In addition to passing a budget correction ordinance for 2013 on its second and third readings and transferring excess sales tax revenue from the water improvement fund to the general fund, Highfill's council approved the purchase of a spare booster pump motor and ABB drive for the water department and gave the police department permission to dispose of a broken light bar and a Ford Crown Victoria patrol car which the department is not using.
Highfill's water manager, James "Butch" Wiand, asked the council to approve the purchase of the spare pump motor and ABB drive because it takes approximately eight weeks to get in a new one and a couple weeks to get a motor rewound should the existing one fail. Cost for the spare parts is $3,926. He also reported repairs amounting to $2,900 on the city's water truck.
Keith Smith, interim police chief for the city, told council members the department's Crown Victoria patrol car ran but was "not really serviceable" for the department because of the rural roads. Council members authorized Smith to sell the vehicle and put proceeds into the department's savings account which is used for vehicle and equipment purchases. Smith told council members he planned to list the vehicle on a website handling government bids.
The council also gave Smith authorization to trade in a light bar which Smith said was broken and might cost as much to fix as it is worth. Smith said the light bar would be traded in for $150 toward the purchase of lighting equipment for the department's Dodge Durango. Lighting on the Durango is being updated because existing lights did not provide 360-degree emergency lighting as required by law.
Smith was also authorized to seek mutual aid agreements with the Benton County Sheriff's Office, Gentry Police Department, XNA Police and other neighboring agencies for legal protection for Highfill and other cities when they provide each other with mutual aid.
According to Smith, the departments already assist each other but an agreement would offer the departments and officers a more firm legal basis and provide legal protection to officers and their departments. The approved mutual aid agreement outlines how mutual aid is to be requested and approved and gives officers legal powers to make arrests and carry out law enforcement duties when requested to do so in a jurisdiction outside of their own home jurisdiction.
The agreement gives chiefs (and the sheriff) or their designees the power to request mutual aid and to determine the extent of aid offered by their departments. Officers who respond to mutual aid requests are under the command of the requesting agency but must act under the policies and procedures of their home employing agency.
No reimbursement is required of agencies requesting mutual aid unless one or more outside agencies are reimbursed for their services. Then all assisting agencies are to be reimbursed.
The agreement provides legal protection to both the sending and receiving agencies in the event an officer is injured or killed or equipment is damaged when aid is provided.
Smith also reported that the department's new Chevrolet Tahoe should be here with equipment installed and ready for service within the next couple of weeks. The council approved the purchase of a 4-wheel drive Tahoe for $34,323.40 at its Feb. 11 meeting. The money for the purchase came from the police department's equipment fund and savings account.
Smith introduced to the council Kelby Jenison, a newly hired full-time patrol officer for the city. Jenison and Sgt. Blake Webb are the department's two full-time officers. The city also employs three part-time officers and anticipates hiring one or two more in the future, according to Smith.
Stacy Digby, Highfill's mayor, announced the upcoming spring cleanup with a city dumpster available from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 20 and 21 and 8 a.m. until noon on March 22.
Digby also reported that a property owners' association was forming in the Beau Chalet subdivision.
General News on 03/19/2014