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City, county merge ordinance for park Melodie Phelps News Editor The controversy that has halted half the funding to Monticello-Wayne County Park seems to be a step closer to being resolved, after Monticello City Council and Wayne County Fiscal Court met together on Tuesday, December 20 to try to reach an agreement. An amended ordinance approved by the city council and a newly drafted ordinance from the fiscal court will be merged together and brought back before another joint session of the two governments. This agreement came after a nearly two hour meeting, including a lengthy negotiation session during a recess in the meeting. It may mean the end to a discussion between the two governments that has persisted throughout much of the year. Wayne County Fiscal Court withheld funding from the park in May, after discussing some personnel issues that needed to be addressed at the facility. Much of the discussion centered around the use of alcohol on the job by park employees. The city has continued to provide its monthly funding for the park and in an effort to help resolve the problem, approved an amendment to the joint ordinance that created the Park Board in 1982. The amended ordinance included personnel policies and procedures that some officials said were lacking in the original ordinance. It also provided for an annual audit of the Park Board, an annual inventory of park equipment, and regular meetings by the board. The county did not take any action on the amended ordinance and instead introduced an entirely new ordinance to recreate the Park Board. Early in last week's meeting, County Judge-Executive Bruce Ramsey stated that he thought they should adopt a new ordinance and start all over again. He said the amendment the city had approved would not take care of past problems at the park. "The issue is whether you allow people to drink on the job and my opinion is no," stated Ramsey during last week's meeting. District Four Magistrate Wade Upchurch stated that the city and county has a Park Board in place to take care of the park and they should be allowed to do the job. Upchurch noted there are Park Board members who have served since the 1980's and have received no pay for their service. "The people out there know what the park is," said Upchurch. "I commend the Park Board...The Park Board has done an outstanding job," he added. District One Magistrate Jerry Sloan again voiced his support of approving the city's amended ordinance. Sloan said the fiscal court voted to let County Attorney Lee Tobbe and City Attorney Jay Jones work out an amendment that would include personnel policies and procedures and Sloan said he is satisfied with what the city has approved. "I feel like that board is very competent of doing what needs to be done out there at the park," said Sloan. Monticello Mayor Thurston Frye voiced his support to the amended ordinance which was approved by the city. "I think the amended ordinance serves the purpose," he said. At that point, the discussion became directed on specific points from each ordinance. Ramsey said he had some questions regarding the appeals process set up in the city's amended ordinance, and he asked for a recess to study the ordinance more closely. Both attorneys, as well as council members and magistrates began to discuss portions of the amended ordinance and the new ordinance that could be merged together. After returning to the meeting, Frye said there had been discussion during the recess that could lead to a solution. Ramsey asked the attorneys to explain what had been discussed. Tobbe said there was an effort to work out a compromise between the two attorneys. Portions of the county's new ordinance would be included in the city's amended ordinance, according to the discussion. Changes to the amended ordinance included changing the section regarding the appeals process. Appeals by a dismissed employee will be addressed by the Park Board. Another change to the amended ordinance would classify park employees as safety sensitive employees who are subject to mandatory alcohol and drug testing. It was also suggested that the ordinance include a provision that would allow and council member, fiscal court member, the judge and the mayor to request alcohol or drug testing if they suspect its use while an employee is working. The test would be supervised by city, county or state police, according to the provision. Councilman Dan Daffron made a motion that Tobbe and Jones work together to draft a formal ordinance and then bring it back to the council and the fiscal court. Councilman Jeffrey Edwards seconded the motion, which was approved by the council just before the meeting was adjourned. Add a comment |
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