By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—At the outset of a busy session Monday night, the Henry County 911 board honored Dispatcher Cynthia Edwards on her retirement. Edwards is retiring for medical reasons after working 10 years with the city dispatch system.
The board approved a $250,000 project which will create a county-wide radio network. At a meeting of the Henry County Commission which immediately followed the 911 meeting, commissioners authorized the submission of an application for a CDBG grant for the network.
911 Director Mark Archer noted that with the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) project costing $200,000, radio console upgrades costing $230,000 and other expenses, there will only be $103,650 left in the 911 account (that’s along with $592,483 in certificates of deposit).
Archer cautioned the board that the expenses are needed but that, “We’ll have to be as strict as we can with finances for awhile. We can have no special projects, unless an emergency happens. This is exactly why we have been putting back and saving all these years so we would have money for things like this, but we’re really going to be strict in our expenses for awhile here.”
Archer said he will be recommending a road name change at the next meeting. He said a developer plans to extend Winding Way off of Harding Rd. to connect Harding and Lone Oak Roads. “They have a Sycamore Street shown in that development, but there already is a Sycamore in the county, so I’ll be recommending that the Sycamore Street shown on this map would be changed to Winding Way. We need to wait until the next meeting because the contractor needs to do more work and needs to measure it all out.” Letters will be sent to residents notifying them of the change, he said.
Board Chair John Etheridge present Edwards with a plaque; she was moved by the presentation and said, “This is the first time I’ve been thanked publicly for anything and I really appreciate it.”
Etheridge reported that the 2016-2017 audit report has already been released and it shows no findings. “It’s a good, clean audit and that’s good news. And it’s here already in December and that’s good news. Mark and his staff worked very closely with the auditors to answer their questions and an audit with no findings says a lot for Mark and the staff.”
Archer said the state 911 auditor made a surprise visit to the local office and made several recommendations, some of which already have been handled. They include tightening up the credit card policy, setting out policies on travel, public records, ethics, internal controls, and open meetings act compliance.
Board Attorney Chip McLean presented an overview of the open records act and recommended that board members be aware that if two or more members discuss 911 business even in a social setting, it could be construed as an official meeting. “The law says a meeting is a convening of a public body to deliberate toward a decision” and noted it is a gray area of which board members need to be aware.
Photos: 911 Director Mark Archer makes a point at meeting; Cynthia Edwards is honored; Chip McLean presents a report. (Shannon McFarlin photos)
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