Jasper 911 Considering Dissolution/Restructuring

The Jasper County 911 Joint Authority met Friday, June 14. Board members present included Sheriff Donnie Pope, Sabrina Westbrook, Jenny Murphy, Ronnie Payne, Dee Garland, Amanda Proctor and Jeff Lee.

First item on the agenda was discussion regarding the recent resignation of Board Chair Gail Harrell. Jeff Lee, the previous Board Chair who has served his limit under the current by-laws, was voted unanimously as an Interim Chair until a new Chair can be named. At this time, Board member Jenny Murphy also advised the 911 Authority of her intent to resign from the Board.

Next on the agenda was discussion about the possible dissolution or restructuring of the 911 Joint Authority. Citing a previous newspaper article in The Monticello News that spoke of the dissolution of the 911 Authority, discussion ensued about that possibility.

The discussion brought forth the main issues facing either the dissolution or the restructuring with the primary concern focusing on the pensions of retired and vested 911 employees. Dissolution or restructuring can possibly affect employees who are already receiving their pensions and current employees who are vested in the system and have the right and expectation of receiving their pensions once they retire.

Board member Sabrina Westbrook, the Authority member tasked with researching the pension issue, advised the Authority she had spoken to their pension contact and she was advised that if the Authority was dissolved, vested employees are risk of only receiving approximately 62 percent of the retirement due to them.

Kimberly LeCroy, the 911 Director was unable to answer how many current employees were vested and she was asked to find out that number of employees and get a list of people currently receiving a pension and those who are vested. Authority member Westbrook was tasked with speaking to their pension contact to find out of the current pension system could be transferred to a 401K retirement plan should the Authority be dissolved.

Authority members present agreed that restructuring, rather than dissolution, was their preferred path. They agreed that dissolution was not on the table if it meant adversely affecting current 911 employees, especially given the negative effect on current retired and vested employees. Dissolution cannot occur without a vote of consent from Shady Dale, the city of Monticello and Jasper County. Those present stated that they did not believe that the city of Shady Dale or Jasper County would support dissolution. However, it was stated that since the 911 Authority was created by the three entities, they can vote to dissolve the Authority.

Sheriff Pope suggested that a small group of the current Authority members meet with Shady Dale, the City of Monticello and Jasper County to come up with an agreed upon restructuring plan, including whether or not the current Authority remain at 11 members or be reduced to as few as five or seven members. Discussion also included who should be on the Authority should it be restructured.

Other agenda items included the 911 Director’s report that included information on recent personnel who were no longer employed and one employee out on 12 weeks maternity leave. Director LeCroy advised that 911 continues to function on the bare minimum staffing.

She provided an update on the June 3 phone equipment failure that was determined to be most likely the result of power being cut due to construction. Cost to repair the damage is $8,809. The Director also advised that the 911 Center was still awaiting a refrigerator for employees as they one that they had purchased was too large for the space available.

The Authority then went into closed session.