Faulkner County approves $140,000 emergency-pay appropriation after 12-day winter storm response

Faulkner County Court voted unanimously to approve a $140,000 appropriation to cover emergency pay and overtime tied to county operations during a recent 12-day winter response to "Winter Storm Fern." The court passed proposed ordinance 26-04 after a reading and brief questions about which departments qualify for emergency pay.

The appropriation, described by Budget & Finance Committee Chair Justice Plehoskey as a backfill for overtime and extra pay triggered by a county-declared emergency, was justified in part by figures presented by Tom Henderson, Faulkner County's road and ARP administrator. "We responded for 12 days," Henderson said during a slideshow and video presentation, adding, "We had almost 4,000 man hours," and that 16 employees worked more than 100 hours during the response (one logged 139 hours). Henderson tied those personnel and equipment costs to the need for emergency funding.

Why it matters: County officials said the appropriation will let the county compensate road crews, law enforcement and other essential workers called in during declared emergencies without penalizing employees who could not work standard hours. The court emphasized the appropriation is an emergency measure that becomes available when the county judge declares a disaster, enabling time-and-a-half or overtime immediately for responding staff.

Henderson outlined operational details of the response to the storm, which he said spanned Jan. 22'Feb. 2 and included nearly 204 hours below freezing. He credited the county's beet-juice pretreatment program and described the scale of the effort: roughly 2,500 lane miles touched, six brine/beet-juice trucks, seven graders (after borrowing and renting to replace one disabled grader), 10 dump trucks, 29 pickups, about 145 tons of sand and salt, 33,000 gallons of beet juice, and roughly 5,000 gallons of fuel. "We used almost 5,000 gallons of fuel," he said, and reported changing about 80 grader blades during the event.

Court members asked whether the emergency-pay fund applies to the sheriff's office and how the pay is triggered. Officials clarified that elected department heads (such as sheriffs) may operate under different internal rules for banking time but that the emergency-pay appropriation is structured to cover overtime and extra pay when the judge declares a disaster. Justice Plehoskey and the presiding judge emphasized the appropriation's intent is to avoid penalizing county employees who are asked to work during closures.

Votes at a glance: Proposed ordinance 26-04 passed on a roll-call vote with all recorded members voting "Yes." Proposed ordinance 26-05, a separate appropriation clean-up item related to 2025 library payroll adjustments that the budget committee said was missed in prior paperwork, also passed by recorded vote. The court also approved resolution 26-01 to authorize an application for an Arkansas community grant on behalf of the Cato Volunteer Fire Department.

Cato Volunteer Fire Department resolution: Justice Strain introduced resolution 26-01 to permit the county judge to apply for an Arkansas community grant supporting Cato Volunteer Fire Department improvements. Charles Pope of Cato FD told the court their lease expired, they purchased an acre to site a new facility, have $15,000 in matching funds and seek funding for HVAC, electrical and concrete work estimated at about $45,000. The court approved the resolution by voice vote.

Context and next steps: County officials said they will implement the emergency-pay appropriation as structured when an emergency is declared and continue to document response progress monthly (Henderson said he will provide site photos and additional reporting). The court did not set a separate follow-up vote; the appropriation was adopted as an emergency ordinance at the meeting.

Quotes: "We responded for 12 days," Tom Henderson, road and ARP administrator, said. "We had almost 4,000 man hours." "You should be proud of it," the presiding judge said, commending road department operations and the program funded by the court.

What to watch: Implementation of the emergency-pay funding when future weather events occur, continued assessment of road conditions (some potholes and minor facility leaks were reported), and the Cato Fire Department's progress on matching funds and grant outcomes.

Ending: With the appropriations and resolution approved, the court moved on to committee reports, announcements and routine business; early voting for an upcoming election was also noted to have begun that day.