Quorum Court - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. I'm going to call the Washington County Quorum Court meeting for the month of May 2026 to order. If you please rise, we'll do the prayer and pledge. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight and ask for your hands and your leadership over this meeting. Please allow us to conduct the efficient and effective business of the people of Washington County. Please allow us to give each other grace. listen to differing opinions, and make the best decisions we can for the people that we represent. Thank you also for your son that you sent. Thank you for showing us that faith, hope, and love are the best ways forward. May we act in such ways. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much. With that, we'll move to the adoption of the agenda. Do I have any motions with regard to the agenda?

Justice Lyons? I'd like to move that we swap items 10 and 11. So 11 becomes 10 and 10 becomes 11.

I have a motion to swap items 10 and 11 by Justice Lyons. Second. I have a second by Justice Dean. All those in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed? Excuse me. Items 10 and 11 will be reversed on the agenda. Any further motions?

I move we adopt the amended agenda.

I have a motion to pass the amended agenda by Justice Lyons, second by Justice Dean. All those in favor?

Aye.

All those opposed? The amended agenda has been adopted. Preliminary motions. Justice Dean? Aye.

Thank you, Judge. I'd like to make a motion that all ordinances and resolutions be read by title only.

Motion to read all ordinances and resolutions by title only by Justice Dean. Do I have a second? Second by Justice Rio Stafford. All those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Ordinances and resolutions will be read by title only. Number five is citizens' comments. We have a 15-minute comment period with a three-minute limit per individual. Citizen comments this evening. Good evening, sir. If you'll push that button on the very bottom right of the black console there with the speaker.

You should be good, sir. Good evening. My name is Ken Canfield. And I just want to thank the quorum court here, each one of you individually, for the work you're doing. I'm fairly new to the community, moved here from Los Angeles. And after doing work across the country, particularly in criminal justice, I was taken to volunteer time here. and seeing the wise investment that you have made i just want to report it is being used and in fact allotted across the nation i had an opportunity to write a report here many of you have seen this of the work that you funded some years ago i just want you to know that what is going on in washington county is unique I come from Los Angeles working in LA County where 18,000 men alone are in the county jail. You think you have problems there? That's just one of five counties. The recidivism rate there is between 60 and 70% on a good day. And to see what you've done to block potential recidivism is noteworthy. And as a volunteer, I want you to know that I, the past two years, volunteered with a group. I'm semi-retired at Returning Home. I'm chairman of the board of Returning Home, and we have volunteers, 65 of them. The name of the game in moving from government investment to citizenry is volunteerism. And I just want you to know the enthusiasm that I see among the volunteers who come to CRI is of the highest caliber. So I just wanted to bring you that report and also to let you know that there are new metrics that are being assembled right now nationally. I'm an affiliate scholar with the Global Flourishing Project. You're going to hear about this in the future. Right now, the whole idea is are people flourishing in their opportunities, in their personal health, in their mental health, and all the factors that lead into this. The Gallup Organization, in cooperation with Baylor and Harvard, which I'm an affiliate scholar, is looking at this. I am running these measures here at CRI and at CAP because why? What's going on in Washington County is noteworthy. Now you ask, why am I here? Well, three of my children and ten of my grandchildren live in Northwest Arkansas. My wife and I said, we got to go where the action is. So I'm here for the duration. So again, I want to applaud your investment in helping do something that I think that's going to have national implications. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Canfield. Public comments.

Good evening, Judge Deakins and members of the Quorum Court. My name is Peter Nearingarten, and I am the Environmental Director and Energy Manager at the City of Fayetteville. I'm also a resident of Washington County. And I want to speak to you tonight on the PACE Ordinance that is on your agenda. And in full disclosure, I also want to disclose that I am the chair of the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association Board, which is the organization that supports the PACE program. We're a nonprofit energy advocacy organization that supports greater access and choice in energy solutions across the state of Arkansas, energy solutions that are clean, reliable, and affordable for residents and businesses across the state of Arkansas. I believe you all have discussed the PACE ordinance and the PACE program a number of times at previous meetings, so I won't belabor the details of what PACE is. I'm sure Justice of Peace Rhea Stafford can help address some of that when she presents it in a few minutes. But certainly PACE, property assessed capital equity, will help attract new capital investment across Washington County. That's certainly a good thing. It'll support business retention and expansion. It'll help create local jobs across Washington County, particularly jobs in energy efficiency. And as you may be aware, we've seen energy prices rise significantly over the past year across Arkansas and across the nation, and energy efficiency improvements are having a renaissance because of that. Energy efficiency improvements that previously may not have made economic sense now with higher energy prices do make economic sense. And so this program will help further the financing and provide financing options for those energy efficiency improvements. This program will help us modernize older building stock across the county. It'll strengthen property values and our commercial tax base across Washington County. And importantly, I think it'll help rural communities and urban communities finance improvements that might otherwise be out of reach for businesses across Washington County. So I urge you to support the PACE ordinance when it comes up for discussion later in this meeting. Thank you very much, and I appreciate you all for the service that you provide to the residents and businesses of Washington County.

Thank you, sir. Public comments? Seeing none, we're going to move on with the agenda. Item number six is approval of amendments. The amendments were emailed out with the agenda packet. Accepting any... We have a motion to accept by Justice Lemming, second by Justice Dean. All those in favor? Aye. Excuse me. Those opposed? The ayes have it. The minutes have been approved. I'm going to keep my comments pretty brief this evening. I know we're in the full throes of spring with all the graduation activities. All the young folks look pretty excited right now. We also have these storms blowing in. I want to be able to monitor some of those this evening. But I do want to also always thank the Washington County Extension Office, specifically tonight, the Goshen Homemakers Club, who brought us some snacks and refreshments. They're always so kind, they're always here to support us, and I really appreciate them. I wanna say a couple things of noteworthy. Along with the summer coming upon us and school being out, please look up your local library. The Washington County Library System hosts a library in most of our communities. And even the Fayetteville Library is an independent library, but a great resource. And what I'd say is parents, please look at the possible programs that are at those libraries this summer. They put a lot of work and effort through volunteer effort to put on great programming for the youth around our county. So look that up and see if there's a program that interests you. I think there's going to be a lot of great stuff coming through that this summer. Also, I'd like to note, we talk a lot about criminal justice and the strides that we've made here in Washington County. I truly believe that we're leading in that area around the state and possibly around this region of the nation. With that, we continue to debate that and how we want to support that and the resources that we want to put into that. But tonight, maybe just to pause for one second and let's celebrate that the Washington County Mental Health Court will turn one year old this month. And so what a great astounding effort by a lot of wonderful people who are getting in our justice system, rolling their sleeves up. And of course that program coincides with our wonderful other programs, the Drug Court and the Veterans Court that Judge Beaumont leads, and then of course the Returning Home and CAP program that CEO Rob is and his team lead. And so that work, those accomplishments come at very hard work. I think you ladies and gentlemen know that around this horseshoe more than anyone. And I don't think it's too prideful to stop for a minute and just applaud those ladies and gentlemen that are working so hard in that court and making such a big difference at one year old. With that, we have a little logistical thing to take care of. As you all know, Justice Ecke is our liaison to the Arkansas Association of Counties and their quorum court group. We elected her to that position last year. She's come to us and said she thinks it's probably pretty prudent if we would elect an alternate for her in case she has times where she will not be able to make meetings. She wants Washington County represented. Of course, we all have great representation in that thanks to Justice Ecke and she wants that followed up. Justice Ecke, do you have a nomination that you would like to put forward and we would do that if you'd like to be recognized by the microphone?

Thank you. After careful consideration, I nominate Chandra Washington.

So we have a nomination for Justice Washington, second by Justice Lemming. All those in favor of Justice Washington being our alternate? Aye. Those opposed, congratulations, Justin Washington. Thank you so much for being willing to step up, and I think that's a great show of bipartisanship, too. Thank you so much, Justice Secchi, for what you continue to do and your efforts going forward. With that, I promised my comments would be short. You'll be the judge of that, but my last thing is have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day this weekend, and be around friends and family, and enjoy yourselves, and let's celebrate the start to this summer. With that, we'll move on. We'll move on to our business. Item number eight. Counselor, will you read that by title only?

Item eight is an ordinance authorizing Washington County, Arkansas to join the Arkansas Property Assessed Capital Expenditure Improvement District, approving and incorporating the Uniform Participation Agreement, authorizing the county judge to execute the participation agreement and for other purposes.

Justice Rios-Stafford? Thank you, Judge. As we discussed in committee, this would allow Washington County to join the PACE program and allow property owners and builders to take advantage of capital programs through our assessor's office, through a special assessment. And we heard from Assessor Hill and committee on that. that it would not be any financial risk to the county. And so with that, I believe this has to go through three readings, so with that I move to suspend the rules and go to the next reading.

I have a motion to suspend the rules and move to a second reading by Justice Rios-Stafford. I heard second by Justice Dean. All those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Aye. Mr. Allen, will you please call the roll on that, please, sir? This is, I'm sorry, this is to suspend, motion to suspend the rules and move it to a second reading. Motion by Justice Rio Stafford, second by Justice Dean.

Justice Rio Stafford.

Yes. Yes.

Justice Lemming? No. No. Justice Ricker? No, sir. No. Justice Pond? Yes. Yes. Justice Bruns? No. No. Justice Massengill? No. No. Justice Lyons? Yes, sir. Yes. Justice Ecke? Yes. Yes. Justice Dean? Yes, sir. Yes. Justice Washington? Yes. Yes. Justice Koger? Yes. Yes. Justice Dennis? No. No. Justice Hires? Yes. Yes. Yes.

That item will fail to move to the second reading. It will move to the second reading at next month's quorum court meeting. With that, we'll move on to item number nine. Counselor, we read that by title only.

Item nine is an ordinance amending the Community Rebuilding Initiative Grant Fund for 2026 and for other matters pertaining thereto.

Justice Ecke?

Thank you, Judge. We've had a healthy discussion, but I would also like to say that May is the month that we celebrate mental health wellness month, bringing awareness to the mental challenges that Americans have. And I also would like to mention Judge Tara Stevenson, who is the judge over the mental health court, and they're getting that off the ground. With that, I'd like to make a motion that we pass item number 9.1.

I have a motion to pass item 9.1 by Justice Ecke.

Second.

Second by Justice Lyons. Further discussion on this item? Justice Ecke, are you done with the floor?

Well, I will also say that we are working with Dr. Russell for next year's budget and looking for particular grants. There's one that came up. with the, it's the JMHCP grant program. It's administrated by the DOJ, and it has certain language in there that possibly we will be able to get some kind of funding. We'll find out if it's applicable or not from Dr. Russell, and I appreciate her help in all of this, but in the meantime, We value the services that ERISA is offering the counseling to those that are incarcerated. And I believe that this $169,875 is well placed to help transform and change the lives of those men that are sitting there waiting. And if we can pioneer this and get this funded, it will only help expand these services to help others, including women that are incarcerated.

Thank you. Justice Koger?

Yes, thank you, Judge. I would just like to see if I could get my question answered about the contract 2026-42. And it turns out that ERISA Health has been paid by the county this year up to over $44,000. So I'd just like to understand under what appropriation ordinance are they being paid already?

I don't have that specifically with me right now. What I want to warn us about, and I think I have to remind myself of this, for whatever reason, the grant program runs January through the end of September. And I've never gotten a good answer for that, why that is. State government runs on a fiscal calendar, but we, of course, run on the year count. I don't understand why they didn't just choose one of those. So what I'm saying is we need to be very clear about that. We are very specific about the funds that we are investing as a county. We try to very much isolate those off so that you guys can see those and evaluate those. Does that make sense? So there could be dollars that have been administered and returned to the grant fund through RSAT for this year. It's a funding stream coming from RSAT. I mean, we've offered staff. I mean, I think Dr. Russell was here at the committee meeting, correct? She's the expert. And I want to thank you, Justice Ecke, for recognizing Dr. Russell. Her efforts are always stellar. But I also want you guys to realize right now with the new federal administration and the Department of Justice, all those grants are changing. And a lot of them are coming back out, and they have a lot of the same parameters, but they have a different name. And so what I'm saying is a lot of that has caused changes in CRI and RSAT and things like that. So what I'm saying is we have to be very clear about all this, about where these fundings come from. And so I understand you've been talking to Comptroller Sherman, correct?

Right. But I'm still trying to find out under what authority. Because if we pay someone without it being appropriated, that's not legal.

Beth, let me, Justice Coger, can I ask you one thing? Yes. Do you think it's possible that I could write a check on the county and it not go under any other, do you think I can write checks on the county without an appropriation?

I'm not sure that you would write the check. I don't know who would write the check.

Do you think anybody in the county can write a check without an appropriation?

Well, I think it could be done. That's why I'm just asking a very simple question.

I understand, but what I'm saying is I don't have that on me right now. Okay. I could very much get you that answer.

Well, I did ask on April 7th.

Correct. And what I'm saying is, did staff not get you that answer?

No.

Well, we'll get that corrected. I'm sorry you didn't get the answer. They very much want to answer your questions, Justice Coker.

I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

And so if you don't have the information you need, it's just a misunderstanding. Okay. But what I want everybody on this horseshoe to understand, there are a lot of financial controls in this county. Is this county perfect? Absolutely not. I think we've demonstrated that in certain ways over this term. But I think one of the most, what we see is challenges with physical property walking off. it would be really hard for somebody to write a check without an appropriation in this county. There's so many independent people who verify that for us.

Okay, I was just wanting to know what appropriation it was. We'll get you that answer. So I'm going to be voting against this because I don't think it's the best use of taxpayer dollars, and I don't think it's what was recommended by the 2020 Criminal Justice Assessment Study. Thank you.

Thank you.

Justice Ricker? I was looking at some of the figures that were given to us last time. The biggest chunk of CRI seems to be the deputies that are being used there. Would it be cost effective for the county to look at that moving CRI back to the jail where those deputies could be used in CRI and regular jail duties since we have some new construction area there that's vacant? I'd like for the county or for somebody to take a look at that and see if it is a possibility, a cost-effective thing for next year.

I think that's a great consideration, Justice Ricker. Of course, we'd want to bring Sheriff Cantrell in on that. But I think, guys, we have so much going on in this county right now, good. that we're reevaluating all that every single day. I hope that makes sense to you, Justice Ricker, but absolutely, when we get the new area of the jail online, we want to look at the best use of all those facilities. I think we're in a consideration of all of our physical spaces at the county, and we're going to be bringing you guys some different suggestions and stuff like that over the next few months, but absolutely. Absolutely. There's a lot of people who are pouring a lot of love and energy into CRI and CAP and drug court and things like that. There's nothing nefarious in it. We want to be totally transparent. We want to show you what it costs. We want to show you the results. And so with that, Justice Ricker, what I want you to know is every time we issue those results, absolutely then is critiquing and saying how can we make it better even when it's good.

Justice Hires? Thank you, Judge. I just want to say to my colleagues, I feel like we have invested a lot of money in this program and we've done it because we believe in it. I'm very concerned that if we deny this, that this is going to cripple the program in a way that's going to see the benefits of it kind of fall apart. I was thinking about this the other day and several years ago, this would have been a dream to have mental health support being brought to people who are in the county jail. I just want to say I support mental health treatment. I will be supporting this ordinance. I really hope you do too. Thank you.

I will say and just... I'm sorry, we'll have time for public comments in just a second. If you'll allow me to, what I also want to say, I hope I can remember what I was just trying to... Sorry, excuse me. All the grants in criminal justice, there's some out there, there's some to pursue, but for some weird reason, the mental health piece is a big missing piece of the puzzle that we cannot seem to seek outside funding for. And so what I want you guys to be comfortable with too, we're bringing you the most critical piece of this program that we have not had any luck, not even interest, not even something that we can apply for. Does that make sense? And so, yes, this is a critical piece. And we'll do everything we can to cover every cost we can to that program that doesn't bear directly on the taxpayers. Sorry to talk so much. Further comments? Public comments. I boost the bottom on the right, yep.

David Balts, 4459 East Wyman Road. I'm not actually here to speak on this. I do support mental health, anything that we can do for it. But I do want to call to attention a few things. Number one, Judge Deakins, no one said that there was anything nefarious going on. You're the one that implied that. I'd like to bring attention to that. Number two, Beth Coger only asked a question. Number three, I don't trust anything about this because the systemic problem with the county is that we do not follow the processes correctly to do these things. And that is what Beth Cogar is trying to question and ask about. So please, thank you.

Public comments. Come up to the microphone.

Unfortunately, I lost my keys today when I went to get some food after I donated something. So I had to coordinate with my loved one, getting a car and so on, and spare key. Fortunately, I had it. I understand there was election. I probably, it's the last time.

First, you need to state your name and where you live for the record. I'm sorry to interrupt you.

Washington County. Kunievich could be my last name. It was the last name of my Jewish ex-husband. He was an officer, like all the law enforcement, Washington County Sheriff and Fatal Police, especially supervisors. I disagreed with him about certain things. But I wanted, I wrote you a letter, I remember, and then another one, because I think issue of psychosis and the fascism exists, and mental health, it could be put on mental health that there is something wrong with those people. But I think as Washington County and cities of Fayetteville and Springdale, there should be kindness lessons that are taught in schools because youth is very hostile because their parents are hostile. Me living in certain place for six months only, the window of my car, back window was broken because they're hostile to me because I'm of different origin and I was not born in the United States. Recently, a female finally got arrested because Washington County Sheriff, after 13 visits to the place, arrested her for trying to beat me up to death and shoot my dogs. And they still trespass on the property and threaten me, threaten my dogs. So yes, mental health is very important, but once again, Even you would be outgoing. I understand your last election, and you are a judge right now. And I wrote to different judges about that. I wrote to Treat and to Martin and Moore and Lindsay, many, the one who used to be Matt Durette, that issues of people treating other people as much more important, even mental health is a big piece of it, There is probably something wrong with them, but me being from different culture, experiencing so much fascism, and it's psychosis in them. I think they're raising in a certain way where they think they have to group against certain people if they disagree with them, and then be hostile. It's like facing some kind of a cult or... It was the same with black juveniles. Now those people in the neighborhood on Shortstop Lane and in Springdale today, it's just, they feel, I feel like they feel they have to treat you differently because you're from different place. And if they disagree with government there, or if they disagree with the way you feel, or if you want for equality and... you want fairness or justice, that they want to nail you to the ground. And as far as you make them upset or you disagree with them, especially in law enforcement, I mean, Russians would use cussing. They would say, you know, you pizda in uniform. It's what you are. Putin's people would say.

Thank you. That's time. I appreciate you. Time's expired.

Goodbye. I know your last election, but all of you, I guess, will be gone from offices. But I wanted to try to reach you.

Thank you. Your time's expired. Public comments. All right. We're going to take up the question. This is a motion to pass item 9.1. Motion by Justice Ecke. Second by Justice Lyons. Mr. Allen, will you please call the roll?

Justice Rio Stafford. Yes. Justice Lemming. Abstain. Justice Ricker. Yes. Justice Pond? Yes. Yes. Justice Bruns? No. No. Justice Massengill? Yes. Yes. Justice Rivera-Lopez? Yes. Yes. Justice Lyons? Yes. Yes. Justice Ecke? Yes. Yes. Justice Dean? Yes. Yes. Justice Washington? Yes. Yes. Justice Koger? No. No. Justice Dennis? Yes. Yes. Justice Hiers? Yes. Yes.

Item 10.1 passes. Next on the agenda. Wow, I flipped my page already. And we have a, did we reverse the order of these? Am I to that point yet? So we will take up item number 11 right now. Council, will you read what was originally item number 11 by title only?

An ordinance ratifying a conditional use permit recommended for approval by the planning board for the Genesis Ranch project. Justice Leaming?

Judge, I'd like to put this on first reading and leave it there because there's just a lot of information that's out there that people need to get some more information on this because I've yet to find anybody that's back in this program and back in any of this. So I'd like to put it on the first reading and give people more time.

Okay. With that, are there any more comments or motions?

I'm sorry?

No, we'll just leave it. We've read it the first time. It'll be read the second time at the next meeting. All right, with that, we're moving on to what was originally item number 10, amended to item number 11. Counselor, you read that by title only?

A resolution requiring the Stewart Family Christmas Lights LLC and the Stewart Family Fireworks LLC to cease operations immediately until granted an approved conditional use permit, large-scale development permit, and floodplain permit in accordance with Ordinance 2025-44.

Justice Massengill, would you like to introduce this?

OK, well, we've discussed this quite a bit in committee. I guess I'd be open to answering any questions. I would just encourage my colleagues to vote for this. I know this resolution doesn't really carry any power to it, but I would say voting against this would send a bad message. Yeah, I'll make a motion.

To pass it? Pass it, yeah. Motion to pass by Justice Massageel, second by Justice Lemming. Sorry about that. Any further comments?

Justice Rios-Stafford. Thank you, Judge. I don't see the sheriff here, but I was wondering if there was anyone from the law enforcement side who might be able to give us an update on where things are at on the enforcement. Nobody? Okay. I don't see any members. OK, thanks. I tried.

Justice Burns? Thank you, Judge. Yeah, just a couple of questions that I'm not clear on, and I need clarification on if I could. One is, with this floodplain, why are we needing a floodplain for an operation for lighting?

Is Dr. Atta still here? Dr. Atta, grab that guy. I just saw him running out.

I'll ask my second question.

Part of this project sits in a floodplain. And I think Dr. Atta can talk more about it. But because it is in a floodplain, Washington County is the administrator of all floodplain permits throughout the county, but I'll let Director Atta speak in more detail.

Justice Burns, will you repeat your question for Dr. Atta since he wasn't in here?

Yeah, I just don't understand how come we're asking for them to do a floodplain study.

Anything in the floodplain, I never said floodplain study. It's a floodplain permit. This area's already been studied. It's in an AE zone, which already has elevation. Anything, that's a FEMA requirement and a state requirement. Any development happens in the floodplain requires a floodplain permit. And the floodplain permit is free.

Okay, so anything anybody does?

Anything in that fluctuated area, yes, it has to.

They run cattle?

They do whatever they want to do? I said like structure. Okay. Structure development, yes.

So if they build something?

Yes, sir.

Okay. And they're building something that's going to be large enough for a large-scale development?

Definitely. Anything one acre or more is a large scale.

Okay.

And that's been discussed since like 2018, 2019.

That's what I hear. That's unfortunate. Okay, thank you. Absolutely. The other comment I had, Judge, is you know, I'm sorry it's come to this, but that business has grown so much and it's gotten so big. They've done a great job of building a business, but yet They're so big, they're becoming a nuisance to everybody who travels out there, including me, who got caught in 45 minutes of traffic last year. So I can understand that. But at the same point, they need to abide by the rules. So I do support the way you've rewritten this thing.

Thank you.

Justice Rivera-Lopez.

Thank you, Judge. Question for counsel. I'm under the impression that we did send out notification and they were advised and we began the process. The means by which we have to enforce this has already begun. Is that correct?

I believe so. I think Dr. Addy might be able to speak more to that. I believe that, I know for a fact that one citation has been issued.

Okay.

Yeah, we've been talking with the applicant representative since last year, and they're aware. And I guess I believe you've been receiving emails from the neighbors about the whole communication thing. And she sent a package. Ms. Tuck sent a package with all the communication and the information was sent out. So they are aware. So far, we have not received any completed application, conditional use permit application, or anything else to move forward.

OK. Thank you. Thank you, Director Atta. Absolutely. And then, I mean, so from what I understand, and this won't be a question to you, just so you're aware, it's my feelings on the subject here. Obviously, we've begun the process. They are aware of the process. They are aware of how to move forward. That's not to say that I don't understand the intentions of this resolution. I believe they came with the best intentions The fact remains that it doesn't have any teeth. And so well, I don't see that there's any harm I don't know what sort of precedent it says for us to count this way, but with that said I mean if that's how you know, this is a strong support if if you all would like to see this and

be the way that we continue I don't know that I agree with that but I mean that's not my decision I've never brought this like to anyone's like to the courtroom court so that's fair thank you justice lions thank you judge um just as I communicate in the committee meeting

This is taken care of in our current ordinances with teeth, and that process has started. Took a little long to get it started, but we did get it started. We got communication resolved and understood, and it did start, and that's the way we should take care of it. I think this, and I won't support the resolution because of that. We should use that mechanism going forward, and that's the message that should be sent is that's the mechanism we're gonna use. They've been cited. As I understand it, they get cited once they go to the judge, And by the time they get to the judge, if they are found guilty, they have to pay for all the days up to that point. So it's not, you don't have to write a citation for every day. It was my understanding, but it could be wrong counsel, but that's what I heard. But again, I, you know, it's where we should take care of it. We have, that's been started, and that's why I won't support the resolution.

Justice Koger?

Yes, thank you, Judge. So I agree with what J.P. Lyon said. I don't understand. Maybe I'm just missing something, but I don't understand why we can't just let that process that's in our zoning ordinance go on now. And then I have a question for Council, if he will please. Could we, so if we, it's kind of like we're singling out these people when there's other places in the county, you know, that we hear about that's operating without a CEP. Could we be,

could it be said that that we were arbitrary and capricious by pointing but going after this one instead of others i don't think so i mean this is a resolution it's non-binding to say that if you don't enforce every rule violation and you only you know you're only looking at this one right now and there's others I don't think there's an arbitrary, capricious argument. It would be like getting a speeding ticket and saying, well, there are other people speeding and they didn't get a ticket. I mean, it is what it is. Something's brought to you. You all make a decision on how you want to move forward. So I don't worry about that at all.

Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.

Further discussion?

Just let me. Thank you, Judge. What I see out of this is, yeah, it has no teeth or anything, but what it is saying, it is showing the public how many on this horseshoe is concerned about what's going on, and it's showing them that if it gets down to it, we are going to stop it. But I think it's just buying them more time to get their stuff together. Thank you.

Further discussion? Public comments on item 10.1.

item 10. there you go there it is david baltz 4459 east wyman road uh i think you have a great point and i really do appreciate that we are following the process to the conditional use permit now justice lyons thank you justices for listening and this has been a long process for us i'm going off script tonight here because I want to answer some of your questions. Number one, Sam has a lot of the answers to your questions that you need on this. Number two, the reason that we're singling out is because the conditional use permit was not being enforced by the Sheriff's Department until we brought this resolution in front of the justices. This does, I'm sorry, this may not have teeth, but it has eyes and ears all around the county. And it tells the county, the people that are oppressed by these businesses that are operating illegally, that there is a path. There is a way to have a voice. So quit making this defunct and realize the progress that has already happened. You guys have done great work with this just by making this visible, as one of the justices mentioned on this side of the horseshoe. The vote yes to this shows the constituents of the county that when they face oppression to their inalienable rights to live in peace, that there is a path to be heard and to get traction on this through the county. I appreciate your yes vote.

Public comments.

Good evening, Jason Tuck, 4246 Wyman Road, Judge and Justices. Beginning of the hour, a gentleman came up, talked about how unique Washington County is. It is unique. Another unique factor is growth. Could you come closer to the microphone?

Yeah, you can move it down closer to your mouth if you could.

Okay, another unique factor is growth in Washington County, and I think that's the real issue here. When you look at the growth in Washington County and the heat maps of where that's gonna happen, that's gonna happen in unincorporated Washington County. That's why it's so important that we have a process that is adhered to and you have that in ordinance 2025-44. I couldn't help but notice tonight originally that you had a business on the agenda that is here That is here, I'm sorry, my mom told me to stand up straighter too, so I'll try to work on that. That is, you have a business on here that was gonna get ratified for a CEP, and I really got to looking at a lot of that, and just looking at their application, and looking at the things they went through, and I got to the end and it started talking about conditions. Under conditions, a complete preliminary and final large-scale development approval is required before the project is fully operational. Planning condition number two, the applicant shall apply for all required permits prior to construction. It's a great business. I hope they get approved, but what admired me most about them is they went through the process. They were here, may still be here. How is it fair to them that they went through that process? Another business did not. I think we're putting ourselves on a slippery slope. Your resolution really says you're right. It's not fair. You should get yourself righteous. You should follow the rules. That's really what your resolution says. I get it. There's no teeth. But for something that has no teeth, it sure is creating a lot of movement. So you're heading in the right direction. I would appreciate, keep the ball rolling for future growth, for future Washington County. There were seven citations issued. We did not know that against businesses. So apparently something has changed, but you've got to keep the ball rolling with the growth you're going to see or you're going to constantly have this Residential buttoned up against industrial, and that's a good thing as far as growth, but if you have no process to manage it, it's going to be a wild, wild west in Washington County. I would appreciate a vote of yes. And thank you again for the job you're doing. Watching from home doesn't do it justice. This is our fourth meeting, and it is. It's a tough job. Thank you.

Thank you. Public comments? Nope.

Yes, my name is Jerry Tuck. I live at 4140 East Wyman Road across the street from the Stewart Christmas Lights. I actually have property that joins the Stewart Christmas Lights. They have known for years that they needed a CUP, and why they repeatedly do not want to do that is I don't understand. Your ordinance you have, I've read it. It's Very self-explanatory, but they just repeatedly don't want to go through the process of getting the CUP. It's one hand against the other. But I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Thank you. Public comments?

Good evening, Justices, Judge Deakins, Mr. Lester. My name is Sherry Tuck, and I live on East Wyman. And I have listened to the last four meetings, and I've really enjoyed the debate that you guys have about this. You've had really good discussions. I think at some point we kind of lose the purpose of this resolution. The horseshoes trying to debate whether or not it should be a business or it shouldn't or whether the neighbors like it or whether there's traffic or noise or a nuisance. And we get into that debate and we're kind of losing sight about what this resolution truly is. The resolutions align in the sand. It's a line in the sand. It gives you back the power. It tells you, you get to decide, hey, follow the ordinance. The question you have to answer is, is it more likely or not that he's really going to continue with this process? And as a lawyer, you go with evidence, and you go with information, and you try to go down there, and you do your research. And I've done that research. I've talked to Sam. I think Dr. Adda kind of mentioned, I sent a packet with all this information. And this is just a quarter of what I received through FOI, through the planning department on this particular business. It goes back. June 6, 2018, he was sent a violation of floodplain permit because he has gravel all in the floodplain. Every time that water comes up, loads and loads and loads of gravel go right into the White River. What is that doing to our waterways? June 16, 2018, first time he was told he had to have a CUP. He responded, who made that decision? It was responded. Judge Woods made that decision. July 17, 2018, he was told there's no temporary CUPs. You have permanent structures. You're not a temporary business. You operate more than just in December. And we lose sight of the fact that they're moving lights, they're doing things over half the year. February 20th, 2019. Again, he was told. He had a meeting with them. They explained to him in these notes, you have to have a CUP. You have to have a large scale. You have to have a floodplain permit. All those things. Another one. Another February 20th, 2019. Had another meeting. Was told again, hey, be thinking about these things. He was asked, how do you expect to shield light from your neighbors? His comment was... I didn't really think about that. Well, you know you didn't think about that. October 20th, 2019, he's in an article with KNWA. He goes to the news and he says, well, Washington County's harassing me.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Thank you, ma'am.

I have a motion to suspend the rules and issue another three minutes. Motion and second. All those in favor? Aye. Those against? Aye.

Thank you so much. Sorry. Then on July 17, 2018, he was told explicitly, Washington County will not issue any more temporary, you know, will not issue, again, will not issue temporary CUPs. I'm going backwards here, sorry. Get these out of order. And then in July 17th, 2025 was the first notice that went out to him that told him he had a CUP. First notice that's been brought up by several people on this horseshoe. When was the first notice given to him? July of 2025. Second notice, August 2025. He was told again, you need a CUP. Finally, in November, November 13th, he submitted a two-page, two-page CUP application. You all know that CUP applications are usually this thick. They've got all kinds of attachments. They have requirements. The very first page just lists all the requirements you need. No, he hand wrote two pages worth, turned it in. as my guess is some sort of stall tactic, because December 11th, he was sending an email. This is incomplete, I'm sending it back. You need to provide me a complete CUP package. January, finally, again, he has a lawyer contact him to say, hey, we're now in the get-her-done phase. That was in January. January 7th, an email from the engineer saying, hey, we'll do the CUP, but we don't know whether or not we need to do the other parts of that, large scale. If you approve the CUP, we'll go through the other process. Planning director says, no, you have to submit an entire CUP package. And that was January 7th of 2026. Again, January 9th, he tells him again, you have to do a complete CUP package. And then finally, I think it was like again in January, the end of January, he was told he had a, they were returning his check that he had to do a complete CUP. As of this date, end of May, he's not submitted anything else. your planning director has received no more correspondence from lawyers, from engineers, from anybody else about the CUP. So your answer about whether or not it's more likely or not that he's really gonna go through the process unless you draw a line in the sand, It's probably no, okay? It's probably no. So take back your power, draw the line in the sand, and hey, like Mr. Balz says, this resolution may not have teeth, but it sure does have eyes and ears. And it has a mouth, and it's speaking to the rest of Washington County. All right, thank you.

Thank you. I'm gonna take up the question. I have a motion to pass item 10.1 by Justice Massengill, a second by Justice Lemming. Mr. Allen, will you please call the roll?

Justice Rios-Stafford? Yes. Justice Lemming? Yes. Justice Ricker? Yes. Justice Pond? Yes. Justice Bruns? Yes. Justice Massengill? Yes. Justice Rivera-Lopez? Yes. Justice Lyons? No. Justice Ecke? Yes. Justice Dean? Yes. Justice Washington? Yes. Justice Koger? No. Justice Dennis? Yes. Justice Hiers? Yes.

Item number 10 passes. With that, we'll move to our consent agenda, which includes items 12 through 14. Counselor, will you read those items by title only?

Item 12 is an ordinance amending the county jail operations and maintenance budget for 2026. Item 13 is an ordinance anticipating additional revenue in the amount of $10,898 in the law enforcement grant fund. and appropriating $10,898 from the law enforcement grant fund to the JAG grant budget for 2026. And item 14 is an ordinance recognizing additional revenue in the amount of $43,118.57 in the road department fund and appropriating $43,118.57 to the road department budget for 2026.

Motion to pass the consent agenda by Justice Lemming, second by Justice, wow, I'm sorry, it's getting late in the evening for me tonight, Justice Dennis. Any discussion on the consent agenda? Any public comments on the items on the consent agenda? Seeing none, we'll take it up. Mr. Allen, will you please call a roll? This is on the motion to pass the consent agenda. Motion by Justice Lemming, second by Justice Dennis.

Justice Rio Stafford. Yes. Justice Lemming. Yes. Justice Ricker. Yes. Justice Pond. Yes. Justice Bruns. Yes. Justice Massengill. Yes. Justice Rivera-Lopez. Yes. Justice Lyons. Yes. Justice Ecke. Yes. Justice Dean. Yes. Justice Washington.

Could you repeat that?

Yes. Justice Koger? Yes. Justice Dennis? Yes. Justice Hires? Yes.

That item passes. Committee reports are in your packet and without objection will be adjourned.