In an effort to cut down on paperwork, the Escambia County Commission approved a resolution Monday to allow funds received and used by the Escambia County Sheriffs Department to be retained rather than create a paper overload.
David Stokes, chairman of the commission, said the funds should stay with the Sheriffs office from receipt to use.
“Sex offenders in the county have to pay a fee when they register with the sheriff’s office,” Stokes said. “That money is receipted and then comes to the commission. We turn right around and send that money right back to the sheriff to buse used for the community notification process for sex offenders. This resolution would allow them simply to retain those fees there without having to send them to the commission.”
Also during Monday’s meeting of the commission, the group approved the paperwork for a commercial loan in the amount of $200,000 for the construction of the Escambia County Community Corrections new location on Douglas Avenue.
County Administrator Tony Sanks said the entire $200,000 may not be necessary to complete the construction, but the loan approval would be for up to that amount.
“We may be able to get by without borrowing that much,” Sanks said. “Anything we don’t need for the construction costs would not be used.”
Stokes said the loan was for approximately half of the cost of construction for the department’s new facility.
“The total construction cost of the building is right around $379,000,” Stokes said. “They have had about $140,000 in contributed funds and will be using funds received through community corrections.
“They have done a very nice job of raising a considerable amount of the money to cover the cost of construction. This loan is the best way for us to go. It’s less expensive for the county.”
The commission also considered:
• a speed limit request on Washington Avenue in the McCullough community. Bill Bridges, county engineer, said the community had made the request with phone calls asking the speed limit be posted at 20 or 25 miles per hour. Commissioner Larry White said the posting would probably be warranted given the traffic in the area. “I would like for us to consider this request and get the word out about the possible posting there,” White said. “I want to make sure everyone in the area knows about and gives us their comments on the change. This is the road in front of the gin and it gets congested in that area during this time of year. We can bring this posting up for consideration in January.”
• a road vacation request on Bell Lane off Stanley Road/County Rd. 17. Bridges said a requested had been submitted asking the county to abandon the road. White said he wanted the Monday discussion to start the process in proceeding with the vacation of the road. “It’s about an eighth of a mile long and there is only one family there,” White said. “I want us to consider the request of the landowners and make a decision in January. This will only effect the Bell family and they are making the request. I see no reason not to honor that request.”