The Southside City Council met in regular business Monday night at the Southside City Hall.
The council heard from Commander Jack Yancey of the 16th Judicial District Drug Task Force about the service the task force provides and the reason for the necessity of monetary support from the district’s counties and municipalities.
Yancey informed the council that the task force serves Independence, Fulton, Izard, Cleburne, and Stone counties. Yancey stated that in 2019 a little over a half-million dollars of drugs were taken off the streets in the 16th Judicial District. As of yesterday, Jan. 13, the task force is already working on 15 cases that commenced this year.
About 75 percent of the funding for the task force comes from grants while the remaining 25 percent stems from local funding. The task force’s local funding goal for 2020 is roughly $72,000. Currently, the task force is at $69,000 of their $72,000 goal.
Each municipality and county within a district is approached by the task force, seeking a sum of money to support the work of the task force. Southside was asked for $2,000 to go toward the local funding goal which the council voted unanimously to approve.
Other items discussed included the request that is currently in with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for the last line designation for Southside. The USPS is still working with the city to make it happen.
And since the city of Southside is officially a one-third owner of the Ramsey Mountain property, it was noted the process of appointing a committee with the other involved parties (the city of Batesville and Independence County) continues.
The Southside City Council will meet again on Jan. 27 for a special meeting to amend the 2019 budget and approve the 2020 budget.
The next regular business meeting is scheduled for Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Southside City Hall.
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