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By Ken Ripley | kripley@springhopeenterprise.com
NASHVILLE — Nash County commissioners on Monday authorised a complete coverage on county authorities’s use of bank cards, regardless of a uncommon public show of confusion by the workers.
The coverage particulars which county departments may be issued procurement playing cards by Bank of America, that are supposed for purchases no bigger than $500.
It additionally stipulates when and the way the playing cards must be used, and particularly prohibits their use for private purchases. A lot of the coverage units forth how the finance division will confirm and validate card expenditures to make sure accuracy, honesty and transparency.
The coverage, which commissioners first noticed final month however was amended so as to add three extra departments, was supposed to chop down on the variety of county-issued bank cards in response to unspecified incidents of worker misuse.
County board Chairman Robbie Davis stated the county was utilizing 54 playing cards previous to the coverage, and beneath the brand new coverage described by Finance Officer Donna Wooden, the quantity would now be 21.
Another excuse for the coverage, Wooden stated, was for comfort and effectivity. When Commissioner Fred Belfield requested why some departments had been left off the listing, she stated, “It was just simpler for smaller departments for the finance department to handle it internally.”
“We ought to have a purchasing agent for all these departments,” Belfield urged.
“I think a purchasing department would be great to have a centralized process,” Wooden stated. ‘We just don’t have the workers, however I’d be open to that.”
“I think it’s a great first step,” Davis stated, noting {that a} full buying division is “something we have to work toward.”
“We do have a purchasing department within the finance office,” County Supervisor Zee Lamb identified. “What these cards deal with is purchases less than $500. It is a convenience for the various departments.”
He added that he and the assistant county supervisor wouldn’t have playing cards.
Wooden stated the unique coverage had diminished the variety of playing cards to 10, however the quantity swelled to 21 with further departments and a few departments stated they wanted multiple card.
“The procurement card simplifies the purchasing process if the department has a lot of transactions,” she stated.
Wooden stated different playing cards may very well be issued if different departments later requested for one.
The prospect of extra playing cards set off an uncommon stress between Lamb and Wooden, sturdy sufficient for the board to note.
“I’m just a little concerned that she intends to provide a card to everyone who asks for an additional card,” Lamb stated.
Wooden responded shortly that commissioners must approve further card requests. However Lamb stated he didn’t need that both.
He stated he needed Wooden to have the authority to present out playing cards as wanted with out in search of board approval.
However, he stated, “I’m concerned we’re not getting the cards down as we’ve needed so everyone doesn’t have to carry a county credit card. I’m not sure every department doesn’t need more than one and certainly no more than three.”
“It seems like we’re not quit in sync this morning,” Davis noticed, suggesting the board desk the coverage till any variations may very well be resolved.
“There’s way too much discussion on this this morning,” agreed Commissioner Wayne Outlaw.
“I do think the policy is ready to go,” Wooden insisted. “It’s just the number of cards. I would like the policy approved and I will work with the county manager to issue the cards.”
Outlaw stated the board ought to approve the coverage as written, set the variety of preliminary playing cards at 14 and depart it as much as the county supervisor’s discretion if “they think other cards are needed.”
He stated he understood that Lamb and Wooden would determine on the variety of playing cards. He stated the workers “need to have an adult discussion on that. You can sit down and figure it out.”
“They (the departments) really need to understand it,” Belfield stated of the coverage.
The board unanimously authorised the cardboard coverage, giving Wooden and Lamb leeway to regulate the variety of playing cards.
In different enterprise, the board gave its first of two required votes for approval to resume franchise agreements with three ambulance firms for transporting sufferers when the common Nash EMS workers couldn’t achieve this.
EMS Director Brian Brantley stated North State Medical Transport, Japanese Medical Transport and Metz Medical Transport had offered passable help on 160 calls, largely for inter-county transfers, throughout the 12 months.
“They have all shown a high degree of professionalism,” he stated. “We get slammed sometimes, just can’t take the call, and they get right on it.”
The board’s approval was unanimous and the ultimate vote might be taken in August.
Brantley additionally thanked commissioners for his or her help throughout the COVID-19 disaster and praised the EMS workers for his or her work.
“Our employees are showing true professionalism to protect themselves, their families and the community,” he stated, noting, “If we get infected, we can certainly infect the community.”
In one other piece of COVID-19 enterprise, Wooden submitted an amended COVID-19 grant ordinance that mirrored the addition of $162,206 in federal funds for the Nash County Board of Elections and a further $1,784,259 from the state coronavirus reduction funds.
Whereas most projected expenditure classes had been elevated, essentially the most dramatic set-aside was for municipal grants, from $200,000 initially to $892,130.
Davis requested if a few of the further cash might assist with one thing like a homeless shelter’s pandemic-related bills.
“Yes, sir,” Lamb stated. “We’re going to have to get together. We put the dollars in there (the ordinance budget) but we haven’t designated anything to go to, so we’ll definitely keep that in mind.”
Wooden stated the county has the ordinance ready however hasn’t obtained the precise funds.
