Leftover library funds on agenda

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors on Monday will discuss what to do with $1.5 million left over from the library bond used to fund work on county libraries.

The library has until June 30, 2010 to complete work on the library projects funded by a $53.7 million bond approved by voters in 2005.

Construction is complete at the Heritage, Wellton, Foothills and Somerton Libraries, and the new Main Library is officially open for business. The San Luis Library is scheduled to be completed in August.

With $1.5 million left over, county staff has recommended funding for several projects.

The meeting Monday begins at 9 a.m. at 198 S. Main St. and is open to the public.

Also at its meeting Monday, the board will vote to authorize funding two new attorneys and one legal secretary for drug prosecution.

The three employees are already working for the county, but the $243,051 grant from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission will fund the salaries - making sure the three positions stay filled.

County Administrator Robert Pickels said the positions are important because Yuma is considered a "high existing drug-trafficking area."

"It's of crucial importance to make sure we have the people in the right places to prosecute the defendants and see that justice is served," Pickels said.

Also at the meeting, the board will vote to approve a budget decrease for the Public Health Services District budget by $28,993. Due to state budget cuts, a County Pre-Natal Block Grant will be decreased from $119,621 to $90,688.

The state also cut $10,993 for the Community Health Nursing Contract, and the board will vote Monday to approve the decrease.

The state has been cutting funding for health services, and Pickels said now they're feeling it at the local level.

"We've been able to absorb most of those impact with shifting of personnel to make sure the quality of the programs doesn't decrease," he said.

The board will also discuss the redistricting all three of the County's Justice Court precincts, located in Yuma, Somerton and Wellton. The consideration to redistrict the precincts comes in light of a letter from the Arizona State Supreme Court sent stating that the Yuma court had exceeded the threshold for the amount of cases it should handle.

Pickels said there are two options to solve the problem: create a new court or redraw the precinct boundary lines.

He said by redrawing the boundary lines, it would ease some of the workload from the Yuma court, District 1, and increase the workload of the one in Somerton, District 2. The move would also affect the boundaries of the third district in Wellton.

Pickels said if approved, the county will have to access the overall impact of the move, but at this time, there are no changes in personnel.

---
Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.