Calhoun County 9-1-1 Board Meeting

Jacksonville, AL – The Scheduled Meeting of the Calhoun County 911 Board was held on July 26th at 1:00 pm.

Meeting Called to Order
Roll Call of Members
- Board Chairman Chief Gary Sparks, Oxford Fire Department – Present
- Board Vice-Chairman Chief Shane Denham, Anniston Police Department (Retired) – Present
- Board Member Chief Jeff Waldrep, Anniston Fire Department – Present
- Board Member Chief Van Roberts Sr., Quad Cities VFD (Retired) – Present
- Board Member Chief Marcus Wood, Jacksonville Police Department – Present
- Board Member Sheriff Matthew Wade, Calhoun County Sheriff Office – Present
- Board Member Phillip Winkles, Piedmont Rescue Director (Retired) – Absent
Approval of Agenda – Unanimously Approved with noted changes
- Three Items were added under new business
  - Surplus Equipment
  - DHS Grant Application
  - Executive Session to Discuss Loss Mitigation
Approval of Minutes – Unanimously Approved
- May 18th regular scheduled meeting
- June 22nd special call meeting
Approval of Financial Reports – Unanimously Approved
- The 2021 and 2022 Audits were completed by Gerald G. Pentecost, Jr., CPA. Mr. Pentecost certified that there were no compliance issues and that as always there were triple checks in place that created a good system. When asked why the 2021 was delayed he stated that he can only do the audit once the books are ready to be reviewed. He did acknowledge that it was typical to receive the boards books later than he would normally receive them. He also formally wanted to go on record to explain that he could either do the audit or could assist with day to day accounting. He explained that to maintain the integrity of the audit process there were many items such as the actual accounting software that he could not have access to. This was mentioned to to having also prepared a scope of work for the accounting RFP under new business and when asked about the current to date status of the books.
Old Business
- Cherokee County Communications System RUA Addendum – Unanimously Approved
  - In 2015 the County 9-1-1 entered into a contract to sublet a parcel of land for equipment and a tower. They were told that this land was secured by Cherokee County Communications. It has since come to the Boards attention that this is an easement that Cherokee County may not own. Because of this uncertainty an addendum is being added to states that if the land or equipment that is on it is removed or lost that Calhoun County 9-1-1 would be be reimbursed.
New Business
- Accounting RFP – Unanimously Approved
  - Due to the departure of the former Calhoun COunty 9-1-1 CPA a new position has opened. Gerald G. Pentecost, Jr., CPA was at the June 22nd special meeting to create a scope or work so that a formal job posting could be made. A motion was made to send out this RFP at a date to be determined by the Chairman and Executive Director.
- WonderLic – Unanimously Approved Upon Approval by the 91-1 Board Attorney
  - The Executive Director is seeking to use a more updated pre-hire candidate aptitude testing. The cost would be $7,300. This is an increase from the previous software that was $4,800.
  - There was some discussion on the legal language in the contract and Board member Roberts requested a closer look to make sure no sensitive information was given to the WonderLic company through this testing software.
- Surplus Equipment – Unanimously Approved
  - - There were two vehicles that are being requested to be deemed surplus. One would be sold on GovDeals and the other would be donated to the Arc of Calhoun and Cleburn Counties.
- DHS Grant Application – Unanimously Approved
  - - - This is a request to complete an application for a DHS Grant for $170,000 for purchase of redundant uninterruptible power supplies. There was an issue last year with a poster outage that created phone lines going down. The new equipment would help ensure this did not happen again.
- Executive Session – Unanimously Approved
Board Chairman / Director Comments
- - No Comments
Board Member Comments
- Board Member Chief Marcus Wood stated he was confused on exactly what was agreed upon in the June 22nd Special Called Meeting. He was under the impression that Gerald G. Pentecost, Jr., CPA would complete the audits, create a scope of work, and give updated reports on the current financial standing. This was in direct opposition to what Mr. Pentecost stated he could do at this current meeting. Several board members agreed that the impression was that the financial reports would be created. This discrepancy leaves the board with uncertainly of the financial standing. There was discussion of hiring a temporary CPA to come in and look a the current standings. The other option is to let current staff maintain the basing accounts receivable and payables until the position could be filled in September which is the close of the fiscal year. Executive Director, Kevin Jenkins, felt that he and staff had a very good understanding on the current state of the accounts and that more time would be spent on explaining the system to a temporary hire. He felt it would be better to wait until the fiscal year was over and bring in a permeant CPA who could then complete all reports and verify all balances prior to the 2023 audit being completed. After much discussion the board decided to leave the motion as voted above and wait until formally sending out the Accounting RFP.
Adjournment – Unanimously Approved

The Calhoun County 9-1-1 Emergency District Board of Commissioners is appointed by the Calhoun County Commission to oversee the operation of the Emergency Communication District. The Board employs an Executive Director to manage the daily operations.

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