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Nola Sizemore

Staff Writer

Members of the Evarts City Council approved Certified Public Accountant Troy Gaw taking on the responsibility of preparing payroll checks, deductions and year-to-date totals for city employees during a meeting on Tuesday.

Gaw said the city clerk, Kristi Lamb, now will be responsible for sending the total hours worked for all employees to his office. The new system will begin in January.

“It will be easier for me and Kristi,” said Gaw. “Instead of Kristi preparing payroll by hand, if she will send me the hours I will figure the payroll and actually write the checks. She won’t have to write checks or calculate deductions. I can prepare a check stub for each employee showing all their deductions and year-to-date information. This will also help with your audits. There is no extra charge for me doing this because this will actually save me hours of work. The only expense to the city will be purchasing check stock at a cost of approximately $200 for a year’s supply.”

Mayor Eddie Manning said this is one way of updating the city’s accounting system, noting it will provide more information to the city employees.

“This will free Kristi up for other things she is responsible for,” said Manning. “I think in the long run everyone will like this a lot better.”

A swearing in ceremony was held for newly elected and re-elected council members for the upcoming year. Continuing to serve in the coming year will be Shelly Shackleford, Ernie Woodard, Carrie Lipfird, Clark Cusick and Jackie Renfro. Newly elected for the coming year is Larry Caudill, who replaced B.J. Fee Jr.

Councilman Ernie Woodard reiterated the importance of a police presence at the Evarts Elementary School, especially since the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

“Our kids over there are very important,” said Woodard. “I know our officers are there when they can be in the mornings and when school lets out in the afternoon — and that’s good.”

Assistant Police Chief Owen Noe said the city can only afford one officer on duty per shift, but they try to keep an eye on the school as much as possible. He said the school does have a good security system in place.

“If there is anything we can do as far as helping any of the schools on Clover Fork, such as checking their security procedures or anything else, all they have to do is let us know and we’ll be glad to send an officer out for that,” said Manning. “We try to be very involved with our schools. We’re here to make a difference if we can.”

“We want our students to know all our officers on a first-name basis so if they need them for any reason they’ll feel comfortable going to them,” he said. “I know it’s been said a lot on the news, but what those teachers did at Sandy Hook elementary was remarkable. Our hearts go out to all the families who lost loved ones in that tragedy.”

Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510 or at nsizemore@heartlandpublciations.com