Damage estimates continue to increase from last month's fire at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
The northern end of the courthouse was damaged last month when a juvenile suspect allegedly set papers on fire near curtains in an upstairs jury room.
According to County Judge Carl Cisco, several estimates were offered during a recent meeting held in his office with insurance adjusters and architect Bob Beavers. Those estimates pushed the total amount to between $350,000 and $450,000.
Cisco said a structural engineer would be at the courthouse this week to assess the damage structural damages to the courthouse.
"The structural engineer is supposed to be in this week to take a look at the building and see what all was damaged. He's going to look at the damage to the blocks and the cracks in the walls and of course look at the damage to the steel," Cisco said.
Clean up efforts are continuing on the lower level of the building. But, according to Cisco, the rains this past weekend may have added to the water damage in the quorum court meeting room.
"They've gotten most of the smoke and soot out of the lower level of the building, but they are still working on getting that level usable. We had some water damage this weekend in the quorum court room so we have some leaks that we have to get taken care of. They want to get that lower level finished, and then they will start on the upper level of the building, which they haven't touched yet," Cisco said.
There will also be changes at the courthouse to try and preserve the original image of the building. Cisco said that efforts are being made to make changes to preserve the building's original appearance.
"One of our concerns is that we don't want the building to look patched up. We want it to look as original as possible. We talked about some ideas about the glass in the jury room being insulated or double paned because there was some damage to the bricks that can't be matched," Cisco said. "We're trying to work within our parameters on the project. We're going to sand blast the work around the top of the entire building because we can't just do the area where it was damaged.
"We won't be putting any more curtains in up there. From now own there will be blinds," Cisco added.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
In what may become an annual event, St. Francis County will celebrate Northeast Arkansas Recycling's new paper shredder with the first "Clean Out Your Files Day" on Wednesday, April 25, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The event is being sponsored by NEARCO, the City of Forrest City and the East Arkansas Solid Waste District.
According to J.D. Smith, manager of NEARCO, the idea behind "Clean Out Your Files Day" is to get the shredder in the minds of businesses in the area.
Participants are asked to observe the following guidelines: Remove all paper from filing folders; store the used filing folders in a convenient location for reuse, or bring them to the collection center in a separate box or container. White office paper should be brought to the recycling trailer at the Forrest City Civic Center.
The shredder, which is capable of shredding 1,000 pounds of paper an hour, is only one of the services offered. Smith said the special day would not be limited to paper that could be shredded.
"If they want to, they can bring newspapers or cardboard," said Smith. "It won't be shredded, but I can take it. Any paper products they want to bring, it's perfectly all right. They can even bring magazines. But we want to stress that it's 'Clean Out Your Files Day.'"
Smith said there will be people there to help with unloading.
Office paper definitely includes computer paper, he said.
"And legal documents that need to be shredded -- if they want to see them shredded right then, we'll just go to Madison and shred it right quick. We don't have any problem with that."
Shredded paper is bailed and sold for reprocessing into paper. A lot of the old newsprint is recycled into insulation.
"It keeps it out of a lot of businesses' dumpsters, and it keeps it out of the landfill."
People bringing office paper to be recycled will have the opportunity to win a prize. For more information about the event, call 870-630-0357.
In case of rain, the date will be changed to April 27.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A decrease in population could see Wheatley residents paying more taxes to fund city improvements.
Based on the latest U.S. Census information, Wheatley has suffered a 17 percent loss in population over the last 10 years. Wheatley is the only St. Francis County city to lose a significant portion of its population during this period. Based on the report, Wheatley's population decreased from 448 residents in 1990 to 372 residents in 2000.
Wheatley Mayor Larry Nash recently told councilmen during a monthly meeting that he doesn't believe necessary road repairs would be possible without more taxes. The council, however, agreed for the city to repair two streets, First Street and Nash Street, with a less expensive chip and seal repair instead of the more costly overlay repairs.
Councilmen said they hope the city can make more street repairs in the future.
The council failed to approve a recommendation by Nash to save the city a little money by paying off a bank note on city water equipment. Nash said there are two more payments on the loan, which comes due each year in November. The payments total $24,300.
"If we go ahead and pay it off by the 15th of this month, we would save $2,200 in interest on the loan," Nash said.
Councilmen agreed to research the move to see if a bank would pay the city more interest on its money instead of saving the interest charges on the loan.
In other business, councilmen approved the rules and lease prices for use of the city's civic center.
The civic center can be rented for $150 a day, $600 for dances and $100 for use of a smaller room at the facility.
Three meetings are planned for tonight in Forrest City.
The St. Francis County Museum Board will meet at 5 p.m. at the museum.
At 7 p.m., the Forrest City City Council will meet at city hall, and the St. Francis County Quorum Court will meet at the courthouse.
All meetings are open to the public.
The Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute's board and advisory committees will meet Thursday evening.
The advisory committees will meet at 5:30 p.m., and the board members will meet at 6 p.m.
State Senators Mike Everett, Alvin Simes and Kevin Smith have agreed to attend the board meeting. CRTI officials said the three men will be recognized by the board for their work in a recent merger issue that was defeated at the state level. The merger would have combined the campuses of CRTI and East Arkansas Community College.