By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Housing and Urban Development office was damaged Monday while a collapsed building nearby was being torn the rest of the way down.
According to HUD director Gary Chapman, workers with Ralph Holland Construction were cutting away the roof line on the building at 525 Front Street, owned by Jim Taylor of Little Rock, when water began to pour into the HUD offices.
"They were up there working, cutting away that roof line, when we just got inundated. We've got water everywhere," said Chapman.
According to Chapman, his office will be closed until further notice.
"We've had to cover up all of our files and computers because we've got water coming in from every nook and cranny. I'm not sure when we're going to be able to reopen, but we're going to do the best we can to keep all of our clients happy," Chapman said.
Demolition began yesterday, over a month since the building first began falling. The Forrest City City Council voted last week in favor of a resolution condemning the building. Council members gave Taylor five days to begin cleanup at the site which the resolution called "deteriorated, dilapidated, unsafe, unsightly and unsanitary."
Workers with the Forrest City Abstract Company were taken slightly by surprise Monday during demolition when the front of the building was knocked down.
"We were working and all of a sudden heard a big boom. We saw that the front of the building next door had been knocked down. When we spoke with people from the construction company they said that they didn't mean for that portion of the building to fall. They were working on the sides when that happened," said Pat Whitaker with FC Abstract.
Whitaker did say that the construction company was taking precautions to protect the Abstract Company from damages similar to those encountered by the HUD offices.
"They have been putting plywood down on our roof to try to keep the same thing from happening over here that happened at the HUD office. They are really working hard to keep everything safe," said Whitaker.
Officials with the construction company could not be reached for comment.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
The millage rate for real and personal property will have to be equal amounts later this year, according to information provided to the Forrest City School Board during the group's regular meeting Monday night.
Pat Flanagin, the administrator for foundation resources and finance director in the FCSD, presented board members a report showing that the millage rate on real property was rolled back to 27.2 this year while the millage for personal property remained at 28.3 mills. However, state law requires the personal rate to roll back in November to equal the 27.2 mill rate.
Flanagin said the information in the report was obtained during a visit with Fred Rush with the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division and supported by St. Francis County Assessor Craig Jones.
The board is hoping this information will encourage voters to support a proposed 2.5 millage increase on June 5. The millage would fund a new junior high facility.
According to Flanagin's report, he and Jones believe the real estate millage will roll back an additional amount in November because the impact in appraisal increases in the third year of adjustments should approximate that of the second year; therefore, the rollback in real estate taxes this November for next year's taxes should be about the same as the 1.2 mill rollback implemented this year.
"Whereas, the rollback of the real property millage is to offset increases caused by reappraisal, the rollback of personal property millage rates will result in a direct loss of local revenue to the school district," Flanagin said. "This could have been costly since personal property taxes are about one-fourth of the local revenue."
However, according to Flanagin, Act 1212, passed by the General Assembly this year, will replace the lost local revenue on a dollar-for-dollar basis with state appropriated funds.
While Amendment 79 lowers the personal tax burden, Act 1212 makes up for he lost revenue," Flanagin said.
Other relief features of Amendment 79 include the $300 tax credit for homeowners and the freezing of appraisals on homes and for those disabled or over 65, Flanagin said.
On a similar note, Superintendent Lee Vent said local architect Bob Beavers recently visited the junior high school where the floor of the second-floor library is caving in. In a letter from Beavers following his visit, the architect suggested the district cease use of that room and those directly underneath.
Board members voted to keep students away from that area until a solution is determined or the millage increase to fund a new junior high school is decided.
Board member Sandra Taylor suggested the district research laws regarding the district's liability for moving furniture around for safety. "There has to be some sort of violation there," she said.
The board also agreed to ask Forrest City Building Inspector Chester Crossen to visit the structure and make recommendations regarding its condition.
In other business, the board approved some changes to handbooks for each campus within the district.
At the high school level, one change is that the student's class ranking and grade point average will be based on all classes required for graduation, including core and electives.
Another change is that a student missing more than 25 percent of a class will be counted absent for that class period. School officials said they have problems with parents routinely checking students out of class early in the afternoons to avoid the after-school traffic.
Students with athletic bags will not be allowed to carry those bags inside the school. Beginning this fall, those bags will have to be placed inside lockers at the beginning of the school day the same as backpacks.
A proposal to remove corporal punishment from the high school level was denied.
At the middle school, students will be allowed to carry backpacks due to the lack of lockers at that campus. Currently, students are allowed to bring them to school but not carry them during the day.
The only significant change at the elementary level is the grading system for first through fifth grades. The ABC system will be used for first graders beginning next year instead of the OSN system currently in use.
The board agreed to purchase four new buses from Ward Transportation Services in Conway for $45,835 each.
Although the plight of public libraries isn't as bad as was thought at one time, there will still be some shortages.
Late in the state legislative session, it looked as if all state aid to libraries would be lost, but some money was found. Still, funding statewide will fall some $7 million over the next two years.
Jim McInturff of the Forrest City Library Board of Directors, said he isn't sure what that might mean locally.
"I'm not sure the state even knows right now," said McInturff. "We have not been officially contacted. But we have a meeting this afternoon and will probably be talking about it then."
State aid does not make up a huge percentage of the local library's budget.
"Odds are, we'll continue to do everything we're doing right now," he said.
He continued that if cutbacks are needed, it might be in hours or programs. He said he doesn't see a reduction in staff.
"And we're still actively searching for a director," he added.
At Helena, Susan Hamilton, director for the public library system in Lee, Monroe and Phillips counties, said cuts to the six libraries in that system could mean problems maintaining the interlibrary loan service, and could mean fewer purchases of books.
She said that interlibrary loaning is especially crucial in Phillips County, where there is little space and no room for expanding. The library depends on borrowing books from other branches to supplement its collection.
Problems began during the legislative session, when revenue forecasts said there would be enough money for a $3,000 across-the-board raise for teachers as well as other funding. Late in the session, when the two-year forecast of state revenue was lowered by $133 million, it caused many cutbacks and some scrambling to replace revenues.
There were also cuts in the state prison budget of about $10 million. Aid to cities and counties will be trimmed by about $2.5 million. ABC schools also received a stiff cut, but that revenue was restored by a beer tax.
The Literacy Council of St. Francis County will hold its annual Big Event, honoring students, tutors and volunteers on Thursday, May 10.
The event will be held in the Henley Room of the Forrest City Civic Center, and will begin with a reception starting at 6 p.m.
The speaker for the evening will be André Stephens, director of the St. Francis County Workforce Alliance, coordinator of the St. Francis County TEA coalition and president/CEO of Stephens Consulting.
Stephens is a board member for the National Congress for Community Economic Development, an organization representing more than 2,500 community development corporations across the country. He is also on the board of the McNeal Workers Scholarship Fund, Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund and the St. Francis County Communities in Schools. He has participated in various regional and national conferences including the White House Empowerment Zone Advisory Board, Workforce 2020, The Kellogg Foundation's Tri-State Delta Initiative, the Ford Foundation's Conference on Urbanization and the Southern Rural Development Initiatives Economic Development Think Tank.
He has been involved with rural development issues throughout the South, and has helped raise more than $2 million to assist local residents in need of jobs, transportation, childcare and education in his roles with the Workforce Alliance and TEA Coalition.
He has been presented with the "Shared Vision Real Change" Award from the Foundation of the Mid South.
Stephens is a member of Lane Chapel CME Church, where he is Sunday school superintendent and a steward. He is married and the father of four children.
Gov. Mike Huckabee has appointed two new board members to local educational institutions.
Rausch Hodges of Forrest City has been appointed to the East Arkansas Community College Board. Hodges, owner of H&H Monument Co., will serve until Dec. 31, 2001. He replaces Dr. E.B. Duke.
Marvin Morrison of Forrest City, has been appointed to the board of Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute. Morrison is warden of the Federal Correctional Institution at Forrest City, and will serve until June 30, 2005. He replaces Vivian Cooper.