By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Kenco Construction of Forrest City was the apparent low bidder Tuesday for the construction of the new Forrest City Junior High School.
Kenco, which has also done other construction for the district, including Mustang Arena and the high school cafeteria, offered a base bid of $6.7 million even for the job.
"The school district will take this under advisement," said Superintendent Lee Vent. He said plans call for the bid to be awarded Tuesday, Nov. 27, at a 5:30 p.m. school board meeting.
There were seven bids opened in all. Details of the bids will be studied to make sure the best bid for the district is accepted, according to architect Bob Beavers.
One of the reasons the bids are not cut and dried is that each bidder was asked to offer 10 specific "alternate deductions," in which certain features could be changed or left out. Some of these alternate deductions included the way the bathrooms would be tiled, the curtains and seating in the auditorium, the design of the entranceways and the outright omitting of the choir and band rooms. No two bidders offered the same amount on these deductions.
The other six bidders besides Kenco included:
*James H. Taylor and Sons of Crawfordsville, with a base bid of $6,785,000.
*Ramson Construction Co. of Jonesboro, with a base bid of $6,793,000.
*Wilkins Construction of North Little Rock, with a base bid of $6,988,000.
*Big M Construction Co. of Jonesboro, with a base bid of $$6,950,000.
*Allen & O'Hara Construction of Memphis, with a base bid of $8,538,000.
*Seiler Building Corp. of Memphis, with a base bid of $6,817,000.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The local Humane Society will be allowed to go ahead with the planning of a new animal shelter, the Forrest City City Council agreed last night.
The organization asked architect Bob Beavers to present a preliminary plan for a building which would be 30 feet by 75 feet in size. There would be a small office space and a laundry room. The cages would be metal, which Beavers said would make them easier to clean than masonry.
The cost is estimated at $160,000.
The most discussion centered around the location for the building. There were proposals including the present site near the city shop, or the industrial park.
Alderman Cecil Twillie said the shelter needed to be "within the city limits but away from residential areas."
While permission to bid the project was not given, the council did give permission for planning to continue, and to get the project ready for bidding. The location will be decided later.
A delegation from Ward 4 was at the meeting, and presented petitions voicing opposition to one possible site for a shelter. Apparently there have been some discussions of an empty lot off Martin Luther King being donated to the Humane Society. The petitioners objected to the shelter being built in that location. Area residents were concerned over possible odors, noise and pollution.
Alderman Glenn Ford said that area would not be considered.
Alderman Chris Oswalt said, "There are a whole lot of alternatives, and we as a council need to encourage them to continue to search" for a more suitable site.
In other action, the council passed a resolution to transfer $2,615.32 in dormant funds from the old Street Improvement District 11 to the city's street fund. The district had been a source of controversy during the administration of Mayor Coolidge Conlee, because people within the district had to pay extra property taxes for street improvements. While Danny Ferguson was mayor, it was made a stipulation that if a city sales tax was passed, the city would take over the payments on District 11 until it was paid off.
The council also held second and third reading, and passed, an ordinance to rezone land referred to as the old Herman Young Peach Orchard from R-2 to C-2.
Second reading was also heard on an ordinance to require developers to install street lights at intersections in new subdivisions, at their own expense. Second reading was also held on an ordinance to establish a deferred compensation plan.
One ordinance was tabled. Up for first reading was a proposal to amend the rotation of wrecker services in the city. As the law now reads, any wrecker service, located anywhere, can get put on the rotation list to be called to accident scenes. Bryant said the proposed ordinance will impose a time limit of 10 or 15 minutes from the time a wrecker service is called until the wrecker arrives on the scene.
On another matter, the council voted a $300 Christmas bonus to city employees.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
Recent cutbacks in state funding will affect the Forrest City Public Library, but not as bad as first thought, according to DaShaune Hill co-director of the library.
"I found out on Friday that they wanted to cut us (Arkansas Public Libraries) from $3 million to $1 million, but I just got a call that the move did not pass, and they kept us at $2 million," Roberts told board members during a meeting this week.
Board chairman Jim McInturff said the board could now proceed with researching the possibility of not hiring a state required librarian with a master's degree in library arts, which the state has provided funding for in the past. "Now we can proceed with research to find out if we can do without the state money for a librarian," he said.
"We stopped actively seeking to fill the position when we found out there may be cuts in the future. Right now, I believe we are receiving $12,000 a year from the state," board member Brad Beavers said.
Beavers added that he objects to the way the state requires libraries in Arkansas to hire librarians with a particular degree that can't be obtained in this state. "I've always objected to their standards that we hire someone with a degree that can't be achieved here in Arkansas," he said.
McInturff said the board may send someone to scout for a librarian in the spring if they decide the library needs the state funding. "The schools will be having graduations in May, and we could send someone from here to try and recruit a qualified librarian," he said.
In other business, the board heard from Eric Wall who repaired the defunct server and backups which crashed during the summer, causing the library to shut down temporarily. "I've corrected existing problems, and what's here now is more stable, and the server is more protected with two extra backups," said Wall. "One backup is on tape, and one is on disc so if something else happens, everything will be saved."
He also said he discovered why nothing was saved when the server crashed. "There was nothing on the old backups. They were never formatted, and there was no warning system on the hard drive to tell you the tape wasn't formatted. It just ran every night without saving anything," said Wall.
On another matter, board members approved a motion to make the policies governing use of the computers at the library more clear to patrons.
According to co-director Sarah Jumper, some patrons are confused about what the term "current library card" really means. "There have been some who have overdue books and we have used our procedures to get them to return the books, and they have failed. Some people come in when they have books overdue and want to use the computers, and I have to tell them they are not a current patron and they don't understand that," she said.
The board agreed to change the wording to read "active library card" because if a patron is behind in overdue book payment fees and returning books, the person's card is no longer considered active.
The board also agreed to allow Jumper to purchase canvas tote bags that will be available for purchase by library patrons to enable them to gather their books in a more handy and timely manner. She said the totes should be ready this year.
The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 14.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The financial outlook for St. Francis County may be worse than originally expected considering last week's announcement by Governor Mike Huckabee regarding budget cuts.
St. Francis County Treasurer Ann Harbin discussed the proposed cuts and how they might affect the county with members of the quorum court at Tuesday night's regular meeting. According to a memorandum Harbin received from the Association of Arkansas Counties, funding for the holding of state inmates for fiscal year 2002 will only amount to $600,000 against outstanding debts statewide of $2.7 million dollars. Harbin said the county is anticipating taking at least a $200,000 hit from that budget cut.
St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman said this morning he is unsure how the county will finance operations of the jail at its current financial state.
"With the financial status that the county was in before the governor's announcement last week, things didn't look good. With these cuts, I'm not sure what we're going to do. If we house these people we have to be able to provide for them. The county is saying they don't have the funding, and the state is saying they don't have the funding, so I don't know what we're going to do," said Parkman.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco also commented on the problems.
"We're waiting right now to get our final settlement before we determine next year's budget. Some cuts may be inevitable, but we're weighing our options on a few different things. There have been talks about cutting some positions, but we're looking at different things such as insurance sharing and rotating schedules which will allow us to cut payroll but save jobs at the same time," Cisco said.
A press release this morning from the Association of Arkansas Counties said that counties will continue to receive funding for Act 309 prisoners in the amount of $15 per day as opposed to $28 per day which they are currently paid.
Justices also levied taxes for 2002 last night.
A mistake in the amount levied for the Forrest City School District was detected by St. Francis County Assessor Craig Jones who noticed that the amount for District 7 was the exact same amount levied last year. Voters in District 7 elected in June to increase the millage by 2.5 mills for construction of a new junior high school facility.
According to St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, recent legislation will not require the quorum court to vote a second time to levy taxes. Smith said a court order from Cisco to the County Clerk is all that is needed to make the amendment.
Justices also adopted an ordinance to appropriate funds into three county accounts to pay back loans taken for the county general fund. The ordinance calls for a total of $354,620 to be taken from county general and paid to two road department accounts and the Emergency 911 account. A recent audit report required that the money be repaid to those accounts.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Rumble on the Ridge Thanksgiving basketball tournament turns five tomorrow.
The official Rumble program is included inside today's Times-Herald. The 32-page tab is sponsored by numerous local merchants. It will be distributed free during the tournament.
The party begins at 3:30 p.m. at Mustang Arena.
Eight teams from five states will be arriving in Forrest City today to help celebrate.
A pretournament dinner for the teams will be held tonight at the high school cafeteria, followed by something new this year -- the Synergy Three-Point Shoot Out and Slam Dunk Contest, which will be held at Mustang Arena beginning at approximately 7:15 p.m.
Each of the teams are expected to enter players into the competition which is being held to give the players a chance to get to know each other and to set the tone for the overall tournament which begins Thanksgiving Day. Admission to tonight's competition is free, but organizers are asking everyone to bring a nonperishable food item or canned food which will be collected at the door and donated to the St. Francis County Food Pantry.
This year's tournament features a pair of Arkansas state champions -- Hughes, the defending Class AAA champions and Osceola, the Class AAAA state champions. Should Hughes and Osceola win their first-round games Thursday, the two teams would meet Friday in one of the two winner's semifinal games.
Hughes opens against Columbus, Miss while Osceola opens against Woodlawn, from Baton Rouge, La. The Forrest City Mustangs will play at 6:30 p.m., Thursday against William Chrisman from Independence, Mo. Chrisman is the first Missouri team to be invited to play in the Rumble. Thursday's late game features Marietta, Ga. taking on Carroll from Monroe, La.
The Rumble on the Ridge tournament, is simply referred to as just "the Rumble" by the organizers and many volunteers who have faithfully worked to help make the tournament one of the most prestigious high school boys' basketball tournaments -- not only in Arkansas -- but in the nation.
The tournament was born in 1997 from a collaboration by David Dunn, former executive director of the Forrest City Chamber of Commerce and Bill Baxter, Forrest City's High School Athletic Director in early 1997 who wanted to find the best seven boys' basketball teams in the south and bring them to Forrest City for a three-day round-robin style tournament, hosted by the Forrest City Mustang basketball team. The first Rumble was held Thanksgiving weekend that same year.
Since the first Rumble, the tournament has undergone some changes over the past four years and this year is no exception. Until this year, Mountain Dew was the lead corporate sponsor.
This year, one of Forrest City's family-owned businesses -- Forrest City Grocery -- takes over.
The first four Rumble tournaments have featured 32 teams from eight different states.
Only five of those teams -- Wynne, Ark.; West Monroe, La.; Grissom, Ala.; Oxford, Miss. and of course, the host team, Forrest City -- have made more than one appearance in the tournament.
All of the 2001 Rumble teams, except Forrest City, are first timers to the event. Also, for the first time, the tournament field features three Arkansas teams -- two of which are defending state champions.
Three of the first four Rumble tournaments were won by teams from Alabama -- Minor in 1997, Grissom in 1998 and Lee in 2000. Raleigh-Egypt, Tenn. won the tournament in 1999.
The 1997 and 1998 Rumble championship games were all-Alabama affairs as Minor defeated Grissom in 1997, who returned in 1998 to defeat Hoover in the finals. Lee defeated Forrest City a year ago for the title.
The Rumble survived a fire that completely destroyed Forrest City's Sam Smith Gym, shortly after the first Rumble was held in 1997 and had to be played at Wynne High School in 1998 and 1999. Last year, the Rumble came home to Forrest City, following completion of the brand new state-of-the-art Mustang Arena.
All area city halls will be closing their doors for the remainder of the week in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Times-Herald will be closed Thursday, but will resume normal business hours on Friday.
According to officials with the cities of Colt, Forrest City, Palestine, Madison and Hughes, each towns city hall will be closed both Thursday and Friday. The St. Francis County Courthouse will also be closed for the rest of the week.
State government offices will also be closed Thursday and Friday, but federal offices will reopen Friday morning at 9 a.m.
The Arkansas State Police will be focusing on people who drink and drive, and those who don't use their seat belts over this Thanksgiving weekend.
According to Troop D officials, the holiday period officially began at midnight Tuesday, and will continue through midnight Sunday.