By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council on Tuesday tabled an ordinance which would have required uniformed emergency personnel of the fire and police departments to live inside the city limits.
The ordinance was up for third reading and passage on Tuesday, and Alderman A.L. Harris asked if any council members had heard anything for or against the ordinance. Council member Glenn Ford said he had heard some comments against the ordinance. He also has had his own objections.
"You might prohibit qualified people from being hired," if the ordinance passed, he said.
Harris said he favored the proposed requirement.
"Personally, if a man is working for a municipality, being paid with a municipality's tax dollars, doing the municipality's business, his interest needs to be where his job is," Harris said. "If you're working a job in the state of Arkansas, you're not going to live in Tennessee, are you?"
Ford agreed that was a valid point. However, he still said the proposed law might make it difficult to recruit qualified applicants. As an example, he cited the newly-hired fire chief, Dan Curtner, who lives in Wynne. The ordinance only applies to people hired after its passage. Since Curtner has already been hired, he was "grandfathered" in.
However, Ford pointed out that had the ordinance been in effect sooner, Curtner in all likelihood would not have even applied for the job.
After some more discussion, several council members expressed a belief that the time it takes emergency personnel to respond would be more important than where they live. The council then agreed to table the ordinance, and work out a new ordinance which might give more leeway, provided response time is not hurt.
In other action, bids were to be opened for the Senior Adult Center to be built at the Municipal Sports Complex. Only one bid was received. Crawford Builders of McCrory bid $298,500 for the job. Leaving out some parts, such as an overhead counter door, carpet in the office, a communication system and metal roof, brought the bid down to $292,700. Those deducted items would be put in by the city.
Mayor Larry Bryant said the bid came in "a bit higher" than had been expected.
The bid will be studied, and a decision made on whether to accept it, or re-bid the project.
On another matter, the council passed an ordinance to prohibit any increase in charges or fees for city facilities or services, without the approval of the city council.
In other action, Johnson Roofing Co., of Jonesboro was the apparent low bidder for the fire department roof project. The bid was $11,485. W.C. Luper Roofing Co. of North Little Rock bid $13,485. Johnson Roofing will be awarded the bid if the specifications check out.
Also, the city's garbage collection contract has been awarded to King Disposal Co., of Forrest City. Bryant said the King bid was the best overall for the city. Other bidders included Waste Corporation of Arkansas, Delta Disposal of Jonesboro, Riverside Environmental Disposal of Marion and B&B Disposal of Jonesboro.
On another matter, Bryant informed the council that the city could not make a donation to the victims of the terrorist acts in New York City. He said an opinion from the Attorney General's office stated that public funds could not be used for that purpose. The council at its last meeting had discussed donating $1,474.70, or one dime for each person in Forrest City according to the 2000 census, as a symbolic gesture of sympathy.
The council also agreed to let Bryant seek bids on a van which the police department will convert into a mobile command post.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
In a move to further solidify the stance of the Forrest City Water Utility regarding expansion of services to areas outside of the city limits, FCWU commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday morning on a letter to city council members and planning commission members against extension of services to a proposed subdivision three miles west of Forrest City.
Beazley told commissioners during the special meeting that he felt like any extension of services should be in an orderly fashion.
"The city has to be able to control our own growth, and if we start extending services to places that aren't close to the city, we could have subdivisions popping up throughout the area wanting us to extend services to them," said Beazley.
The text of the letter included, "To revisit the matter on outside city limit connections to our sewer. The previous policy has been to require annexation along with connections. This made the developer adhere to city rules and regulations regarding subdivisions, there was order to the growth of Forrest City and the residents became citizens of Forrest City."
The letter continues, "It is suggested the city council and planning commission exert their rights and control developments within a designated area of control from the present city limits as granted by state law. This is an option that needs studied and developed for definitive polices made before allowing any new subdivisions outside the city limits to connect to the city's water and/or sewer systems."
In other business, commissioners accepted a pair of bids on separate projects for the department.
Three bids were received for a project which will sandblast and repaint the Kittle Road water tank. Utility Service Co., out of Perry, Ga., was awarded the bid to do the work. Utility bid $148,800 which was well under bids from a pair of Arkansas companies. Eagle Sandblasting and Paint of Pleasant Plains bid $190,000, and Protective Linings and Coatings of Alexander bid $208,380. Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the bid once the bid has been approved by Garver Engineers of Little Rock.
Commissioners also approved a bid of $30,625 from Broadway Electric of Forrest City for the construction of a 50-foot-by-100-foot storage building. The only other bid received was from Delta Enterprise of Forrest City for $44,322.05.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
The state's current education rating was outlined to members of the Forrest City Rotary Club this week.
State Sen. John Riggs, D-Little Rock, discussed the rating, what it means to Arkansas' industry and how it compares to the ratings in other states during the group's weekly luncheon Tuesday.
Riggs is the founder of the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Commission which was approved earlier this year by the state legislature. The commission, consisting of 25 state residents, will review the findings of the Lakeview School District's lawsuit. In May, Judge Collins Kilgore of Helena deemed the state's current public educational system unconstitutional. In the court ruling, Kilgore said, "Our constitution says the state is responsible for the education of its citizens." That ruling has been appealed by the state.
The commission will report its study of Kilgore's ruling to the legislature in February.
Riggs said he supports public education reform in Arkansas because he doesn't think the state pays enough money to teachers, does not spend enough money on each child and that the state has too many school districts.
"Our state changed forever when Judge Kilgore ruled in the Lakeview case that our public educational system was unconstitutional," said Riggs. "It will change everything about state government in Arkansas, everything from funding to how and who is in charge of school districts. It will change where money gets allocated, it will probably have a big ripple with higher education. I think you are going to see some dramatic changes in the government because of it.
"We are 48th in the country out of 50 in unadjusted spending, we are not spending enough money on our kids," Riggs said. "We are at the very bottom 50th in per capita spending and we ranked 45th out of 50 states in teacher salaries two years ago. We are probably 48th by now because three of the other states raised their teachers salaries by $10,000 each, and we only raised ours by $3,000 for two years. With the rise in the cost of insurance, that has pretty much eaten up their raise. I feel it would be better to over pay teachers than to not pay enough because basically, you get what you pay for."
According to Riggs, Arkansas has 310 school districts. "Seventy-six of those districts have less than 400 kids. That's fewer kids than are in my daughter's elementary school in Little Rock."
Referring to the three school districts in St. Francis County, Riggs said overall the county did not score well based on the new accountability standards. "In fourth grade reading and writing, your students were only 30 percent proficient. In mathematics, only 20 percent proficient and in eighth grade math, only 3 percent were proficient."
He also noted the county's remedial rates which are used by colleges to determine what freshmen should take 12th grade courses during their freshman year because they are not ready for college-level courses. "In Forrest City, 64.2 percent were required to take remedial courses. Seventy-five percent of the Hughes students entering college were required to take the remedial courses."
Referring to a study performed by the Department of Higher Education, Riggs said, "If we had just an average amount of students receiving bachelor's degrees in this state (the average is now 13 percent), then the gross state product would be $21 billion more and we would be much healthier. Right now, we are one of the most unhealthy states in the country.
Riggs said there are six key issues being looked at with the current public education system. Those issues, according to Riggs, are that Arkansas has inadequate resources; teacher salaries are too low; there is no pre-kindergarten state program; there are problems with the current curriculum; the state should be responsible for education and the system suffers from unsuitable efficiency.
The Senator said he is not necessarily wanting to close any schools, but rather have administrative efficiency. "We don't need 310 superintendents in this state," he said.
A man wanted by Texas authorities on a sex-related charge is believed to have attempted suicide Tuesday night in St. Francis County.
The St. Francis County Sheriff's Department reported Wilbur Keith Grimes, 44, Bayo Vista, Texas, was found unconscious inside his car at the Bell Cemetery in Palestine about 1:21 a.m. today.
Grimes' car, which had a hose running from the tailpipe into a window, was found by a Palestine officer who radioed the Sheriff's Department for assistance. Dispatchers instructed the officer to break the window to get air to Grimes. Once, inside the vehicle, officers found two empty pill bottles and several beer bottles.
Grimes was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City and later transferred by helicopter to Baptist East Hospital in Memphis.
During the investigation, officers discovered Grimes was wanted in Harris County Texas for felony warrants for sexual assault. He is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14.
Authorities have arrested two suspects they believe were responsible for a series of tire slashing incidents throughout Forrest City last week.
The Forrest City Police Department reported Scott D. Miller, 21, Colt, and Jeffery S. Smith, 22, Forrest City, were arrested Tuesday.
According to a police report, 19 Forrest City residents reported tires on their vehicles were slashed or cut with a knife. An estimated 45 tires were cut causing an estimated damage of $4,575.
Miller and Smith are charged with 19 counts each of criminal mischief, a felony.
Tickets for this year's Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute's Barbecue are still available, according to CRTI President Burl Lieblong.
Lieblong said tickets may be purchased through noon Friday at Worley's and Freeman's Grocery.
Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door.
The 14th annual event begins at 5 p.m., and plates will be served through 9 p.m.
A public hearing on the use of Local Law Enforcement Block Grant funds was held Tuesday night before the regular Forrest City City Council meeting.
According to Police Chief Clarence McNeary, the main topic of discussion was increased invovlement with the schools and Neighborhood Watch programs, as well as materials for public education.
"We need more public awareness, especially with the holiday season coming up," said McNeary. "And we would welcome anybody who wants to form a Neighborhood Watch."