By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With the end of the second two-month budget period looming at the end of April, St. Francis County Quorum Court budget committee members finally received some encouraging news.
County Treasurer Ann Harbin told committee members the county's general account closed March with a final balance of $151,135.06. According to Harbin, efforts by elected officials to curb spending and funds from a municipal court settlement helped build that ending balance for March. Harbin said that last month the general account received $149,830.41, which was $29,830.41 over the anticipated revenue. During the same period, $237,444.58 in expenditures were recorded from the general account which was $52,555.42 under the budgeted amount of $290,000.
"I believe that through the hard work of all the elected officials, we're getting this done right according to the plan. Everyone has been working to try to keep their spending down, while at the same time chipping in where they could," Harbin said.
The news of the $150,000 carryover caused some committee members to question whether the need for continued transfers from several departments and trust accounts would be needed.
"If we've got this type of carryover from March, do we still need to get the transfers at the end of the month that we've been getting. We can't ask these elected officials to continue doing this, and things are beginning to look a little better. Plus, we need to look at building our trust accounts back up," said Justice Donald Cagle.
Justices were also told that the county could receive a boost from the state by as early as June due to a promised payment to counties for inmates who have been held in county jails for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Committee Chairperson O.J. Gandy told justices that Gov. Mike Huckabee had recently promised to pay counties 80 percent of the outstanding debt owed by the state.
Justice Henry Wilkinson said the ADC currently owes St. Francis County close to $130,000. According to those figures, county coffers can expect to receive about $100,000 by the end of the state's fiscal year in June.
Justices also raised questions, as they prepared to make appropriations next week, on the cost of May's primary election. According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, $14,000 had been budgeted for the election based on figures from the last election. Cisco told justices that although the state would reimburse the county for some of the costs, there were some charges that might not be covered due to state levels for payment.
"In the past, the state has paid their portion in reimbursement, and the county has basically paid what the state didn't. The way that the state does it, is they have an amount that they will pay for certain services, and if the election commission goes over that then the county has paid for it," Cisco said.
Several justices voiced opposition to the county paying the balance suggesting that the Democratic Central Committee could use their funds to pay the balance.
"We've paid all of this money for filing fees, so I think that the central committee should be able to pay something," said Justice Evans Seawood.
The Forrest City Water Commission got an idea Tuesday on what the future of the alluvial aquifer -- from which the city gets its water -- may be, and it could be bleak.
James L. Battreal, senior geologist with the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, was invited to talk to the commission about the condition of the aquifer and the direction in which it seems to be going.
"We all read in the paper where our wells in this area are drying up, we're going to be blowing dust soon," said Jim Beazley, head of the Water Utility. "We're trying to find out exactly when we're going to be blowing dust."
That information was not forthcoming. However, Battreal said there is concern that the aquifer is being depleted.
"In this area, St. Francis County in particular, it looks like...in the 1998 data collected, the remaining saturated thickness of the alluvial aquifer looked to be 70 to 80 feet," he said. "In the 2000 report, it looks to have dropped to between 60 to 70 feet."
He said the U.S. Geological Survey reports that from 1969 to 2000 there had been about a 20-foot decline in the alluvial aquifer in this area. He said that averages out to about .65 feet a year. However, since 1985, he said the drop has increased to about 1.2 feet per year.
The decline continues to increase. According to Battreal, west of Crowley's Ridge, five out of six wells in St. Francis County have showed declines over the last year.
"The average decline west of the Ridge in St. Francis County over a one-year period was 3.4 feet," he said. Although that sounded shocking, he said a one-year average can sound alarming. However, he said the year before had actually shown about an eight-tenths of a foot increase.
"The general trend is downhill," he said. "You're going to have some high points and low points."
He said the Memphis sand aquifer, which is also used some in Arkansas, is deeper than the alluvial and has a thickness of 850 to 900 feet. However, the quality of water in that aquifer has been called into question.
"That's what I've heard from some people. They say they have to really treat it," said Battreal.
He said there are not many wells using the Sparta aquifer in this immediate area.
Another problem, according to Battreal, are "cones of depression" around wells, to which water migrates, which might contain salts. He said there have been some problems with salt water in central Cross County and in other locations.
Beazley asked, "I guess the question I'm wondering about is, are we getting close to the bottom of the alluvial aquifer?"
Battreal said that was a difficult question to answer. However, he had a map that shows what the levels are projected to be in the year 2040, with conservation methods used. Large areas on the map show the aquifer's thickness to be lower than 20 feet in large areas.
In addition, Battreal said that between 1,900 and 2,100 new wells have been drilled this year in Arkansas. "That's a lot of wells. A lot of wells going down." These are new wells reported between October of 2000 and October of 2001. He offered a map showing the location of the new wells. Some were commercial, some were private. However, while there were new wells marked all over the state, there was a concentration of new irrigation wells in eastern Arkansas.
He said an estimated 5.4 billion gallons a day are being drawn from the alluvial aquifer.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Advertising and Promotions Commission was updated on the success of the Circle of Friends Pow Wow during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon.
St. Francis County Museum Director Laura Mazzanti told commissioners this year's Pow Wow, which was held March 29-31, for the first time in St. Francis County, was a success, although Mazzanti had no figures available on the economic impact to the community.
"The Pow Wow was a success despite the rain that we had on Saturday. All of the vendor spaces were taken, and we had a real good response from the community. We don't have any concrete figures on how many people came out. But, as a rule, the sponsors said that Fridays are pretty slow, and we had close to 400 people come out," Mazzanti said.
According to Mazzanti, heavy rains on Saturday may have curtailed the numbers for crowds on Saturday and Sunday.
Mazzanti also updated commissioners on efforts to get signs placed on Interstate 40 and along U.S. Hwy. 70 and Arkansas Hwy. 1.
"For a variety of reasons we don't qualify for the signs that run along the interstate, but another option is renting billboard space. We don't really have the funding for that though. We have been told that we could possibly get more signs along Hwy. 1 and Hwy. 70 directing travelers to the museum and Leslie McMillan with the city also said that we might be able to get some directional signs on city poles. So, we're trying to get the information out there," Mazzanti said.
Commissioners also heard from Mike Dandurand with the Arkansas Delta Byways Association. According to Dandurand, the association is one of 14 associations recognized by the state. Dandurand also told commissioners that the purpose of the commission is to promote the quality of life in the Delta, to promote retirement and relocation to the Delta and to promote travel and tourism.
Dandurand also spoke to commissioners regarding advertising in the Byway's annual brochure which is distributed through travel stops, travel shows and handouts. Dandurand told the group that the Great River Road Byway, which runs along the Mississippi River, will be named a scenic byway in the next 60 days, giving the area two byways.
The city of Palestine is seeking a loan to help in the replacement of several sewage pumping stations needing repairs.
Palestine Mayor Willetta Carroll told councilmen during Tuesday's regular monthly meeting that the city is attempting to get a loan of close to $69,000 from the Soil and Water Commission, which will be used in conjunction with $60,000 that the city recently used to replace two malfunctioning pumps. The funds came from a reserve fund the city had with Soil and Water, and the appropriation was approved in a called meeting last month.
In other business, council members were told that the city is currently negotiating a contract with King Disposal to handle the city's garbage pickup. According to Carroll, the city is currently under contract with B&B Disposal of Jonesboro.
Carroll also told councilmen that Palestine Police Officer Tracy Lewis had completed his training at the academy and received his certification.