By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
One chapter in the saga of the District Child Support Enforcement Building in Forrest City came to an end Monday, when officials with State Building Services served notice to the executors of the Harold Young estate that their contract was being terminated.
According to Anne Laidlaw, administrator of Real Estate Services with SBS, the notice of termination on the contract was submitted to Johnnie Nell Carroll via fax and certified letter.
"The deadline for completion of the building was for Friday, Dec. 6, and when that deadline wasn't meet, we just followed procedure," Laidlaw said.
The next step in the process, according to Laidlaw, should keep the office in the Forrest City area, just under a different contractor. According to Laidlaw, the two primary entities that the state is discussing the project with are Frazier Construction of Helena, who was the next lowest bidder, andthe St. Francis County Judge's office.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, talks are currently in the preliminary stage but there are hopes that the county will be able to take over the project.
"What we would be looking to do is take over the building that was being built and finish the project, then lease it to the state, but right now we haven't heard any figures from anyone on what that would cost us so we're just waiting. We would like to take it over because this would guarantee that the building stays in Forrest City and it's a building that's close to completion. The state would be happy if we could do that because then they wouldn't have near as long a wait to get into a new building and the county would be happy with the building and the income it generates," Cisco said.
Jim Frazier with Frazier Construction also said that he was in a holding pattern on the project because he hadn't spoken with state officials yet.
"We bid this project almost two years ago and you probably have as much information on what's going on as we do. We haven't decided on a location if we get the contract, because we just don't know where things are going," Frazier said.
In October, SBS officials announced that the notice of termination was going to be issued. Co-executor and local businessman Scott Carrol had no comment this morning.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A recent report saying the Census Bureau may have missed more than 33,000 people in Arkansas during the last census could end up helping Forrest City, but not by much.
A story published over the weekend in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazzett stated that the supposed undercount may help some areas. However, in St. Francis County, the undercount was estimated only to be between one half and one percentage point.
Meanwhile, the Census Bureau is saying it sticks by its original numbers.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant said it could be difficult to get the numbers changed. State turnback is figured on a population basis.
"It's so hard to change those numbers," said Bryant. "What they did was, it was by houses and by apartments. If you missed an apartment or missed a number of houses, you could go back and recount. But as far as making a change based on true figures, I think the whole process was convoluted. It was geared toward having a low count in poor areas, which would then get less money because we supposedly lost population."
He said he would look into the possibilities.
"If there is any way possible that we might be able to get our numbers up, we'll do it." he said. "But if they haven't changed their prerequisites, then we're locked in at 14,774 for the next 10 years."
County Judge Carl Cisco said it might not even be worth the effort.
"I haven't talked to the mayors yet, to see whether they feel like it's worth it," said Cisco. "And I haven't talked to the quorum court members, to see whether they want to pursue it or not."
He said the possible benefits might be too small.
"Due to the fact that it (the supposed undercount) is such a small percentage here, how much would it change our revenues, and what might the cost be?"
He said a recount might have to be done with local money.
The adjusted report was released by the Census Bureau under court order, but the bureau says it only released the adjusted numbers because it was ordered to do so.