By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Jobs are safe right now at the St. Francis County Courthouse after quorum court justices reached an agreement Monday night on a budget to get the county through the next two months.
Non-profit agencies, such as the St. Francis County Museum, didn't fair as well in the short-term budget outline. The museum, along with the SFC Food Pantry and the CARE Center, will see county contributions decrease this year.
According to the new plan, which was presented to cover the next four months, but will be voted on again in March, the county will deplete the $200,000 carryover from 2001 at a rate of $70,000 in January, $50,000 in February and March, and $30,000 in April. The Trust Account will also be emptied over the next four months at a rate of $37,000 per month, and $200,000 of the available $300,000 in county's certificates of deposit will be used.
Funds designated for use in certain county offices will also be contributed to the county's general account. SFC Circuit Clerk Bette Green will contribute $11,000 per month, over the four-month period, from the Act 768 fund. The communication fund for Sheriff Dave Parkman's office will see $3,800 per month placed in the general account.
With the new budget, the one-cent sales tax breakdown will also change. According to the plan, the first 20 percent of the sales tax will go to build the Trust Account back up; 40 percent of the funding will go to county general; an additional $2,000 will be placed in county general for the circuit court coordinator's position, and the balance of the tax revenue will go to the road department.
The plan presented to justices during Monday's called meeting of the quorum court also adjusted the $35 per pay period employee contribution toward insurance, which was discussed during a special meeting on Friday, to a $10 per pay period co-payment on the health insurance.
Justice Jack Crumbly, who was a member of the committee that formulated the original budget, said he was happy with the changes. "This proposal that we have in front of us tonight is much better than the one that was to be presented. I didn't want to have to come in here and ask to take $70 per month out of the employees' pockets because with some of our employees, $35 per pay period would have been a considerable amount and could have caused some hardship."
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said an effort Monday morning to adjust the budget that was worked on Friday also brought about cooperation of the elected officials in the budget process.
"When we got together this morning, we had a budget that was going to charge the employees $70 per month for their insurance and would have called for two positions to be cut. The elected officials got together, and we found a way to save those positions as well as help out in this budget. The sheriff gave us $3,800 that was for a position, and that helped, and Bette Green turned over part of her ACT 768 money, and that helped. This was all a joint effort," Cisco said.
According to the budget, the Food Pantry and the CARE Center will lose funding for the first four months, and possibly the first six months, of the year with a promise of $9,000 in funding for the remainder of the year.
The plan will cut $1,000, instead of the proposed $2,500, from the funding allocated to the St. Francis County Museum. Although the new plan calls for no jobs to be lost at the courthouse, SFC Museum attorney Brad Beavers told justices that a cut, such as that in the original proposal, could cost the Museum an employee.
"I understand that you all are saying that there will be no cuts in personnel, but by cutting the museum, there will be insufficient money to continue to pay our salaries. We have been able to find money, through private funding this year, to pay operational expenses, and what we've asked for is enough funding to pay for salaries. If we are cut, then we will have to lose a person," Beavers said.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco responded. "What we're giving will almost cover the salaries, so we'll work on that and see what we can do. We've got a little bit of room to play with, so if ya'll will stick with us, we'll fine tune it and see what we can do."
The budget presented last night must be approved during the regular quorum court meeting on Tuesday.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant reports that although there were some disappointments in 2001, it was a good year overall, and the city is going into 2002 in good shape.
"The city of Forrest City is probably in as good a financial shape as it has ever been in," explaining that he was deliberately shooting low on estimates for the coming year's income. "I would rather estimate low than estimate high and come up short. I've always tried to be frugal. That's the way I am."
His biggest disappointment, he said, was over a proposed multi-purpose center, which Bryant has been trying to get off the ground since he took office three years ago.
"It was a hard pill to swallow," Bryant said. "I don't know why we're just sitting on taxpayers' money." He claimed the money to build the center is there and that the center is needed.
"It's one of the only things we don't have right now, some kind of multipurpose facility so our seniors could use it during the day, our youth could use it in the afternoons and a combination could use it over the weekend."
In other matters, Bryant said the city has done well, beginning with the start of last year, when there was still a lot of debris from the ice storm. The year also saw a tornado warning system installed.
"I'm happy to say we haven't had to use it to warn people of a tornado, but it's good to have," he said. "It's not all we wanted, but it's a whole lot better than nothing."
Other options discussed included a system that warned people by telephone.
Another highlight was that bids were accepted on a new senior citizens' center. After some debate, it was decided the center will be located at the sports complex on Highway 1 South.
"All we're waiting on is for the weather to clear, so they can do the dirt work for the foundation," he said, adding that plans call for a formal groundbreaking at the site.
Bryant said a lot of street work was done, and went on to claim that Forrest City's streets are in pretty good shape.
"Forrest City is blessed to have good streets," he said. "If you compare our streets with cities our size around the state, I would say ours is as good or better than most."
With the help of state grants, a lot of sidewalks have been laid, with handicapped accessibility. Sidewalks and rails are due on Linden Road (Highway 306) between Highway 1 and Grobmyer Circle. He said more of the state money, which is an 80-20 match, has been applied for, for even more sidewalks.
Efforts are being made to make all the city parks compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and restroom facilities at the municipal ball park will be remodeled.
In other areas, new computers have been purchased for city hall. A new fire engine was purchased for the fire department, and a van was purchased for the police department. The van is being converted into a mobile command center.
Of the things on the horizon, Bryant said new EPA regulations on the handling of storm water will probably have the biggest impact.
"The council is going to have to make some hard decisions on how we pay for it," he said. "It's one of those unfunded mandates from the federal government."
Bryant said he has sometimes been disappointed by bickering between himself and council members, and said in June he made a resolution not to argue with the council.
"Whatever they want done, that's what we're going to do," he said. "I don't need to have a heart attack or get gray hair, arguing things that are right and correct. As long as I'm trying to do what I was elected to do, and do it in a fair and equitable manner to serve all the people of Forrest City, I think I've done a good job."
The East Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees will meet in regular session Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. in the administration building.
The board is scheduled to hear a report on the remodeling of the Betty Jo Hodges Building (old library). Board members will be given a status report on the plans for construction of a facade and driveway modification and an enrollment update.
Also on the agenda, among other items, are election of officers and recommendations for employment.
Other meetings set for Thursday include the Colt City Council meeting at 6 p.m., and the Wheatley City Council meeting at 7 p.m. The meetings will be held at each city's city hall.
Over the next few weeks, several St. Francis County roads will be closed as workers with Advanced Warning of Muskogee, Okla. work to replace railroad ties on the Union Pacific tracks in the area.
According to Joe Randolph with Advanced Warning, work involving several roads in the western portion of the county will begin this week. The work will temporarily close some small county roads while on larger roads, a portion of the road will be closed with flag men detouring traffic.
"As much as possible, we will try to keep roads open, but at some of the smaller crossings, we will just close the entire road," said Randolph. "When we're working on a two-lane road or a larger road, we will keep at least half the road open while we work so that we can keep traffic flowing.
The work will take between a half a day and a full day to complete at each crossing, according to size.
When work reaches Forrest City, four streets Patillo, Rosser, Washington and Izard will be closed for construction and workers will detour traffic to side streets.
In Madison, Jackson and 2nd Streets will be closed, and the crossing at Arkansas Highway 50 and Arkansas Highway 38 in Widener will also see some work.