By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Airport Commission will consider a proposal which would hand over the building currently occupied by the Memphis Soaring Society to an aircraft maintenance firm.
Dave Cahoon of the Soaring Society introduced the commission members to Mike Lester of Central Arkansas Turbines, Inc., currently located in Marianna. Lester is interested in moving the operation to Forrest City.
The Soaring Society and the Airport Commission have been at odds recently. There have been complaints from both sides regarding safety and right of way at the airport. The Soaring Society has purchased land near Cherry Valley and will eventually move to that location. However, the Soaring Society still has a 10-year option on the building it uses at the Forrest City Airport. There have also been disagreements over the lease.
Cahoon told the commissioners that letting Central Arkansas Turbines take over the building would be good for both the Soaring Society and the airport.
"We don't seem to be welcome any more," he said. "This is an opportunity to let us leave, and have a new business come in."
Danny Ferguson was at the meeting as a representative of the Forrest City Industrial Commission and the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce that he would recommend approving the deal. He said that in a best-case scenario, the company would bring in at least 10 jobs and would pay annual sales tax to the city of at least $4,000. The alternative would be no jobs and no taxable sales.
Not everyone who spoke was completely in favor of the idea. Concern was expressed over cleanliness. In addition, commission member Vester Wroten said he was concerned over traffic issues.
"What kind of traffic are we going to have?" he asked. "Are we going to have planes waiting to be worked on, planes that have been worked on and are waiting to be picked up?" he said that clutter could make safety a problem.
Lester said that his company works hard to insure cleanliness. He also said the amount of traffic would vary, but he would be interested in leasing some more property from the airport for extra plane parking and tie-downs.
After the discussion, City Attorney Chris Morledge suggested that since the commission had been given a lot of information all at once, members should have an opportunity to study the proposal before acting on it.
A motion was made to meet again in one week to vote one way or another on the issue of whether to allow the Soaring Society to hand over its lease to Central Arkansas Turbines. The meeting will take place Monday, Oct. 14, at 6 p.m.
On another matter, Mayor Larry Bryant was at the meeting to discuss the St. Francis County Transportation Commission. This committee was formed at first to formulate plans for a trucking mall. However, the committee has also become involved in discussions over a possible regional airport.
Bryant said he has been contacted by County Judge Carl Cisco about the Airport Commission becoming involved. He said he would favor action that would include planning toward a regional airport, but in the meantime keeping the present airport as viable as possible.
It was the consensus of the commissioners that one of their number could be part of the Transportation Committee
One response has been filed to a suit filed by the City of Forrest City over which filing period should be allowed.
Henry Peacock, a defendant and a candidate for Forrest City City Council, filed the response.
The decision on the suit could cause two men to be kicked off the ballot. If it is decided another way, one man could be kicked off the ballot.
Arguments are set to be heard before Circuit Judge Harvey Yates in Wynne on Thursday.
At issue is an apparent conflict between two laws passed by the Arkansas Legislature, which seems to have created two different filing periods. Two candidates, both incumbents, filed in both periods, just to be safe. Those candidates are John Gadberry and Roy Hancock.
Peacock, who filed the response, filed against Hancock during the first period only. Bobby Ray Woodard, who is running against Gadberry, and Clifton Avant, another opponent of Hancock's filed during the second period only.
Peacock's response to the suit simply asks that the judge uphold the decision of the St. Francis County Election Commission, and let all the candidates remain on the ballot. The Election Commission is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
"Who better than the voters to select their aldermen? Not the courts," Peacock said in his response. Peacock is representing himself.
A Forrest City boy was airlifted to a Memphis hospital yesterday following an evening accident on West Broadway.
According to a report from the Forrest City Police Department, Edward Funches, no age given, 1329 W. Broadway, was injured yesterday when he was struck by a 1995 Pontiac, which was driven by Kathleen McCoy, 37, 1101 Whitaker, Forrest City. According to the report, McCoy was traveling west on Broadway when Funches ran out into the street in front of her car. She attempted to avoid hitting him, but couldn't stop in time. After impact, Funches was thrown 10 feet into the street. A statement from a witness at the scene corroborated McCoy's accounts.
Funches was airlifted to LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis, and is in satisfactory condition.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The mold problem on the north end of the St. Francis County Courthouse is forcing county officials to close the area until repairs can be made.
According to letters from St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, to Juvenile Judge Baird Kinney and Chancery Judge Ben Story, effective yesterday, the chancery court room and law library will be temporarily closed due to the problems with the reoccurring mold. According to Cisco, a malfunctioning air-conditioning condenser and high humidity were the cause of the problems.
"We're trying to get this situation under control so that people can have an environment that they can work in. The primary problems have been with the moisture in the rooms from the high humidity and the lack of air circulation. We're working on this so that everyone can work in a healthy and comfortable area while they're up here," Cisco said.
Both chancery court and juvenile court will still be in session, just in different locations. Chancery court, which is held on Thursdays, will be held, until further notice, upstairs, in the Circuit Courtroom and juvenile court, which is held on Tuesdays, will be held in the District Courtroom outside of the court house. According to District Court Clerk Neva Vance, the additional day of court won't be a problem for district court because there aren't any conflicts with court days.
"It won't be a problem for us at all because they hold court on Tuesdays and we don't have any court on Tuesday. If it were chancery court that might cause some problems, but everyone knew the schedules for court going in so it wasn't hard to work everything out," Vance said.
According to the letter, measures are being taken to resolve the problem. According to Cisco, several measures are being taken to help with the problem.
"Our biggest problems have been with the humidity and air circulation and we've tried putting fans in the law library and the other problem areas. We've put fans in the rooms and left the doors open so that the air could be circulated, but the doors always end up closed. Now, we're going to remove the doors completely, run the fans and we're also having the air conditioning units repaired so hopefully we can get this problem under control," Cisco said.
He was unsure what the time frame for the clean up and repairs would be, but he did say that he was hoping that it would only take a few days to get completed.
It all came down to guessing the final score of the Forrest City-Searcy high school football game and Forrest City's Robert Pickett was the closest.
Pickett and Michael Gray, also of Forrest City, were tied with three misses each in the Professor Pigskin Contest which brought the tie-breaker game into play.
Pickett's guess of Searcy 35, Forrest City 14 was closer to the actual 23-14 score of the game than was Gray's guess giving Pickett the $50 prize.
This week's selection of Pigskin games can be found inside today's Times-Herald.
St. Francis County government received $153,606.42 in sales tax revenue in August.
In addition, the following towns also received the following prorated amounts: Hughes, $30,444.08; Forrest City, $240,910.96; Wheatley, 6,065.98; Palestine, $12,083.06; Madison, $16,094.44; Caldwell, $7,582.48; Colt, $6,000.76; Widener, $5,462.64.
Also, towns with their own sales taxes received the following: Forrest City, $175,174.27; Hughes, $10,918. 58; Madison, $2,288.26; Palestine, $6,987.57; Wheatley, $5,498.26.
While the mosquito program is still under way, it is time to start thinking about blackbirds, according to J.C. Rice, Forrest City pest control officer.
"We have blackbirds that are showing up in the northern sections of town," said Rice. "We've got some bird bangers and ammo on hand" for people who have the gun. The noisemakers can be picked up at city hall.