By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of the Delta Regional Airport Authority, as it's being called right now, met Thursday and moved one step closer to finalizing the bylaws which will govern the board. A ninth member was also added to the committee.
At the last meeting of the board, questions were raised over the equal number of board members allowed on the committee. Last night, board members approved the addition of a ninth member of the committee who will be jointly appointed by the St. Francis and Cross county judges.
"I really think that this is the fairest way of appointing the newest member because all of the current members were appointed equally, one from each county judge and three from the two mayors. This will give both judges the opportunity to agree on a person who they feel can best represent the community," said board member Al Ashcraft.
By a 7-1 vote, the board approved the motion, with Bill Hays casting the lone dissenting vote. Hays said that he cast his vote against the motion because felt the board needed to consider the option of adding more than just one board member.
"I've served on large boards and small boards, and I just think that we need to consider increasing the size of the board to 15 or 17 board members because we will get as much community involvement as we can, without being too large to accomplish anything," he said.
Dr. John Kerr, board chairman, disagreed. "I think that adding one more person is all that we'll need. If we get too large, then we will begin to muddy the waters and lose focus on what's important here, which is getting a regional airport for our counties."
In other business, board members agreed to establish a simple majority vote which will allow five votes to pass or deny any motions.
According to Kerr, the process will also make it mandatory for a minimum of five board members to be present to establish a quorum. Kerr also told board members that any major votes could be tabled for later vote if the committee or chairman felt more members should be on-hand to pass a measure. "There are some things that may come before the board that can be handled by a simple majority, but in any major instances as chairman, I feel that it would be necessary for any major issues to be tabled until we have all of the board members present or at least have a proxy vote for anyone who could not make it to a meeting. I would hope that this board could work this way so that on some of the smaller issues we'll face, we won't have to hold up the process," Kerr said.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Mississippi River Parkway Commission of Arkansas met Thursday morning at the St. Francis County Museum to discuss the promotion of tourism in the 10 counties it serves.
The commission is made up of representatives from each of the counties and several technical advisors from five subcommittees that cover aspects from economic development to transportation.
Dr. Ruth Hawkins, advisor with the Historical Committee, updated members on grants which had been approved through the United States Department of Transportation. According to Hawkins, four grants were applied for and three were approved.
"The big news is that we have received about $950,000 in grants for National Scenic Byways activities along Crowley's Ridge," said Hawkins. " The bulk of that number is a $900,000 grant that was approved for Game and Fish for exhibits. The exhibits will be on display at the new Nature Center being built near Jonesboro and is purposely located near the Ridge for funding help. The other $50,000 is split into two $25,000 grants, one going to the Crowley's Ridge Parkway and the other going to Arkansas Delta Byways to help this commission.
"I feel that with some of the money that we have received, we should make some brochures that explain what it is we do and how we can help communities get funding and tourism. Maybe we should hold a meeting to discuss the way the money is spent and what projects that we would like to fund."
Hawkins then discussed the grant that was not approved.
"We submitted four grants, and as I mentioned, three were approved. The one that was not approved was a project in Wynne that was to route tourists through their downtown area and improve the appearance of their downtown. We won't know for sure why the grant was denied until we get the comments back from the USDOT, but I feel that they thought that the project should have been funded by the city. In the future, I would like to present the grants in groups of communities rather than one at a time. They (City of Wynne) are committed to resubmit for the grant and are very excited and ready to go with the project."
Chairperson Robin McClendon added that she felt a new subcommittee was in order to prevent situations like the one in Wynne in the future. "I feel that we should form a committee that will approach communities and explain to them the benefits we can give them, and find out what their needs are. If we can contact them and let them know what we can do, we can group communities with like needs and apply for grants. That way, maybe it will increase our chances when we ask for grants."
The subcommittee was formed and consists of Hawkins, Steven Weston, Nancy Clark and Virginia Manatt.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The Palestine-Wheatley School District is one step closer to choosing a new superintendent, according to school board president Bill Ray.
Ray said the board has whittled the number of applicants down from 30 candidates to the five who will be interviewed in the coming weeks. "We had a very good application process, and we were able to eliminate several of the applicants because they didn't meet our requirements. Those who we have remaining give us a very good group to choose from," Ray said.
The applicants to be interviewed for the position are:
* Wayne Thompson, who currently serves as superintendent of the Lee County School District.
* Charles Moore, who is retired, but has served as superintendent in several districts across the state including Jessieville and Cross County. He also worked with the PWSD for a time.
* John Manning, who served as assistant superintendent in the Forrest City School District. He is currently superintendent in the Armorel School District.
* Dennis Meines, currently superintendent of schools in Clarendon, and a former superintendent in Dermott.
* Dick Young, currently superintendent in the Brinkley School District.
Board members met earlier this month and agreed to extend the application process from April 18, to April 30. However, according to Ray, the position, which is being vacated by Jimmy Allen, who is retiring, will be filled by one of the five remaining candidates.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Four candidates for city offices in the November election have been fined and issued a letter of caution from the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
The action has been taken against the candidates three for Forrest City Council seats and one for the Forrest City mayor's seat for failing to timely file their final campaign contribution and expenditure reports from the 2002 general election.
According to letters from the Ethics Commission, $100 fines were levied against each candidate, and the letter of caution was issued for not filing their reports by the Dec. 5 deadline. The three candidates in the running for the council positions were: Henry Peacock, Danny Capps and A.L. "Sonny" Harris. The mayoral candidate was Frederick Freeman.
According to Graham Sloan, director of the Ethics Commission, each candidate must file campaign contribution and expenditure reports within 30 days of the general election and within 30 days of any runoff election.
According to the letter of caution, the men all signed consent orders which acknowledged that they committed the violation.