By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Quorum Court voted Tuesday night to give a $1,000 incentive bonus at the end of November to all county employees and elected officials.
Justices approved the measure, which doubled the incentive bonus that was approved last week by the county's budget committee.
Following some discussion on the bonus last night, QC Budget Committee Chairman Henry Wilkinson suggested the matter be tabled; however, Justice Regan Hill suggested the issue be taken off the table and put to vote.
Wilkinson and Justice Evan Seawood both questioned where the new ordinance, asking for $1,000 instead of $500, had originated.
"The only thing that I have to say is that our budget committee had a proposal signed by all six of the elected officials asking the committee to consider a five percent raise and a $500 incentive bonus. I made the motion to pass that, and it got voted down. Brother Leodis Williams then made a motion to just approve the incentive pay and consider the raise at the end of the year and that passed, now the games have started to be played again and the bonus has gone to $1,000," Seawood said. "When they asked about the raise, the money couldn't be found last week, but now it's been found to increase the bonus. Something's not right. Ya'll are making clowns out of the budget committee."
Hill said this morning that he had asked St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith last week for figures regarding what the proposal would cost the county after receiving the budget committee's original proposal from county officials. Hill said that while he did not have the ordinance drawn up, he was in full support of the measure.
"I asked for the figures to show what the comparison would be if we increased the incentive bonus and took out the raises after we received the original proposal. I sponsored the ordinance last night, and I feel that the employees deserve this because they did not receive raises or a bonus two years ago. Then, last year they didn't get a raise, and we took $520 back from them. They also didn't get a raise to begin this year. This plan will basically give the employees that money back, and it's a one-time bonus that the county can pay from one-time money," Hill said.
The incentive plan will call for all full-time employees of the county to be paid $1,000 with part-time employees and those with less than six months service receiving $500 each. The total cost of the appropriation is $108,000 with the net appropriation from the County General account being $95,300 after reimbursements of $12,700 which will come from the final tax settlement, the treasurer's commission and funding from Act 768 which deals with the Circuit Clerk's office.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the funding will also come from money received from workman's compensation funds the county has received.
In other business, justices approved a measure which will adjust the payment schedule of funds received from the Indigent Care Board. The original plans called for the breakdown to be one-third, or $33,000, going to the County General, Trust and Road Department Accounts. Last night, justices changed the formula to pay two-thirds to the Trust Account and one third to the Road Department.
Justices also approved the budget for the final four months of the year, appropriating $971,928.61 for expenditures for the remainder of the year. According to Wilkinson, projected revenues for the same period are $1.5 million.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
In a brief meeting Tuesday, the Forrest City City Council adopted an ordinance restricting where tractor-trailer trucks can be parked or operated.
The new law prohibits "driving, parking or maintaining tractor-trailer trucks, otherwise known as eighteen wheelers, within or on certain streets."
The restricted parts of town are any areas that are zoned R-1, R-2, R-3 or R-4, or any area designated as a fire zone.
The law does not apply to trucks making deliveries in those zones, as long as the delivery is made and the truck moved in a timely manner.
In other business, the council adopted a resolution accepting a $225,038 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for improvements at the Forrest City Municipal Airport.
The improvements will include perimeter fencing, navigational aids and runway visual guidance systems.
The council also adopted a resolution approving a grant of $28,350 from the FAA to help pay for a feasibility study for a regional airport.
Another resolution was also adopted, authorizing the mayor to apply to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for a grant to help finish the Southside Pool project. The request is seeking $93,380.
The council also heard, without comment, second reading on a amended ordinance allocating $2.12 million to several capital improvement projects, including a multi-purpose center.
The ordinance had been amended to omit a section stating that the mayor could "advertise for professional services, building contracts, land purchases, and enter into contracts as necessary." The amended ordinance states that the mayor is authorized to "advertise for professional services as necessary to accomplish the projects."
Some council members had expressed concern over the wording.
There has been heated discussion over the items listed in the ordinance, the multi-purpose center in particular. The ordinance will be up for third reading at the council's next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 2.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A statewide law enforcement seminar focusing on criminal nuisance abatement will make a stop at the Forrest City Civic Center this week.
According to a press release, North Little Rock City Attorney Paul Suskie and several other NLR officials will be on hand Thursday to speak to area law enforcement officials about the city's Support, Abatement, Fines and Enforcement (S.A.F.E.) program which targets properties that are havens of criminal activity such as places of prostitution, drug activity and methamphetamine labs.
According to the report, since its inception in 1999, the S.A.F.E. Team in North Little Rock has investigated over 300 properties and filed close to 30 lawsuits
The team has also helped in efforts to adopt legislation through the General Assembly to strengthen laws to help abate nuisance properties such as Act 1758 of 2001, which allows city attorneys, prosecuting attorneys and landlords to evict tenants for criminal activity. Also, Act 1190 of 2003, allows cities of the first and second class to establish criminal nuisance abatement boards to address such properties.
Joining Suskie will be NLRPD investigator Andrew Miles, North Little Rock Aldermen Martin Gipson and Greg Yielding and Sue Corker, past-president of the North Little Rock Landlords Association. NLR city officials Gary Sipes, code enforcement director, and code enforcement officer Tom Wadley will also speak.
Registration for the seminar will be from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., and various seminars will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Forrest City Water Commission on Tuesday accepted a bid for a small tractor.
The only bid was $28,374 by Henard Utility Products Inc., of Searcy, for a Kubota tractor.
The commission also discussed the possibility of purchasing a sewer cleaner, and also a TV system to enable sewers to be inspected from the inside.
Commission chairman Jimmy King said it has only been in the past few years that the Water Utility has been able to afford to make improvements. "We've come out of the black cloud. We've seen the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
Water Utility manager Jim Beazley said that rates have been kept down, but added that a rate increase will probably be inevitable down the road for maintenance of the system.
On another matter, the commission agreed to meet the second Tuesday next month instead of its regular date on the third Tuesday, to open bids for the roof on the Kittle Road water tank. The meeting will be Sept. 9.