By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County residents will see the first changes in the county's garbage disposal on Monday, Feb. 24. That's the date that officials with B&B Disposal will begin picking up their trash bins throughout the county.
According to Kurt Beeson, co-owner with B&B, which is based in Jonesboro, employees will remove residents' trash bins on their regular pick-up date for the week.
"Starting on the 24th, we will pick-up our bins as we make our regular weekly runs if everything with the county works out," Beeson said.
According to Beeson, officials with the county and B&B, are in the process of settling the county's final bill. B&B officials had requested full payment by Feb. 15. According to Beeson, company officials will continue to pick-up trash until a settlement can be reached.
"We haven't received payment yet, but we're working under the plan that we already had in place to make sure that everyone's trash is picked up," Beeson said.
The contract with B&B was canceled by the St. Francis County Quorum Court last month after justices and the St. Francis County Judges office were besieged with complaints about the company's service. According to SFC Judge Carl Cisco complaints have still been coming in to his office and NEARCO officials are continuing to help when needed.
"The calls haven't fallen off much since we canceled the contract and there are still some roads that are two and three weeks behind so NEARCO has been helping out with some of the work," Cisco said.
Although complaints are continuing, the county has made a counter offer to B&B for a partial payment for services for the month of February, according to Cisco.
"They told us that they would like payment in full for the month of February, but we didn't feel that we should do that until we saw that they would complete the schedule through the end of the month. We did make them an offer that will pay them partially for the service for the month, but we haven't heard anything back from them," Cisco said.
In a meeting last month, members members of the St. Francis County Budget Committee selected King Disposal to replace B&B Disposal as the county's garbage carrier.
According to Joe King with King Disposal, distribution of his company's trash bins will begin next week.
"We'll start putting them out next week and on the bin, will be the date that they will be picked up. We'll also leave a letter telling residents where to place their bins and on what side of the road to leave them for our normal schedule because we have some automated trucks that will be handling this. Citizens in the county have said that they haven't been getting good service and we're going to do our best to make sure that they get great service from now on," King said.
Two parolees were arrested during a drug raid in Forrest City early this morning.
The Forrest City Police Department executed a search warrant at 222 S. Water Street. The warrant was the result of an investigation into alleged illegal drug sales coming from the house, and complaints from people in the neighborhood, according to the police report.
Inside the house, officers found James Edward Mills, 38 of that address and Robert Antonio Peters, 32, of East Garland in Forrest City. According to the report, Police also found crack cocaine and $1,300 in cash. The drugs and money were seized.
Mills and Peters were both arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver near certain facilities. Lincoln School and a daycare on Mallory Road are defined as certain facilities in the Arkansas Criminal Code, which adds additional punishment options during sentencing.
According to the police report, the penalty range for this charge is 10 to 40 to life in prison, plus an additional 10 years and up to a $10,000 fine for a "certain facilities" enhancement.
According to the police, Mills and Peters are both on parole through the Arkansas Department of Community Punishment. They are also being charged with parole violation. Both Mills and Peters were placed in the county jail and are being held without bond.
According to the Police Department, anyone wishing to report suspected drug activity can contact the Forrest City Police Department at 870-633-3434. Calls can remain confidential at the request of the caller. Citizens may also call the Forrest City Crime Stoppers at 870-261-1499. All Crime stoppers calls are confidential, and rewards can be paid of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects involved in criminal activity.