By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The sound echoing down the hall, of metal lockers slamming shut, is a memory most folks carry from school.
Except, that is, where there are wooden lockers -- like the lockers at Forrest City High School and soon to be at the new Junior High.
"The wooden lockers, as evidenced in the high school, are much quieter and more attractive," said Superintendent Lee Vent.
Not only are the lockers wood, but they are being built in-house by two skilled maintenance employees, Bobby Herbert and Johnny White.
This means that more than noise and aesthetics were taken into account when the decision was made to go with employee-made, wooden lockers.
"It will save us, approximately, $80,000," said Vent," and we'll still have a good quality locker that will last."
The lockers aren't the only furnishings for the new building which will be made in-house.
"They'll be building the cabinet work for the computer labs, tables desks," he said. "And the checkout counter in the new library/media center. They will also be doing teacher storage closets inside each classroom, out of the same materials as the lockers. Everything should be aesthetically balanced throughout the building."
Leodis Williams, maintenance supervisor, said the men have done a good job with the lockers.
"These guys have done a wonderful job, putting these together," he said. "My hat's off to them. It is a very professional job."
They have been working on the lockers since April. The lockers are actually in cabinets. There will be 117 cabinets, with six lockers in each cabinet. Most of the lockers are complete, and require only sanding, staining and varnishing.
Installation may begin as early as next month, in the older parts of the junior high building, which are being remodeled.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
About 70 people braved the bitter cold last night to attend a public Arkansas Community of Excellence (ACE) meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to explain the ACE program and to let the community have a voice in things that need to be improved. Several speakers, including representatives from Wynne, which has ACE status, spoke to the mixture of city and county officials and citizens.
The primary goal of the ACE process is to guide local planning toward a solid foundation of economic and community development, according to literature handed out at the meeting.
"To put the program in a nutshell, it's a program that lets us come together as a community to improve our community," Mayor Larry Bryant said in his opening remarks.
David Reagler, a member of the Wynne Chamber of Commerce, spoke on his opinion of the program. "In my opinion, ACE is a grassroots effort, and that is its strength. You can't hire someone to look at your community and tell what needs to be improved because no one loves your community more than you do. It's a great way to view your strengths and weaknesses so that you can make your community better. It's more that just a sign at your city limits."
Jay Robinson of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED), moderator for the meeting, told the crowd about the voting process that they were about to undertake.
"What we are going to do tonight is make a list of the strengths and weaknesses you as a community see in Forrest City," began Robinson. "Some people will see some things as strengths that others see as weaknesses, that is also why we are here, to find out what you want to improve."
Several minutes were spent listing suggestions of the strengths of Forrest City, which included the civic center, airport, Interstate 40 and the new bypass, fire and police protection, location and a variety of restaurants.
Weaknesses were then discussed. Included in the weaknesses suggested by the group were lack of affordable housing, too many empty buildings, lack of public transit, a poorly trained workforce and race relations.
At the end of the town hall-like meeting, those attending were allowed three votes on a top 10 of ACE components, both in Community Development and Economic Development that need to be improved. These components will be looked at for improvement to gain ACE certification.
The ACE components approved by the group are:
Community Development: Education, workforce development, healthcare, technology, law enforcement, community beautification, fire protection, solid waste management, housing, Arkansas Energy Code adoption and rebuild Arkansas.
Economic Development list: Established business and industry, manufacturing, knowledge-based companies, call centers, agriculture and agri-related business, biotechnology companies, tourism, retiree relocation, film and video production, commercial development and area partnerships.
Tiffany Billingsley, local ACE organizer, said those attending the meeting voted that in the area of Community Development, housing, education workforce development, community beautification, healthcare and leadership training were the areas needing the most improvement. In the category of Economic Development, established business and industry, manufacturing, tourism and commercial development were selected as the major problem areas.
Committees are being formed to work on the areas voted on last night, and while the process will take some time, work on ideas for improvements will begin as early as next week.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The Madison City Council rescinded a vote to adopt the city's 2003 budget during a called meeting Thursday night. The move followed the council's vote last week that approved a pay cut for employees.
Council members voted unanimously to rescind the budget vote after Madison Mayor James Brooks told them that last week's move could not be enforced.
"The facts are that the vote last Monday night could not be enforced because for an elected official to take a pay cut we would need a unanimous decision. The vote was 4-to-3, and I should have known that it couldn't be enforced. It was an oversight on my part, but now we need to work on passing a budget," Brooks said.
Council member Ocie Williams presented a budget plan, which asked for $5,000 to be taken from the city's reserve fund to balance the budget. Council member Annie Winfrey objected to the idea of touching the reserve fund.
"If there is no other money, and we're going to be forced to go into the reserve, I just don't understand it. This little city is overbudgeted now, and once you start going into our reserves, what's going to happen? The city is not designed to pay 13 or 14 people to work 40 hours per week and that's what we're doing now. If need be, we should cut some employees down to four days per week or something, but we need to stay out of our reserves," Winfrey said.
Council members agreed to Williams' budget by a 5-1 margin with Winfrey casting the lone dissenting vote.
The move will prevent anyone from getting a pay cut or having their hours reduced.
The council also agreed to take another $30,000 from the reserves to pay $10,000 for the construction of a city shop and to add $20,000 to the total funding needed for the construction of the city's planned community center. According to Mayor James Brooks, the additional funding for the center was needed after bids on the project came in well in excess of the available funding.
Brooks said the lowest bid on the project was $52,000 over the $163,000 budget for the project. Brooks told council members that he had spoken with a contractor who could build the center for $183,000 and also build the shop for $20,000. Brooks recommended that the council reject the bids they have and rebid the project to get the contractor's new bid.
"I've spoken with one of the contractors, and they told me that if we could increase our budget by $20,000 then they could get the building up with some alterations to the plans. They also told me that while they were here, they could put up the shop, and it would be cheaper because their equipment would already be here," Brooks said.
In other business, council members tabled a request by Brooks to bring former Madison Assistant Chief of Police Jerry Donaldson back to the force in a part-time role. According to Brooks, increasing drug activity in the area was his primary reason for wanting to bring Donaldson back.
"I think that the city has seen a major decline in crime, and a lot of that was drug activity that was cut under Donaldson. He specializes in that area, and we're seeing an increase in that, which is why I want him back," Brooks said.
Brooks' plan calls for two officers to see their hours cut to 32 each week. Several council members questioned the plan, with Winfrey objecting outright.
"I don't think our regular officers should be cut to bring him back when he didn't do anything when he was here the first time. I don't know what difference he's going to make," Winfrey said.
Brooks also submitted a letter to council members informing them of changes within the city's fire department.
According to the letter, Brooks requested that the fire department discontinue fighting fires outside of the city limits of Madison and it also called for mandatory fire drills for all firefighters without make-up dates. When questioned about the five-mile radius the city has been covering, Brooks said, "Well, I understand that we've been covering that area, and I'm primarily talking about fires outside of that radius. I don't see why our fire department should be fighting fires that are out in the county and in most places within another city," Brooks said.
According to Forrest City Fire Chief Dan Curtner, each fire department has a certain district within the county which they have to cover to receive Act 833 funding. County officials were uncertain what area the MFD was to cover.
The Caldwell Fire Department will be giving away free fire extinguishers to residents in the Caldwell Fire District on Saturday, Jan. 25.
Assistant Fire Chief Shane Dallas says that Saturday is just part of an ongoing effort in Caldwell.
"We received a grant from FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration for about $6,500, and we purchased around 200 fire extinguishers," said Dallas. "We have been giving away free extinguishers since last year. We had been focusing on the elderly and homes with children under 14 in the area we cover. Now, we are trying to provide them to anyone who is interested."
According to Dallas, all 14 of the city's volunteer firefighters will go door-to-door from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. in their fire district on Saturday offering the free equipment, but the extinguishers are still CFD property. "We ask that anyone who receives an extinguisher return it to the department or call us to pick it up if they move so that we can give them to new residents," added Dallas.
For more information, or to schedule a time for the firefighters to drop off an extinguisher, call Dallas at 633-3008.
Five new businesses are set to open on Saturday, Feb. 1 in Forrest City. And all the businesses are all located in the same building.
Ware's Communication & Auto Complex will offer four automotive businesses and a phone service under one roof. The idea came to Walter Hare when he decided to go into business for himself.
"I wanted to do something that I'd never heard of, putting four different independent automotive businesses in one building so that it's really a one-stop auto-shop," said Hare. Hare will run the Walter's Auto Repair Shop portion of the store, drawing on his over 20 years of experience in that field.
The other automotive services that will be offered are an auto detail shop run by Suge Ellison, an upholstery shop run by Floyd Anderson who has been working in vehicle upholstery for 20 years, and an auto body repair and paint shop run by Carlos McDaniel.
The fifth business at the location will be Ware's Communication. The business, run by George Ware, will offer Excel home phone service. The business will expand to include pagers and cell phone service as well as a full line of accessories for both.
Ware's Communication & Auto Complex is located at 2300 West Broadway (the old Security Door building) in Forrest City. For more information about the services they provide, call 630-2260 or 630-2271.