By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
By a 6-2 vote, the Forrest City City Council on Tuesday overrode a veto by Mayor Larry Bryant of an ordinance forming a regional airport authority.
On the vote, Aldermen John Gadberry, Cecil Twillie, Mary Jeffers, Brent Ponder, Roger Breeding and Steve Hollowell voted yes. Aldermen Louise Fields and Roy Hancock voted no.
At the previous meeting, the vote to pass the ordinance had been 6-1, along the same lines but with Fields absent. Bryant vetoed the ordinance with a letter dated June 8.
The organization in question, the Delta Regional Airport Authority, is to look into the possibility of an airport somewhere between Forrest City and Wynne. It is made up of appointees from Forrest City, Wynne, Cross County and St. Francis County.
Citizens in the audience were given the chance to speak, but few took advantage. Carreather Perry asked that a public hearing be held before a vote to override was taken.
When no other people from the audience asked to be recognized, Twillie asked Mayor Larry Bryant about the statement in his letter about having none of his questions answered concerning the regional airport concept.
"If I could show you the information, I'd have it," Bryant responded. "I don't have one letter, one document, one anything from the regional airport stating that the FAA will do x, y or z. I have no information."
"Did you try to get it?" asked Twillie.
Bryant answered, "I don't need to run folks down. That's automatic. I'm CEO here. Common courtesy would be at least to inform me what's going on."
There is a written list of questions comprised by Shirley Harvell, a Bryant appointee to the airport authority. Bryant said there has been no answer to them. Twillie said he had called an FAA official and discussed the questions, to which Bryant said that when dealing with the federal government, one could not count on conversation, only things in writing.
He said he was told that the chances of expanding the existing Forrest City airport were lost when the master plan "crashed" amid protests several years ago, and the airport was landlocked.
Twillie said, "I was born in the late 30s...Knowing as long as I've lived, things have been really bad at times. But we have to look at progress. And we don't want a wedge driven between us and progress, based on something that happened yesterday."
Roy Hancock also spoke.
"Many of the things Mr. Twillie said sounds good," he said. "But I'm for the regional airport I've never said I was against it. But if we're going to build a regional airport, we need to build it here in Forrest City."
Roger Breeding said that the existing airport isn't in the city limits. Bryant said the city controls the airport. Breeding also claimed that the airport pays county tax and does not pay the city.
Bryant spoke, and took issue with the idea that the master plan for the existing airport "crashed."
"We did a master plan, we had a public hearing here in Forrest City, and I'm trying to remember how many council members came," he said. "It was almost as if people were afraid to come. The whole place was filled with people. People came and attacked the FAA and everything else for one person's business."
Property belonging to the Haven family would have been taken by eminent domain under the master plan.
On the regional airport concept, "I've never have received anything in writing...I've heard a lot of platitudes about all the jobs and what we're going to have. I haven't seen anything in regards to actual jobs or who's going to produce these jobs, so forth."
Breeding made the motion to override the veto, and Twillie
seconded it.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council on Tuesday heard first reading of an ordinance which would appropriate more than $2 million for several projects around town, including "capital improvements, economic development, business, housing and quality of life projects."
At the top of the list is a multi-purpose center to be located in the area of the Municipal Ball Park, which Mayor Larry Bryant has been trying to get built for years.
The center, with a proposed price tag of $1.8 million, is by far the biggest project and was talked about the most.
There were questions about the exact square footage of the center and how much it would cost to run and maintain it. Bryant said it would cost somewhere in the $60,000 range to run and maintain the facility. He said that money would come from surplus that the city is already generating.
Other items on the list include things that have been talked about before. They include drainage projects at $100,000 and a fire station at $25,000.
In economic development, there is another $30,000 for the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce, to be matched by the Chamber.
There is also $25,000 each for business development and housing development.
A proposed animal shelter would receive $40,000, in addition to $60,000 already in the 2003 budget.
Miscellaneous projects would take up $75,000.
Alderman Cecil Twillie said the city recently acquired land in the ballpark area and said he thought there should be more planning, along with the multi-purpose building. He also said the other projects, such as drainage, housing, are a different issue. He suggested a committee.
"This is not the first time any of this has been presented," said Bryant. "This is a package, a whole package of things that is beneficial to Forrest City and Forrest Citians...We need to start somewhere...Every time we try to move forward on something, we have to have a committee to tell the mayor what the mayor is already doing in most instances."
Alderman Roger Breeding said he would like to see more breakdown on the costs of all the projects.
"I'd like to see some breakdown where it's going to be spent, how it's going to be spent," Breeding said. "If you want this council to just give you a checkbook with $2 million in it and tell you to go spend it on this list of things how you so choose, I'm not going to vote for that."
Bryant said that isn't what the list is for.
"I've presented it," Bryant said. "You all can vote it up, you can vote it down, and will have done what I have told the constituents of Forrest City that I was going to do."
"And we may very well vote for it, mayor, I don't know," said Breeding. "But I'm not going to vote for it not knowing what it is or where it's going or how big it's going to be or how it's going to operate."
"That's the same question you all used when you defeated the sales tax when I first brought this issue up," said Bryant.
"You all just overrode a veto and talked about progress. What about this progress?" Bryant continued.
Breeding told Bryant that he had supported the sales tax.
"I don't know where you get 'you all tried to defeat the sales tax.'...I don't want to be included in that 'you all' statement," said Breeding.
Bryant said the city can well afford everything on that list.
"All I'm saying is, give me some credit for at least administering the city's fiscal state in a manner which says that I know what I'm doing and I generally, when given the opportunity, I always err or the city's side. Not my side but the city's side."
The ordinance was read once. Second reading will be at the next meeting, and Bryant said he would bring more details on the multi-purpose center.
The council also heard first reading on an ordinance to give
the mayor the authority to make purchases of up to $10,000 without
the bidding process. The limit is now $5,000 in Forrest City.
State law allows up to $10,000. Bryant said the only change in
wording from the existing statute is the change from $5,000 to
$10,000.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The master plan for the Forrest City Water Utility has been completed.
On Tuesday, members of the Forrest City Water Commission received the results of the master plan, and according to utility manager Jim Beazley, the plan provides several options for the utility's future, but also includes good news regarding the need for a new treatment plant.
"The plans that they gave us give us three basic options to look at for the future of our treatment, and they include a system with both the plant out near Sanyo and a plant which would be southwest of the city. At the same time, the report reinforced other findings that said that we may be able to keep our wells at the same depths for longer than we anticipated a couple of years ago," Beazley said.
The new plan also called for the possible construction of new water towers as well as other improvements the utility could make prior to the construction of a new plant.
"The study suggested possibly adding a tower somewhere along Dawson Road that would be at about the midpoint of our system, and that, along with some of the improvements to lines and so forth, are things that we can do improvement wise that will also get the system ready for when we do make a decision on where we'll go with the new plant," he said.
In other business, board members questioned Beazley on recent work done to the city's fireplugs. According to Beazley, Forrest City Fire Chief Dan Curtner met with him recently and agreed that the fire department would paint the plugs if the water department provided the paint.
"We were happy to do that and it also worked better for
them. They are color coding the plugs so that they know how much
pressure is coming from each hydrant. In the past, we've handled
the painting, but this works out better for everyone," Beazley
said.
Members of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission will be in Forrest City tonight and Thursday for a regular business meeting.
The visit will include a public meeting, to be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 19, in the Learning Resource Center at East Arkansas Community College.
"They move these meetings around, all over the state," said Danny Ferguson, executive director of the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce. "Several months ago we invited them to Forrest City."
On Wednesday, the commissioners and their staff are expected to tour the community and one or two local industries.
"It's a good opportunity to showcase the area to the commissioners," said Ferguson.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The city of Caldwell is considering changes to its zoning and subdivision regulations.
Caldwell Mayor Gary Hughes told members of the city council Tuesday night that the city's planning commission had discussed the changes at its meeting held earlier this month.
"The planning commission has been working really hard to find changes that need to be made to the current zoning and subdivision regulations," said Hughes. "We have a few major proposed revisions, but we will discuss all of the revisions at a public hearing to be held here in the city hall on Monday, June 23, at 7 p.m."
Three major changes were listed on paperwork presented at the meeting.
According to the presentation, the first revision is that no mobile home parks will be allowed in the city, nor more than two mobile homes on a single lot.
The second revision concerns lot size. All homes or manufactured homes will now require a minimum lot size of three-fourths an acre for septic tank purposes. The last revision stated that no manufactured homes will be allowed within 700 feet of Highway 1. Hughes also added that the new regulations will not affect existing housing, they will only apply to future developments.
Hughes also told the council of efforts to regulate housing more closely. "The planning commission also talked about hiring a building inspector. I don't have the final recommendation (from the commission), but I hope to have it by the next meeting," Hughes said.
"Also, we discussed developing a checklist for people moving in to assure that they know our regulations and can meet them. We are having a problem with people with mobile homes who come in and set up in town thinking they are in the county. The county doesn't have regulations, but we do. This is a way to help them be aware of our regulations," Hughes added.
The ordinance which will add the proposed changes to the zoning
and subdivision regulations, had its second reading. The third
reading will be held at next month's meeting.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
An addition to a local law firm will have no affect on library property, board members determined during their regular meeting this week.
Preston Hicky, a partner in the Easley, Hicky and Hudson law firm, discussed the addition with board members because the firm's property borders the library property.
"We are going to add two offices to our building," said Hickey. "We are going to request a variance of 13 feet from the 25 foot setback on the east side of our building. We are also going to ask for a variance of our parking lot from the 23 spaces that are required by the city to 22 spaces. We just wanted to present this to you and see if you had any questions or objections," Hicky said.
The request will also be presented to the Forrest City Planning Commission.
In other business, library co-director Dashaune Hill brought to the board's attention an ongoing problem they are experiencing with computer usage. "Right now, we have a policy for our computers that says that if child violates our rules about misuse, they lose their privilege to use them. I would like to have a set guideline for when they have their privilege taken, and when, if ever, they can have it back."
After a short discussion, board members agreed that the rules will include two warnings to the person. A third warning, if needed, will be given to the child's parents, and after the fourth warning, the child will not be allowed to use the library computers for six months. They also added that after six months, the next violation will result in the total loss of privileges.