By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday to authorize the city's participation in a regional airport authority, but not without a discussion which at times became personal and heated.
The ordinance was up for second reading. The Delta Regional Airport Authority was formed first by resolution, by the governments of Wynne, Forrest City, Cross County and St. Francis County, to look into a regional airport between Forrest City and Wynne. The ordinance, if passed by all the governing bodies, would give legal standing to the Authority.
As soon as the ordinance was read for the second time, Alderman Roy Hancock recognized Rev. Booker T. Cooper from the audience.
Cooper said his concern was "the rush to pass an ordinance to get an airport that there is no need for."
Cooper said the existing Forrest City Municipal Airport is closer to the Federal Correctional Institution-Forrest City and the Forrest City bypass than a regional airport would be.
"And why would you, as fathers of the city, move an airport out of the city, and move it where it would be an asset to another city?" he said. "I thought you were elected to take care of the citizens of this city. I have strong opposition about that."
He also said that Forrest City appointees to the commission -- which was formed first by resolution and has been meeting -- have been treated disrespectfully by the rest of the commissioners.
After Cooper spoke, Alderman Roger Breeding moved that the rules be suspended and the ordinance be read for the third and final time. The vote was 6-1, with Breeding, Brent Ponder, Steve Hollowell, Cecil Twillie, Mary Jeffers and John Gadberry voting yes, and Hancock voting no. Louise Fields was absent. Breeding then moved that the ordinance be adopted.
Hancock voiced his opposition. He said questions asked by Shirley Harvell, a commission member had not been answered.
"I think the public needs to know, what is the deal?" he said. "The city is losing something it's been having for a while, moving it out to the country. What are we going to get out of it?...It looks like we on the city council should be trying to take care of Forrest City."
He said there seemed to be too much of a hurry. "Wynne passed their (ordinance) quick. I'm not worried about Wynne. This ain't Wynne, this is Forrest City."
Breeding responded that the first resolution forming the commission was passed in February.
"It is now June 3. I don't see that this is rushing things," Breeding said. He said one larger airport between Wynne and Forrest City could bring more into both cities than one small airport at each town. He said a feasibility study would be made, and said the study might even show that a regional airport isn't needed.
Harvell was recognized, and said a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration has said that there is either money for a regional airport, or for the two local airports, not for both. She said she is interested in having a feasibility study on the regional airport only.
She said she has asked Dr. John Kerr of Wynne, chairman of the commission, for information and has not received it.
Breeding said that Forrest City businesses need the surrounding communities.
"If it had to survive on the tax base or on the business that it creates from the citizens inside of Forrest City itself, it would collapse," he said. "If we do not have people come into our community and shop every business in this town would close. I don't see then, why we can't participate with the surrounding communities, to bring something into these communities that is going to bring more jobs into this area."
Harvell also complained that there have been no public hearings on the regional airport concept.
Steve Jones, a local businessman, and Danny Ferguson, executive director of the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce, both spoke in favor of the regional airport.
Hancock then said he was in favor of a regional airport, but at Forrest City.
Before the vote, Mayor Larry Bryant said he wanted to speak, and after saying that Forrest City missed an opportunity for a regional airport here, attacked Cross County and Wynne in general and Kerr in particular.
"The question is, do we parlay with Cross County and Wynne, the very people that always talk about how sorry our schools are, how the crime is, to pull our citizens from the federal prison up to Wynne to build homes?" he said. "We'll be the largest city in the Delta without an airport...Dr. Kerr is a very insulting individual, and I'll put it on the record. And if he despises me, so be it. That's just the way life goes. He wishes to steamroll everything."
He said there is still no guarantee that there will ever be a regional airport.
"But until the people up north of us quit talking about the people down south of them, because Forrest City is 60 percent black and they like to point that out to folks, then and only then, will we be able to come together," Bryant, who is black, continued. "They've (Wynne and Cross County) got four people on the airport authority, and I don't see one that looks like me. And with all the people in Wynne, that dog shouldn't hunt nowhere in this day and age. But that's the way they operate up there. And then they want us to take away from this area."
Sandy Kerr, wife of John Kerr, who was not there, attended. She objected to Bryant's comments, saying that racial motives had nothing to do with the appointments to the Authority.
"This problem with Wynne and Forrest City and a racial problem is not even in the mix," she said.
"It's always in the mix in the Delta," Bryant said.
She said the Authority members from Wynne were appointed not because they are white, but because they are pilots.
In spite of Bryant's attacks and the opposition, the ordinance was adopted. The vote was again 6-1, with the same split as the earlier vote.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Voters in the Forrest City School District must decide in September how much of a millage increase they are willing to pay in order for the FCSD to get in compliance with a state law. Either way, it's a win-win situation for the school district.
Amendment 74 requires all school districts in Arkansas to have a minimum of 25 mills dedicated to maintenance and operation in each district. Some 240 school districts in the state are having to ask voters to either approve debt service restructuring and/or millage hikes in order to meet the minimum requirement.
The FCSD's current millage rate is 29.7 mills. Of that total, 18 mills are currently dedicated to M&O, with 11.7 mills dedicated to debt service.
Jack Truemper of Stephens, Inc., the district's fiscal agent, told members of the district's board Tuesday night that the district can restructure its debt service mills in a way to transfer 5.5 mills to M&O and leave 6.2 mills for debt service. That move would still leave the district 1.5 mills short of the state requirement.
However, in addition to the 1.5 mills needed by the district, board members voted Tuesday night to ask for an additional 1.5 mills to fund necessary improvements throughout the district. On a vote of 5-1, with Mallory Nimocks casting the opposing vote, the board agreed to ask voters to approve the total 3 mill package during the annual school election.
"I would rather see us separate the two, and if we need the 1.5 then ask for it in January. At this stage in the game, I can't see combining the two in this request. I think we've come a long way in creditability, and I hate to see us combine the two," said Nimocks.
Superintendent Lee Vent urged board members to "step up to the plate" and "make the hard decisions."
"I must again say to you the state of conditions in FCSD regarding state aid. We've suffered $260,000 in state cuts since March. We can't continue taking these licks," Vent said. "The maintenance needs of the district are great. We need to reroof Central, Stewart, Forrest Hills, Caldwell and Madison. That would cost over $1 million. The high school roof would cost about a half a million. We have 50 air conditioners that need to be replaced at the high school alone.
"We have to step up and ask the voters one more time to get this district in good sound maintenance shape. We've made major strides in the past few years. We can't just sit and wait. We must step up and do what we can to keep our physical plant in good condition," Vent said. "We can't just keep sweeping it under the rug, or eventually we will trip over it."
"I would hate to see us regress," board member Sandra Taylor said.
On a $100,000 home, a 3 mill increase would cost the taxpayer an additional $30 per year. One mill is the equivalent of 1/10 of one penny, according to Vent, who added that the extra 1.5 mill is estimated to generate about $2.5 to $3 million for the school district.
In other business, board members learned the new junior high school is about 88 percent complete. "We're coming down the home stretch," said architect Bob Beavers, who added that the district has about $1 million left to complete the job.
The board also approved a student handbook revision that would require students who sign up for classes at the middle school, junior high and senior high levels to remain in those classes from the beginning of the term to the end of the term. Exceptions will be at the discretion of each building's principal.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council on Tuesday gave final plat approval to the Lindauer Cove Addition.
Paul Gunn, representing the developer, Danny Clark, was present at the meeting.
The Forrest City Planning Commission had given a do-pass recommendation on the development at its most recent meeting, after he informed the members that all improvements had been installed.
There are three lots, and Lindauer Cove will be a private drive, which means the city will not have to maintain it. The lots are in excess of 12,000 square feet and are zoned Residential-1.
The cove meets fire codes being within 500 feet of a fire hydrant. Because Lindauer Cove will be a private drive, residents will bring their carts to Lindauer Road.
On another matter, Mayor Larry Bryant said the city had received funding from the Department of Human Services, through the Division of Youth Services, to help with this year's City Pride Program.
"This year, for our city program, we should have about 15 individuals who will have jobs for six weeks," said Bryant.
He said programs include swimming lessons, a tennis clinic, track, martial arts, a basketball clinic.
The program will operate out of the King Center on Ophelia Street, and will be from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., June 9 through July 18.
"We're trying to have full scale programs so kids can learn a lot of things," said Bryant. "It's open to the public and its free. Breakfast is served and lunch is served."
On another item, permission was given to bid out the demolition of 29 condemned structures around town. It was noted on a list that on seven of the structures, there has either been a permit bought to do the work, or the work is in some stage.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With construction ongoing at NEARCO and a freshly paved parking lot at the courthouse, members of the county's building improvement committee began tackling other issues Tuesday.
Committee members were updated on the status of both the new building at the NEARCO facility and the parking lot at the intersection of Cross and Forrest Streets. According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the foundation at NEARCO has been completed and officials are expecting the new metal building to be delivered by the end of the week.
"We've been told that the building will be here Friday, and we're going to begin construction as soon as we can. Everything else is ready and we're just waiting for that to move forward," Cisco said.
Cisco also told board members that while the parking lot at Cross and Forrest Streets has been paved, it needs a few more things done to it.
"We've got to get someone over there to strip it off, and we really need a Forrest Street entrance. We'll have to go to the city to get approval to get the curb cut out, but you need two entrances over there. I think that we should also consider putting a nice brick sign over there which would match the courthouse brick to let people know that there is courthouse parking available there," he said.
Committee members gave their approval to complete the lot and also approved seeking out someone to design landscaping for an unpaved portion of the parking lot. Quorum Court Justice Regan Hill suggested the work saying, "We've got a real nice parking lot over there now, but we've got a strip that's about five feet wide and 100 feet long that is unpaved. It would really be nice if we could get it landscaped. We should get a community member to do the design for us and then either get some summer work kids or even let our trustees work over there so that we could have a nice attractive parking lot."
Board members also agreed to meet again on Tuesday, June 17, for an update on designs for the Public Defenders office on Cross Street. According to Cisco, architect Bob Beavers is looking over plans that would allow the county to make improvements to the building keeping it uniform with the courthouse. In other business, committee chairman Sam Armstrong told members that he planned to discuss the Izard Street parking lot curb with Forrest City officials to see if anything could be done to improve the sidewalk near the courthouse.
The United States Department of Agriculture has set Friday June 13, as the cut-off date for the 2003 Environmental Quality Incentives Program for Arkansas farmers.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service recently released the final rule for the EQIP which was re-authorized and amended in the 2002 Farm Bill. The final rule, which was published in the Federal Register on May 30, describes how the program will be implemented and a total of $9,855,000 has been allocated for EQIP in fiscal year 2003 for Arkansas.
"This is a valuable tool to help our state's agricultural producers meet the significant environmental regulation they face, while continuing to be good stewards of the land. EQIP not only helps them implement conservation practices that protect our natural resources, but also meet air quality regulations and mitigate further damage to natural resources in areas severely impacted by the drought," said Kalven L. Trice, state conservationist.
The EQIP program is one of the largest programs in the Farm Bill and is a voluntary conservation program that promotes environmental quality and assists producers to meet local, state and federal regulations. EQIP funds help farmers and ranchers reduce soil erosion, improve water use efficiencies and protect grazing land by installing conservation practices that protect natural resources.
Producers interested in participating in EQIP can apply at any time at their local NRCS office or USDA Service Center. NRCS will evaluate each application and give higher priority to those applications that use cost-effective conservation practices; treat multiple resource concerns; address national, state or local priorities; and provide the most environmental benefits.
EQIP sign-up information is available from the local NRCS office or on the Internet at www.ar.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/eqip2003.html. Any applications taken after June 13, will be held for consideration in next year's program.