By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
City and county officials met Monday in an effort to begin working out issues regarding the county's 911 service.
Members of the Forrest City City Council and the St. Francis County Quorum Court yesterday reviewed how the 911 account funds, which are used to pay for 911 services, are being spent.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant, who briefly attended the meeting, said a commission is needed to ensure the city is being fairly compensated through the 911 payments. Bryant said the last payment the city received from the county account was for Y2K upgrades.
"We would like to know where the funds that are coming in for 911 are going because the city isn't receiving anything from the county. If the county is paying their dispatchers from the 911 account, then it is only fair that the city be reimbursed to pay its dispatchers. Forrest City is still a part of St. Francis County, and I think that the citizens of Forrest City should not have to pay twice for the same services," said Bryant.
"There are some legitimate concerns and questions that have been raised over the 911 funding that need to be hashed out and that's what this committee is here for," said QC member Regan Hill.
According to Bryant, the city has tabulated the basic salaries for two employees and those were the funds that were in question. Although Hill said that he remembered representatives from Southwestern Bell telling the court, during the inception of the 911 program, that salaries were not to be paid from the 911 funding, the county has used roughly $140,000 from that account to help compensate dispatchers.
"There has been approximately $140,000 taken from the 911 account and placed into the county general account. Those funds were used to help compensate dispatchers at the St. Francis County Jail over the last three years," said Hill.
According to County 911 Coordinator Linda Thweatt, state auditors told her last year that 25 percent of the funding for dispatchers' salaries was to come from 911 funding. She said that the auditors said the percentage was met because county dispatchers were paid from the county's general account.
The only employee currently being paid fully from the 911 account is Thweatt. City council member Steve Hollowell questioned whether Thweatt's position with the county should be full-time or part-time. According to Hollowell, phone calls to surrounding counties revealed that Lee, Phillips and Monroe counties each use a part-time coordinator, as does Cross County according to Hill. According to Thweatt, who works under St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, her job includes upgrading equipment and duties dealing with the Office of Emergency Services and a variety of duties with the judge's office.
Committee members also briefly discussed whether the county, which currently has two 911 call centers, needed to downsize to only one center. According to Thweatt, a SWB representative has told her that counties similar in size to St. Francis County normally have only one call center. According to Hill, the reasoning for the dual centers originated with the creation of the 911 center.
"Back when this was done, we had to have the support of both the city and the county. In order to get that support, there had to be an agreement that both entities would have a system and that we'd fund the equipment so that it would be kept equal. I don't know if there is still a need for two systems. Now have two totally different administrations, but this is something that we need to look at," said Hill.
The 911 account currently funds the coordinator's salary, equipment at both the St. Francis County Jail and the Forrest City Police Department and street signs on county roads that are not within the city limits of any municipalities.
A professional bull rider was critically injured when he was trampled during an event at the International Professional Rodeo Association's (IPRA) annual charity rodeo this past weekend in Forrest City.
Justin Lee Evans, 24, of Benton, Mo., is listed in critical condition today at the Med Center in Memphis where he was airlifted to Saturday night after the accident at the Wiley T. Jones Fairgrounds south of Forrest City.
According to a report on file at the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, Evans suffered massive head injuries during the accident that occurred just after 10 p.m.
Evans was riding a bull during the bull riding event at the rodeo, and he was on the bull for a few seconds and then was dislodged, according to the report. Evans' hand was caught in his rigging, and he was pinned against the bull for a few seconds more, deputies said, adding that when Evans fell to the ground, he was "trampled by the bull."
Paramedics with Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City were at the rodeo, and stabilized Evans as deputies called for Med Flight to meet the ambulance at the nearby sports complex.
Proceeds from the annual weekend event benefit local schools.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
"The county's in pretty good shape," was the message St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco delivered to members of the city's Lion's Club Monday.
Cisco updated the group on a number of issues including county finances and work on the county courthouse Monday during their weekly meeting.
"Right now, we're pretty much waiting for tax collections to get in so that we can see where we are. As a whole, the elected officials have worked this year to keep things fairly tight, and that has put us in pretty good shape financially. We're about to do some considerable work on the courthouse roof which is in need of repair. The justices have one bid in hand, and they're seeking bids on a second type of roof. Once they've made their decision on where they want to go, work can begin," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, the transportation mall project is also working well. Cisco told club members that the project had encountered some delays following the Sept. 11, attacks and the beginning of the Iraq War, but that progress is beginning again.
"We have started making some headway, and right now we're looking at getting funding to help us purchase the property. We've got a lot of the funding for the infrastructure work lined out, but those entities that fund everything else won't pay for the land. We've got some meetings in Washington (D.C.) set up and hopefully we can get things moving on soon. This process has taken a little longer than any of us expected, but when you're the first to do something like this, it's hard to really set up a time frame," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, the transportation mall will help increase tax revenues for the county and would also increase jobs while providing a place for truck drivers to park along Interstate 40.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Water Commission on Monday accepted a bid of $143,602 for replacing the roof of the ground storage water tank on Kittle Road.
Brown-Minneapolis Tank-Midwest of Tulsa, Okla. had the lowest bid on both a steel and an aluminum alternative. The company received a recommendation from Garver Engineers, which studied the bids after they were opened on Sept. 9.
Also on the recommendation of Garver Engineers, the commission opted for the aluminum alternative. Although the aluminum roof costs more initially, estimates submitted by Evan Teague with Garver showed that the aluminum alternative would cost less over the life of the roof.
The initial cost of the steel roof would be $122,019. Over 50 years of life, the maintenance, which would include painting at least every 10 years, would increase the cost to an estimated $184,865.
The initial cost of the aluminum roof will be $143,602. However, over the next 50 years, the only maintenance needed would be caulking the roof joints very 10 years, brining the over-all cost to only $146,295.
After briefly reviewing the Garver recommendation, the commission accepted the Brown-Minneapolis bid. All the members present voted yes.
The East Arkansas American Heart Walk will be held this year on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City. The event gives local residents the opportunity to get some exercise while raising money for American Heart Association research.
The kick-off luncheon for the event was held last week at Bonanza. Tara Thomason, a member of the Heart Walk Committee, talked about the purpose of the luncheon.
"The kick-off luncheon is an opportunity for us to inform team captains about the event and provide them with a healthy lunch," said Thomason. "After the kick-off, the teams will begin collecting money. All proceeds will go to the American Heart Association."
Thomason also stated that it is not too late for teams to participate. "If anyone is nterested in forming a team, you may contact Mary Beasley at 870-931-3070 or Tiffany Billingsley at 261-0000. Many people say they don't have the time to walk or that they have other plans for the date of the walk. You can have a team and not walk. Your team can still raise money for the cause." Teams may also register online at www.walk.americanheart.org.
The walk, which is sponsored by Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest
City and Forrest City Bank, will be held rain or shine. Registration
will begin at 8 a.m., and the actual walk will begin at 9 a.m.
Bank Day, the day that all raised money is due, will be Friday,
Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Forrest City Bank.
One more time, the Professor Pigskin has been decided by the "tie-breaker".
Three Times-Herald readers ended in a tie after all of the entries had been judged.
Corinne Danehower of Forrest City became the winner of the $50 cash prize after being closest to the final score of the Arkansas-Alabama game.
Danehower finished in a tie with Heather Bridges and Katie Bridges as each missed just two of the 20 games.
Katie Bridges was eliminated from the tie-breaker after picking Alabama over the Razorbacks and Danehower was three points closer to the actual 34-31 game score than was Heather Bridges.
This week's selection of games can be found inside today's Times-Herald.
A Wynne man being held on a felony charge in the St. Francis County Jail has a new misdemeanor charge to deal with after "mooning" a state trooper during a court appearance Monday afternoon.
Cedric Glaze, 21, appeared in St. Francis County District Court yesterday on a charge of first-degree terroristic threatening.
According to the arrest report, when Glaze, who was dressed in his orange jail-issued uniform, was called to appear before the judge, a state trooper noticed the pants on his uniform were pulled down to show his underwear. The trooper said he instructed Glaze to pull his pants up, and he complied.
However, when the trooper was testifying in another case, he said Glaze looked at him and pulled his pants down below his underwear line where the trooper could see his legs. The trooper then told Glaze he would be arrested if he didn't pull his pants up, and when he refused that order, Glaze was charged with disorderly conduct and escorted from the courtroom.