By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Budget cuts have forced the layoff of the only two employees at the St. Francis County Museum.
Museum Board members learned Tuesday of a letter from St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco to board chairperson Anita Widby informing the organization that beginning Jan. 1, the county will no longer carry the two employees, Director Laura Mazzanti and Brenda Fort, on its payroll.
The letter from Cisco reads, "Please accept this letter as formal notification of the following changes effective Jan. 1, 2005. St. Francis County will no longer carry museum employees on the St. Francis County payroll or insurance plan. The museum will be responsible for its own payroll distribution and personnel related matters.
"St. Francis County will continue to provide financial support to the museum. The St. Francis Museum budget for the year 2005 will be $36,000 (which is down from $40,000 this year which was provided through payroll). This amount will be divided into 12 equal monthly payments of $3,000 each to be paid directly to the museum on the first of each month."
Commenting on the letter, Widby said, "What this does is take away our employees, period. At this rate, we will have only $16,000 to pay for our employees. As far as funding goes, we had asked for $12,000 from Forrest City, instead of $9,000, which is what we received from them last year.
"We have to have the funding from somewhere. We barely have enough money to keep our doors open as it is," said Widby. "If we have to ask every city in the county for funding, we will, but we have to keep the doors open."
According to information provided at the meeting, the director's salary currently is $9.61 per hour for 35 to 40 hours per week. The assistant director's salary is also $9.61 per hour for 20 hours per week. In a proposed budget for 2005 for the museum, salaries were budgeted at $29,983.29 and benefits for the director were listed at $10,648. This would mean that if the museum paid both employees what they currently make, plus benefits, the organization would need an extra $40,632.21 for 2005. Neither Mazzanti or Fort attended last night's meeting.
That amount is above the $36,000 the county is allotting, which is to be specifically used for programs, not salaries.
Board members began weighing the options of keeping the museum open.
"There is a good chance that once people learn of our plight they will help us out, but we can't count on that," said Widby. "We could lay off both of them until we can find someone who can work for what we can pay. Until we hire someone else, we could staff the museum with volunteers.
"Both Laura and Brenda have been made aware of the situation. Laura said that she was in favor of a lay off, but I haven't been able to contact Brenda. My feeling is that while volunteers are good and we need them, we have to have someone who is paid to be here, who cares about the job and knows about the exhibits."
It was suggested that Fort be offered the job first at a reduced rate of pay and no benefits. If Fort refused, they would then look for other candidates.
"I suggest that we lay both Laura and Brenda off," Widby stated. "Both of them would stay on until Jan. 1, 2005. Laura has volunteered to see through some projects that are coming up. She has even volunteered to make herself available for questions that volunteers might have while she is still in town. She really wants to do what is best for the museum, and they both understand that if it comes down to either closing the doors or having employees, that we will keep the doors open."
Co-chair Christy White echoed Widby. "I feel that we need to do what we need to do," White said. "Maybe that will be enough to put pressure on the county, city and residents to give us funding and donations. This is a wonderful institution; we do many positive things in this community. If people want us to continue doing these things, they need to help." The board agreed to speak to each justice of the peace on the Quorum Court to see if extra funding could be given.
"We are a positive light in St. Francis County," said Widby. "I would love to see someone take over our employees. We have very expensive exhibits here, and we need someone here to show them. We have no hard feelings against our employees and we don't want to hinder them from getting another job."
The board closed the meeting by voting unanimously to lay off both employees and run the museum with volunteers until a person could be hired. Widby stated that she would take the first week of January as a volunteer and each Wednesday. She also stated that she would collect all museum property, including keys and credit cards from the employees on Friday, Dec. 31.
The board also requested that anyone who would like to help the museum as a volunteer or with donations contact them at 870-261-1744.
Cisco commented this morning on the cuts and why they were made.
"The Quorum Court has been doing some trimming back on the budget," said Cisco "We have been making other cuts in other areas, and we may be making more cuts when we get closer to finding out what our final settlement of tax revenues will be. That is why we cut $4,000 of support." According to SFC County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, the county is expected to have $36,000 less next year in the county coffers.
Cisco also discussed the reasoning behind the removal of the museum employees from the county payroll. "The bookkeeping was causing a problem. There were questions about who was responsible for keeping up with their time sheets and paperwork."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Wet weather and damaged roads held no effect on members of the St. Francis County Budget Committee Tuesday when they failed to vote on an appropriation of more than $70,000 for the County Road Department.
A motion from committee member Leodis Williams to appropriate about $77,800 to the road department in order to make repairs after rain last month, died due to the lack of a second. St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco approached the committee with the request for the appropriation Tuesday, telling them that the funding was needed to purchase material and make repairs.
The proposal consisted of $60,000 in funding from the 1-mil road tax and $17,891.43 to be taken from the Workman's Compensation fund.
"Over the last month, we've really taken it hard on some of the county roads. We've had to expend many of the materials that we had stocked up on, and I'm needing this additional appropriation in order to pay bills we've incurred that were not our normal bills, and a few bills that are going to run over into this month," said Cisco.
Committee member O.J. Gandy took issue with the request for the appropriation, questioning the spending in the road department.
"Now, this is over and above the $72,000 that you were appropriated, and I don't know why we need to do this. You just keep spending and spending. We can't make you stop spending money, but we can stop appropriating money so that you can't pay the bills," said Gandy.
According to Cisco, the request would not have been necessary if not for the weather.
"When I agreed to the budget proposal, I also told the court that the budget could be met if not for catastrophes. We had two storms that just really wiped us out. I'm sure all of you saw the picture of the hole in the road in the newspaper and that picture really didn't do that hole justice. We had to close that road, and we've had to close another road, and neither of those can be opened back up right now. We had problems in several portions of the county, but the hills were extremely hard hit. To people that live out on these back roads, keeping those roads up is the most important thing that county government can do for them, and that's what we're trying to do," Cisco said.
"Now, I cannot fix the roads, but when the people are calling me wanting something done, then I'm going to have to turn them over to you because you control the funding that fixes the roads," he added.
Several committee members questioned Cisco regarding roads that they had received calls from citizens regarding. Justice Donald Cagle also questioned upkeep efforts during the summer.
"I know that some of these problems came up due to all of the water we had last month, but could some of these calls have been avoided if more upkeep had been done during the summer months?" asked Cagle.
"We were out during the summer, and to be honest, we don't receive the volume of calls when everything is dry and we're out grading the roads on a normal schedule. We have a few problem roads, but the majority of the roads were kept up. The problems come in on the high traffic roads and we work on those also. But once we start getting wetter weather, then people begin to complain a little more and that's understandable," Cisco said.
Cisco also explained the priority of some roads.
"I know that you all have received telephone calls regarding roads, but there are some roads that will have drainage problems no matter what we do. A lot of the calls come in from people that have two ways in and out to their homes, and one way is shorter than the other. If a person has more than one way to get to their home, then we make sure that they have access to a good road. That doesn't mean that it will necessarily be the shortest way, but they will have one way in," Cisco said.
Committee Chairman Henry Wilkinson told the committee that he was not necessarily in favor of spending more money, but he reiterated the duty of the county to provide good roads for the citizens.
"If this work has to be done, then it needs to be done whether we really want to spend the money or not. The biggest priority for the residents out in the county are their roads," Wilkinson said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Justices on the St. Francis County Quorum Court finally approved the 2005 budget Tuesday night during the group's regular monthly meeting.
Last month, justices could not legally approve the budget after it failed to satisfy the 90 percent rule which allows only 90 percent of anticipated revenue to be budgeted. According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, he, along with County Clerk Elizabeth Smith and County Treasurer Ann Harbin were able to redo the budget, adding anticipated carryover in accounts which had not been originally accounted for.
"When we did our carryover figure for next year, there were some accounts which were not included in the revenue figures. Once we added that anticipated carryover, we were able to meet the 90 percent rule," Cisco said.
Justices voted unanimously to approve the budget which projects revenues of $7,407,878.94 against projected expenditures of $6,404,546.83.
In other business, justices voted 10-1 to appropriate $77,891.43 to the County Road Department at the request of St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco. The vote came after the Budget Committee failed to vote on a recommendation of the appropriation. Justice Evans Seawood was the lone dissenting vote.
Justices also voted for an ordinance approving the holiday periods for 2005. The holidays are as follows: Friday, Dec. 31, New Year's Day; Monday, Jan. 17, Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday; Monday, Feb. 21, President's Day; Friday, March 25, Good Friday; Monday May 30, Memorial Day; Monday, July 4, Independence Day; Monday, Sept. 5, Labor Day; Monday, Oct. 10, Columbus Day; Friday, Nov. 11, Veteran's Day; Thursday, Nov. 24, and Friday, Nov. 25, Thanksgiving and Friday, Dec. 23 and Monday, Dec. 26, Christmas.
A recommendation from Cisco to appoint local businessman Steve Jones to the St. Francis County Transportation Committee ran into opposition and a cry of racism from one justice. According to Seawood, the recommendation of Jones was "racist in nature."
"You know, I have never been for this transportation mall and never will, but I talked to the commission's chairman, Cecil Twillie, and he told me that he had given you the name of Frank Haynes who used to be with FHA. Now, we come in here and you give us the name of Steve Jones. There's something racial going on here," Seawood said.
Cisco responded, "This has nothing to do with race. Mr. Jones is a local businessman and has expressed interest in serving on committees before. That's why I selected him at this time. There is another appointment which will be coming up soon and at that time I will consider Mr. Haynes."
"All I know is that Mr. Haynes is a black man and Mr. Jones is a rich white man, and that's who was recommended," Seawood answered.
Justice and transportation committee member Jack Crumbly suggested that Cisco recommend Haynes to replace the position vacated by former commission chairman Buzz Haven and in January appoint Jones.
"The last two appointments to the committee were Mr. Kevin Lewey and Mr. Rujay Burke, and if now Mr. Jones is appointed, then the last three members appointed to the commission would all be white. For the sake of diversity at this time, I think the best solution would be to recommend Mr. Haynes now and next month then recommend Mr. Jones," Crumbly said.
Cisco withdrew his recommendation Tuesday night and told justices that he would have two nominations prepared for them at the January meeting of the court.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The building of a multi-purpose center at the Forrest City Municipal Sports Complex is on again.
The city council, in special session Tuesday, adopted on a 5-3 vote a resolution to transfer reserve funds to build the center, and to award the bid to Kenco Inc. for the project.
In a separate meeting, the council also began some budget discussions, centering mainly on personnel issues.
The resolution transfers a total of $2,229,000 for the project. That includes $1.8 million which had originally been approved by the city council, and $429,000, which makes up the amount by which the low bid exceeded the original funding.
During discussion on the resolution, Alderman Steve Hollowell asked about architectural fees, and was told those would be separate expenses. Some of the fees have already been paid, and Mayor Larry Bryant said there was still about $25,000 remaining to be paid.
Alderman Brent Ponder asked for figures on how much it would take to furnish the multi-purpose building. Bryant said the figures currently being worked with were for the building of the facility.
Alderman Roger Breeding asked why the cost of the building had increased so much, and Bryant said the price of steel had skyrocketed.
Breeding said he still favors an election on the issue, as he always has.
"I'm just one vote," said Breeding. "I would vote, tonight, for $2.5 million to build the thing, furnish it, security system and the whole nine yards, if that $2.5 million dollars was appropriated by the people in an election."
He said the city voted against a tax to build the facility several years ago. He also said the Bryant administration has done a good job of keeping costs down.
But he continued, "Any money this city has is still tax dollars or grant money."
Alderman Cecil Twillie said that unless Kenco was going to have anything to do with the furniture and equipment, the bid price should be for the construction only.
City Attorney Alan Cline reminded the council that the bid from Kenco had a time limit on it.
"When we were here last week, Mr. (Gary) Kennedy (of Kenco) said his quote was good for 10 days," said Cline. "And I don't know if within 10 days we're going to know the answer to any of these questions. This resolution was written as an attempt to save that bid, to lock in that bid, and give the city the ability to meet that bid, understanding that there are additional costs associated with this project that are not within this resolution, that the city is simply bound to cover."
Twillie moved to adopt the resolution, and Alderman Louise Fields seconded. On the vote, Aldermen Mary Jeffers, John Gadberry, Fields, Roy Hancock and Twillie voted yes. Voting no were Aldermen Breeding, Hollowell and Ponder.
The special meeting was then adjourned, and the council began its budget meeting. No votes were taken during this meeting, but there was a lot of discussion.
Twillie suggested that if there was a raise for city employees this year, that it be across the board, all-inclusive.
City Clerk Marie Todd said she had noticed that a slot which had previously been approved for her office had been removed. "I still need that position," she said. She said there was even a new workstation, waiting for a new employee. She asked that the council reinstate the job slot.
Bryant said he had gone through the budget and simply deleted many job slots that had not been filled. When asked if that included the police department, Bryant said it didn't. He said there are continuing efforts to recruit policemen, but he also said it is difficult.
Twillie said he had gotten a lot of calls in the last eight months, from people complaining that there was not enough police coverage, especially during certain shifts.
Slots for the fire department were also discussed. Bryant said it is hoped that details for a new fire substation could be worked out during 2005.
Fire Chief Dan Curtner was present, and there was some discussion of how many new firefighter slots would be needed. Curtner said ideally, the number would be six. Bryant said if that is affordable, fine. If it isn't, fewer new slots would be filled and firefighters at the main station would be rotated in and out of the substation.
On another subject, Breeding said that whether it came out of the parks budget or the police budget, more security was needed at the sports complex during baseball and softball season. He said he has gotten complaints.
Bryant said he has not gotten complaints.
"I didn't get one call from one person having anything to do with security at the sports complex. Not one," Bryant said. "Why don't they call the mayor?"
Breeding said he was told that people tried to reach him and could not.
"That's a lot of bull," said Bryant. He said he has an assistant who can talk to people and take messages. He said he doesn't go to the ball park often because he is beset by people asking "why I haven't fixed a pothole over here and something over there."
There was a suggestion that along with more officers, at least one might be equipped with a golf cart or four-wheeler to improve mobility.
The pest control budget will be about the same, but although Bryant said preventative work on mosquito breeding starts in January, Breeding asked if the actual spraying could start a little earlier this year.
Budget discussions will continue.
A junior high school student was arrested on drug charges Tuesday afternoon after allegedly trying to sell marijuana to another student.
A school resource officer at the Forrest City Junior High School reported that he learned of the attempted transaction about 2:15 p.m., and shortly thereafter saw the suspected seller, a 15-year-old, in the principal's office trying to obtain a tardy pass.
The officer said he attempted to stop the student, but he fled to a nearby counselor's office where he was confronted by the officer and Principal Billy Ferguson.
The teen removed a small plastic bag containing 2.5 grams of marijuana from his pocket.
He is charged with possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with intent to deliver near a certain facility.
He was scheduled to meet with a juvenile intake officer today.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Advertising and Promotion Commission voted to fund the 2005 Rumble on the Ridge Basketball Tournament after a recap of this year's event given by Rumble director Bill Baxter.
"I want to begin by thanking the A and P, all of the volunteers and especially my son Casey," said Baxter. "The Rumble is not just me, it is everyone who helps out each year to make the event possible.
"This year, the A and P gave $40,000 to the Rumble," stated Baxter. "Our ticket sales were up a great deal, and I believe that it was due to us working on ways to sell advanced tickets. We had $26,672 in ticket sales this year and $7,500 of that was advanced tickets. There were several reasons that the tickets sales were up. The teams that were invited this year brought more people with them and another reason is that the (Forrest City High School Mustangs) basketball team has improved."
Baxter handed out a breakdown of how the money made from the annual tournament benefited the St. Francis County Community Foundation (SFCCF) and other area charitable causes.
According to the breakdown, $15,000 will be given to the SFCCF's endowment funds. "That money will be matched by the Walton Foundation so they will receive $30,000," stated Baxter. "Plus, there is another $4,391. 24 that will go to the foundation. With the Walton match on that money, the foundation will receive a total of almost $40,000."
Other programs that will benefit from the Rumble include the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) Endowment, which received $2,146.19 from program ad profits; The Fellowship of Christian Athletes received $1,716 from program sales; the Forrest City Athletic Booster Club received $4,000; the Nicole Bennett Scholarship Endowment received $2,245.05 from concession sales and the food pantry received canned goods collected from the dunk contest.
Baxter added that other programs are also funded by the Rumble. "We fund overruns from the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame from the tournament and the Forrest City AAU Summer Basketball program.
"One program that we started this year is the Rumble Buddy Program," continued Baxter. "This year we took 57 kids from the housing authority and we brought them to the Rumble. Many of these children had never been inside the Mustang Arena. We gave them shirts that said 'Rumble Buddy' on them. We would like to continue this program next year as well."
Additionally, Baxter stated that the Rumble also turned a profit this year. "We had a profit of $8,980.21. We are going to set up an executive committee to distribute the profit in the community. Larry Freeman, who is a member of the A and P, has committed to serve on that committee."
Baxter requested and received $40,000 of funding for next year's event by way of a unanimous vote of the commissioners.
Sheila Lieblong, operations manager of the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce, presented a report on the annual Forrest City Christmas Parade. "We had 90 entries this year and 12 of those entries were floats," said Lieblong. "We received $2,500 in funding for the parade and we are well under budget. We have spent $1,524.17, and I think that we have about another $100 in bills out."
In other news, a contract for the Mightymite was tabled so that city attorney Alan Cline can look over it and a request for a billboard honoring Arkansas Teacher of the Year Pam England was also tabled.
An estimated $40,000 in cocaine was found hidden under a seat inside a vehicle stopped on Interstate 40 Tuesday morning by an officer with Arkansas State Police Troop D in Forrest City.
According to the arrest information, the trooper stopped the vehicle driven by Angel "Jone" Luis Delgado, 29, of Reading, Penn., near the 247 eastbound mile marker on I-40 about 10:30 a.m. to investigate the license on the car. After obtaining consent to search the car, the trooper found two kilos of cocaine in a compartment hidden beneath a rear seat.
Delgado and a passenger, Jennifer Salom-Mendez, 22, also of Reading, are charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Both were scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.
A convicted felon whose home was raided for drugs last week by officers with the Forrest City Police Department has been arrested.
Officers executed a search warrant on Dec. 8 at 723 Cherry St., the residence of Charles Hamlin, 37. Inside the home, police found two shotguns, .2 grams of crack cocaine and several items of drug paraphernalia, according to a press release.
Hamlin, who was not at home at the time of the raid, was arrested Tuesday on charges of two counts of possession of firearms by certain persons, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hamlin was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.
A Wal-Mart employee was injured while trying to stop alleged shoplifters Monday afternoon at the store on Deaderick Road.
The incident occurred just after 3 p.m., when two black male subjects were approached by Lisa Bryant, 38, of Jonesboro, a loss-prevention associate. Bryant told police she and another store employee were trying to stop the suspects when one of them pushed her to the ground before he fled behind the second suspect.
Bryant injured her arm when she fell to the ground, and an ambulance was called to the scene. She was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where she was treated and released. According to the police report, Bryant suffered a fracture to her right elbow.
The suspects allegedly stole two toboggans, a head band and a bottle of cologne. The items are valued at $58.
The investigation is continuing.