By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Municipal Sports Complex will receive three fire plugs, it was decided at Tuesday's city council meeting.
Mayor Larry Bryant said it had come to his attention that there were no fire plugs at the complex. The complex has a senior citizens center, a storage shed, several ball fields and concession stands. Future plans also call for a multi-purpose building.
Fire Chief Dan Curtner was at the meeting, and said he had discussed the issue with Jim Beazley, head of the water utility.
"We had a fairly long discussion on what would be the best way to go out there," said Curtner.
There are two possibilities. One, he said, is a six-inch line running on the east side of Washington Street.
"We could hook into that, bore under the highway, and lay a six inch line out to the complex to hook up to the plugs we were asking for," said Curtner. "He (Beazley) said that would be as costly, if not moreso, than the second proposal. And if there is any growth out there, it's not going to give you much water out there to sustain much growth."
The second proposal would utilize a 16-inch main on the north end of the property, that supplies the prison.
"He can tap into that, come down the back side of the property and come into the sports complex with an 8-inch line, which would be plenty to supply what we need and allow for continued growth," said Curtner.
Curtner said there would be one fire plug at the entrance, one about half way down, and a third at the back. He said the cost for materials had been estimated at about $35,000, and the Water Utility crews would do the work.
The council agreed to spend the $35,000 on the second option.
On another matter, the council passed a resolution adopting a written policy for the police department, prohibiting racial profiling. The policy is a requirement of Act 1207 of 2003 by the Arkansas Legislature.
"The law mandates that every law enforcement agency adopt a policy," said Alan Cline, city attorney. "The federal government may have mandated it to the state. But at any rate, we don't have any choice."
He said the policy is based mainly on a prototype recommended by the Arkansas Municipal League.
"The police department has looked at this and feels like it is a policy that is both lawful and can be complied with," said Cline.
In other action, the council approved another resolution condemning a structure at 208 S. Water.
On another subject, Bryant told the charge for all commercial enterprises, he had meant to include industries as well. He said because of the misunderstanding, industries were left out. He requested that they be included, at a cost of about $24,000. The vote to do this was unanimous. The city traditionally does this once a year.
As the meeting was about to close, Alderman Roy Hancock requested that the question of picking an architect for the Multipurpose Center be discussed.
The council met on Dec. 19 for the purpose of choosing the architect, but had bogged down in a discussion of whether to select the architect given the highest score by a selection committee, or whether to select a local architect with a lower score.
In the end, the vote was 3-3, with two council members absent.
On Tuesday, Hancock, who said he was unable to attend the Dec. 19 meeting, said he believed it was time to pick the architect.
Bryant said at one time the council was allowed to give local preference, but he said that practice was found to be unconstitutional.
No price was included in the architects' bids, which included only qualifications. Woods and Caradine of Little Rock received the highest score from the selection committee.
The discussion became heated at times.
Breeding said the local architect, Bob Beavers, "has already designed everything that's already out there without any cost to the city."
Hancock said he didn't know for a fact that Beavers had done this.
"This isn't the first thing he's built in Forrest City," said Hancock. "And like you say, he built some other stuff out there. You say he built it for no cost. We don't know that. We don't have it on paper or nothing like that. That's just what you said.
"We've been fighting over the last three, four or five years over building a multipurpose center. We changed everything around so everybody would be satisfied. Now we're approved to do it, and now we want to fuss over a contractor (architect)," Hancock continued.
Breeding said he still believes a local architect would be better.
"We just got through paying $24,000 worth of solid waste bills for the month of December for local people, to give people locally a a good taste in their mouth about the city government," said Breeding. "And you want to go outside the city of Forrest City to hire somebody to be an architect on something that's being built with city taxpayer dollars, that the taxpayers didn't even get to vote on."
After more discussion, the council agreed to a special meeting, to be held Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 5 p.m. Two items will be on the agenda -- the architect and the 2004 budget.
Cline explained to the council members that his law partner was the son of the local architect and offered to withdraw from the discussion. When no council member requested that he withdraw, Cline said that he would provide information on state statutes regarding the awarding of architect's contracts.
Roger Breeding requested that the budget be discussed line-by-line.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With a cold gust of wind welcoming students back to school this week, some are finding the temperatures in the classrooms to also be a little chilly.
Students and administrators at Forrest City High School have been dealt a chill this week as problems with the heating system have varied from room to room in the 30-year-old building. According to FCHS principal Abbie Robinson, the problems are nothing new for the building.
"This is something that we face every year, and we fix it as we can. There isn't one entire section of the building that is without heat, but we do have some hit and miss problems," Robinson said from an office she was using after suffering heating problems in her office this morning.
"I think that the major problem in this building is the fact that the building is 30 years old, and the heating and air conditioning units in the building came with the construction of the building," Robinson said.
FCSD Superintendent Lee Vent agreed with Robinson, and said that the district is looking at measures to remedy future problems with the units.
"We are in the process of trying to replace those units. The system at the high school came with the building, and it has two towers that regulate the heat in the building. One of the towers handles about two-thirds of the building, and the other tower covers the rest. Those units are expensive, at about $65,000 each, and we're looking to allocate funding to replace one this year and the other in the future. Our main focus this year, though, has been on getting the junior high school building up and running before we allocate any other funding," Vent said.
"While those towers need to be replaced, the bigger problem has been with the individual units in the classrooms. Right now, we have two units that are down in the library and the problem in the administration office at the high school, but we're working on getting those fixed," he said.
According to workers in the library, which has one operational unit for the space, the two units in question have been malfunctioning and detached from the wall since November.
Heating problems in the district are not however limited to the high school.
According to Forrest City Junior High School principal Billy Ferguson the new building is facing heating problems of its own. Ferguson said the new system at FCJHS has not been balancing heat properly in each room.
"Our boiler is working at about two-thirds of what it's supposed to be doing. They're trying to balance out the heating because I may have one room that's 80 degrees and another room might be at 60 degrees," Ferguson said.
Ferguson said the problems arose after administrators returned from the Christmas break.
"Everything was great before we left for Christmas, but when we came back we first noticed it. We kind of expected to have some problems since this is a new building, but we should get the kinks worked out," he said.
According to Vent, after a meeting this morning with building architect Bob Beavers, an engineer from the system manufacturer will be called in to fix the problem.
"The system at the junior high is all computerized and somewhere it just fell out of balance. I met with the architect this morning on the junior high, and we're going to call in an engineer from the company that installed the system to get it corrected," Vent said.
Elsewhere in the district, building principals said that any
heating issues they might have had have been addressed as they've
occurred.
The Youth Advisory Council, the youth arm of the St. Francis County Community Foundation, has announced its third grant cycle.
All established non-profit agencies in St. Francis County that serve youth and children are invited to apply by sending modest grant proposals to: YAC at P.O. Box 3002, Forrest City, AR 72336-3002.
Application forms are available by contacting the foundation office at 630-2400. Proposals must be postmarked by Feb. 4.
The YAC is a group of area students who make grants to non-profit organizations to meet the needs of children and young people. This is a diverse group of young people that includes eighth through 12th graders, representing all areas of St. Francis County. The organization offers its members the opportunity for the in-depth experiences of investing their own time and resources in their communities.
Previous grant recipients include the Forrest City High School Beta Club's "Every 15 Minutes" anti-alcohol program; Forrest City Jr. High's School Pride Committee for campus beautification; the St. Francis County Community Development Corp. for Summer Youth Leadership -- Community Beautification and Housing Renovation; and the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce Education Committee for the purchase of a reusable banner for the St. Francis County Career Expo.
Anyone wanting more information about applying for a grant or learning how to support the work of the Youth Advisory Council may also call the foundation office.
The St. Francis County Slimathon is back, and will kick off this year a fitness fair on Jan. 27, at Baptist Memorial Hospital--Forrest City in the education classroom located on the first floor.
Baptist Forrest City and the St. Francis County Farm Bureau Women's Committee are teaming up once again in effort to promote healthier lifestyles among county residents. The eight-week program will start with the initial weigh-in on Jan. 27, 2004 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and conclude with the final weigh-out on Tuesday, March 23, 2004.
Photo identification will be required for all participants at weigh-in and weigh-out. All information will remain confidential.
The Fitness Fair will feature representatives from area fitness centers and health organizations. Nutritional information will also be available to all participants, and door prizes will be given throughout the day.
Optional weekly weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays, beginning on Feb. 3, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Participants are encouraged to weigh each week near the same time with the same amount of clothing to get a more accurate account of weight loss. Participants may choose whether or not to wear shoes during weigh-ins, but that choice must remain consistent throughout the competition.
A recent study showed that 71 percent of St. Francis County residents are overweight or obese.
"The goal of the Slimathon is to promote optimal health and nutritional status among area residents in hopes of reducing that percentage," a press release stated. "Both sponsors encourage weight loss through a balanced low-calorie diet and increased energy expenditure. It is recommended that participants have a daily exercise plan and keep a food diary.
The weight lost during the event will be computed by percentage rather than by total pounds lost in order to keep the competition fair to all involved. Results of the contest will be announced after March 23, 2004.
Teams should consist of four to 10 people and descriptive names are encouraged. Each team member must pay $10. The total amount of money collected during the event will be divided equally among the winning team members.
A Hughes man is charged with first-degree battery following the stabbing of a Marianna man during a New Year's party near Hughes.
Joshua Mason Farmer, 21, was arrested Tuesday night at the St. Francis County Jail in connection with the stabbing of Tommy Butler Sr., 34.
Deputies reported Farmer was leaving the party just after midnight when he got into a fight with a woman in the front yard of the residence. When Butler attempted to intervene, the suspect allegedly made several swipes toward him with the knife, cutting Butler on his neck, left side and his buttocks. He was treated and released on Jan. 1 at the Med Center in Memphis.
Farmer was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.