By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
After two weeks of working under self-imposed budget cutbacks, the St. Francis County Road Department has decreased its deficit of more than $400,000 by about $35,000.
In May, St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco presented a plan to members of the St. Francis County Budget Committee which called for the road department to cut its spending nearly $73,000 per month for the remainder of the year.
On Tuesday, committee members received their first update since the cuts were established. According to a report from St. Francis County Treasurer Ann Harbin, the May ending balance for the road department put the department in the red to the tune of $394,947.36, which is a difference of $35,460.55 in comparison with the April ending balance of $430,407.91.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the new budget, along with more revenue and an additional appropriation at the end of the year, will allow the department to be on the positive side by year's end.
"Basically, what we have is a cash flow problem. We don't have as much revenue at the beginning of the year, but we have things that still have to be done. With this new budget and the increased revenue, when the tax funding changes everything will work itself out," Cisco said.
After Cisco's explanation, Justice Evans Seawood questioned the spending practices of not only the road department but also NEARCO.
"I don't understand why the road department and NEARCO down there always have to be running in the negative. The sheriff's office has had to cut back, and Bette Green's office has had to cut back, but I don't see the road department having to cut back. I'd like to know where all this money is being spent, and I'd like to know who's getting all of this money. I spend the money for my church, and I have to have a receipt for every dime I spend. The people of my district chose to put me back on this court for Sanother two years, and I'm going to see to it that I find out what's going on in those departments for them to always be in the red," Seawood said. "It's our job to appropriate the money for the county, and I don't understand why the road department has to be over its appropriation."
Cisco responded. "Mr. Seawood, you're more than welcome to come up here anytime and take a look at the records of any of the county departments. If you let us know specifically what you're wanting to see, we can have it ready for you, but as I've said, this is basically a cash flow problem, and the changes we've made along with the appropriation at the end of the year and the increased revenue when the formula changes, next month you're going to continue to see everything balance itself out."
According to the account balances at the end of May, while the road department has a negative balance, NEARCO had a balance of $104,612.39. Also, records from Cisco's office indicate the current appropriations spending for the year stand at just over $970,000. The budget appropriation for the year is $1,227,976.77 with an additional $250,000 appropriation scheduled for later in the year.
This morning it was learned that each justice of the peace is provided a list of expenditures each month from St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith's office. Those lists include payroll and fringes, along with spending for items such as gravel or hauling fees. The lists do not include who the actual checks were made out to, according to Smith.
In other business, the committee approved a plan from St. Francis County Circuit Clerk Bette Green which will transfer up to $75,000 from accounts earmarked to benefit Green's office to the county's general account to help pay for salaries and give pay raises to some employees in Green's office. Justices voted unanimously to recommend the plan to the full court.
The committee did not discuss a proposal from the St. Francis
County Museum seeking funding for a summer intern after officials
with the museum did not appear before the committee.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The 21st annual Mightymite is on schedule and as in year's past will include a swimming start at Village Creek State Park, according to Wyndell Robertson, president of May Memphis, Inc. and director of the Mightymite Triathlon.
The event will be held on Saturday, July 17.
Robertson attended a meeting of the Forrest City Advertising and Promotions Commission on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Robertson, the annual triathlon was in jeopardy due to construction at Village Creek State Park which prohibits the use a of beach area for the event. After a meeting Tuesday with Mike Brawner, with Village Creek, a decision was made to utilize a second boat dock located at Lake Dunn.
"I don't know why it did, but it just came to me that when I was a kid and we'd go out to Village Creek, there was another dock where you could go and rent canoes and buy bait. That dock isn't used that much anymore, and when we talked to Mike he agreed that it could be used and we could still start the event out there," said commissioner Mark Turner.
According to Robertson, the event should bring in close to the same number of competitors as last year.
"The fact that we weren't sure that we were going to be able to have a swim portion of the race slowed us down a little bit, but a lot of our participation normally comes in late. We're expecting to have at least 300 here again this year with the numbers starting to increase next year," said Robertson.
In other business, local artist Kathi Martin gave commissioners an update on the status of the newest mural, which will be located on Hill Street. Martin presented commissioners with a drawing of the mural along with pictures showing her progress.
"I've started on the eagle and everything is going great. It's my plan to have this one finished by July 4, and it will be done by then. I really think people will enjoy the patriotic theme that we're going with, and it will really stand out when you drive past it," Martin said.
Plans for the mural include an American Flag theme with an eagle flying underneath the flag.
Brad Beavers, representing the St. Francis County Museum, also spoke to commissioners Tuesday. According to Beavers, work at the Museum, which will include several improvements, has been rebid after a technicality caused previous bids to be thrown out by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Commission members also agreed to table a request from the St. Francis County Branch of the NAACP until their July meeting. Commission chairman Kem Merrill questioned whether funding could legally be given to civic organizations.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Caldwell residents will soon be paying a little more for water, starting probably with their July bills.
The city council on Tuesday adopted an ordinance to increase the water charges.
The increase will see the minimum rate go from $8.05 a month to $9.50 a month. This also includes the first four units (one unit is defined as 748 gallons). After the first four units, under the old rates, $1 per unit was added. Under the new rates, $1.15 per unit will be added after the first four units.
As an example, a person using 10 units of water under the old rate would pay a total, after tax, of $15.17. Using the new rate schedule, that same person will pay $17.71.
Mayor Gary Hughes said the increase was necessary.
"The increase is needed because our reserve funds have nearly been depleted in our water department," he said. "And we know that our water lines are getting older. And if we have any major repairs, or replacement of any kind of lines, which we're expecting -- we know of several areas where we need to replace some lines -- then we've got to have some funds to do that work."
He added that Caldwell hasn't had a water rate increase in more than 20 years, and he also said the increase is not a large one.
"A couple of dollars a month is all I can see that people's water bill will increase," he said.
The ordinance also establishes a connection fee of $300 for residential customers and $500 for commercial customers. It further provides that "any person or entity using water for fire fighting may pay a fee of $350 for residential house fires, or $500 for commercial fires."
"Our current policy is, we don't charge inside the city, we just charge outside the city," said Hughes.
On another matter, Hughes told the group that someone from the Soil Conservation Service had looked at the bridge on Good Hope Road, and had advised against putting a culvert there. A culvert had been discussed at the last meeting.
"It was going to take three of the biggest culverts we could get," he said. "It would make the project much more expensive."
Hughes said he has gotten a "ballpark" estimate on what the cost of simply repairing the bridge pilings and possibly putting in some riprap to stabilize the embankment. That ballpark figure is $15,000.
Hughes also reported that work has begun on Woods, Ross and
Webb roads. He said the cost will run about $10,000, which is
more than anticipated.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The state of a pair of roofs at the St. Francis County Courthouse were the center of attention Tuesday during a meeting of the St. Francis County Courthouse Building Improvement Committee.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the specifications on work to replace the roof at the St. Francis County Jail have been completed by architect Bob Beavers.
"Right now, the jail has got to be our priority. I haven't heard anything from the sheriff, but we know that we have to get that roof replaced, and soon. The patch work we did has held up, but that's only going to hold on for so long. We have had Bob Beavers draw up the specifications for that work, and we expect to get on that soon," Cisco said.
While specifications on the jail are complete, Cisco told committee members that the courthouse roof has shown signs of improvement with the patching that has been done.
"This portion of the building appears to be in good shape. We were able to finally find the leak that had been causing us the majority of our problems, and we've gotten it patched. Everything has been holding up pretty well, and once we've taken care of the jail then we may come back and revisit this roof," he said.
Justice Sam Armstrong questioned Cisco on the status of lighting for one of the courthouse parking areas and when paving work might begin on a second parking lot. According to Cisco, the lighting issue will be addressed once a sign has been installed on the parking lot at the intersection of Cross and Forrest Streets.
"As far as paving is concerned, we've had to wait on the parking lot behind the jail because of the weather, and that should be started soon. Right now, we're not going to pave the new parking lot on Cross Street until a decision is made on what is going to be done with the house over there," Cisco said.
Cisco also told justices that lighting has been added to the
flagpoles at the courthouse.
The ballots have arrived for the August special election regarding Forrest City using a portion of its solid waste sales tax revenue for industrial development.
Bettye Proctor, with the St. Francis County Election Commission, said the ballots have arrived in plenty of time for early voting on the issue for which election officials anticipate a very low turnout.
Proctor said the ballots arrived this morning for the election which will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 3.
St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith said early voting for the special election will be held during normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. beginning on Monday, July 19.
The St. Francis County Cooperative Extension Service is sponsoring a summer day camp for children ages eight to 13.
The camp, CSI Forrest City (Character and Science Investigations), will begin on Monday, June 14, and continue through Aug. 6, at the Forrest City Community Voices Center at 426 S. Division in Forrest City. The camp will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. daily.
"Health Rocks" and "Character Counts" curricula will be used along with fun, interactive games, drills, competitions and supervised recreational activities, according to Stephanie Bryant, camp organizer and SFC Extension Agent-Family and Consumer Sciences.
Applications for the day camp will be accepted at the FCCVC on Thursday and Friday, June 10 and 11, from 1 to 6 p.m. For more information about the camp, contact Bryant at 870-633-8799 or 870-261-1730.
The office of U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor announced today that his staff will travel in his mobile office to Forrest City and Marianna on Thursday, June 17, in an effort to reach and help constituents in Arkansas.
Mobile Office staffers are trained to assist constituents who may be having problems with the Veterans Administration, Medicare, Social Security and other services involving the federal government.
"My Mobile Office helps me to better serve Arkansas by keeping me closely informed about the concerns and problems residents are having in every county, every city, and every town and community," Pryor said in a press release.
The schedule on the 17th will be as follows:
*9:30 - 11 a.m. -- St. Francis County Courthouse, Quorum Courtroom, 313 South Izard Street, Forrest City.
*12:30 - 2 p.m. -- Lee County Courthouse, Courtroom, 15 East Chestnut Street, Marianna.