By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Two pieces of property which have been the cause of some complaints from nearby residents were offered for sale to the City of Forrest City on Tuesday.
The properties are Snyder's and the adjacent 501 Logistics. Terry Vienna of 501 Logistics and Martin Snyder of Snyder's were at Tuesday's city council meeting to make the offer to sell.
No monetary figure has been mentioned yet. The 501 Logistics property has a large building on it. Snyder's is a scrap metal business.
Vienna told the council that several of the neighbors have said they would like to see the property cleaned up.
Alderman Roger Breeding asked if the present owners would be the ones to clean up the property.
Snyder said the above-ground items would be taken care of. However, Vienna said there might be a problem with that.
"Both Martin and I have suffered people dumping refrigerators, appliances, toilets, on both of our properties," said Vienna. "Martin does not handle that. It is not a junkyard, it is a metal recycling yard. He's in the same condition that I'm in. Neither one of us is prepared to handle this illegal dumping happening on our land...If you're talking about cleaning that up, I would have to sit down and talk to you folks about what that means," Vienna said.
Alderman Cecil Twillie said he has received complaints from area residents, and would like to see the area cleaned up.
"It's been on my wish list for several years now," Twillie said.
There are also some environmental concerns about oil and perhaps other things which may have seeped into the ground over the years. Mayor Larry Bryant suggested caution, because of potential expense, because if the city buys the property it could be responsible for any environmental cleanup.
"You can bankrupt a small city like Forrest City if something were to be found," said Bryant. "That isn't to say there's anything there. It's been there longer than I have. Back in past years we didn't have the EPA looking down our throats."
A committee was suggested. Aldermen Twillie, Roy Hancock and Steve Hollowell were appointed. Twillie suggested that someone from Ward 1 also be on the committee and it was agreed.
"You've got a committee. Good luck," said Bryant. He suggested the committee look over the property, and also see what resources might be available, "and then we'll see if we can afford to purchase it or not."
On another matter, City Attorney Alan Cline told the council he had gotten a call from the state, requesting clarification of its ordinance on sales tax collections. At question is whether a purchase of several computers at once should be considered as one big purchase, or whether each computer should be considered a separate purchase.
The reason this is important is that if it is considered one single purchase, the sales tax cap comes into play, and sales tax is paid only on the first $2,500. If each computer is considered a separate purchase, full sales tax can be charged on each individual computer.
City Clerk Marie Todd said this has also come up with other items. Breeding also said it has come up with furniture purchases.
Twillie and Breeding both said they believed the computers should be considered separate purchases. Cline said he would prepare an amendment to the ordinance.
"The question came to us from the state," said Cline. "They say that different cities, different counties, different entities do it different ways. They're going to do what we tell them to do."
In other action, only one bid was received for a water slide at South Side Pool. The bid, from Jancour, Inc., was for $101,400. The bid will be studied.
The council also gave Bryant permission to bid on pesticide for the mosquito program and playground equipment for South Side Park. Both votes were unanimous.
However, the council split on giving permission to bid out fencing and a security gate for the municipal airport. Voting yes were John Gadberry, Twillie, Louise Fields and Hancock. Voting no were Breeding, Hollowell and Brent Ponder. Mary Jeffers was absent.
On another matter, Ponder requested that the Forrest City Civic
Center, particularly the catering contract, be put on the agenda
for the next council meeting.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Employees in St. Francis County Clerk Bette Green's office will have to wait another month to find out if they will receive a raise.
On Tuesday, Green presented a proposal to the Quorum Court which would transfer $62,000 to the county's general account from two special accounts set up by the state to fund administrative costs in the circuit clerk's office. According to Green, salaries are considered among administrative costs and the funding would cover the pay increases for employees in her office.
"A few years ago I cut a position in my office when we were asked to make cuts. Since then, I have not refilled that position, but due to the loss of an employee, the other employees were asked to take on a greater workload. The workload has also increased because we have added other responsibilities and duties to the positions. Through this, the employees have continued to work diligently. Our employees are the greatest asset to the county, and anyone who has devoted their career to the county should be rewarded for that devotion," Green said.
"I just want to make sure that it's clear that this is not money that is coming from county general. This will be funded from a pair of automation accounts and the office has been able to save this money. Now we're looking to put some of it to use while offsetting some of the costs to county general through this transfer," Green said.
Last week, Green presented her plan to members of the St. Francis County Budget Committee who voted to recommend the plan to the full court. On Tuesday, one of those members questioned whether giving one set of employees a second raise for the year would be fair.
"I know that I voted for this raise last week, but I'm kind of frowning on giving a second raise above and beyond the 3-percent raise that we just gave a few months ago. If we approve this, we will be giving those employees a second raise in just a matter of months. We voted to give a 3-percent across-the-board raise, and now we're looking to increase their salaries even more. We have 95 employees of the county, and I just don't see how we can give five a raise and not give it to all of them. That's just not fair, and I'm for whatever is fair. What are the other employees going to say if we do this?" asked Justice Evans Seawood.
Justice Regan Hill defended the request, suggesting that justices keep Green's past requests in mind.
"I believe it was six years ago that Mrs. Green lost the position of Chief Deputy in her office, and in that time she has not replaced the position. Because of that, she has saved the county approximately $30,000 per year or a total of around $180,000. I think we need to keep that in consideration when we look at this request, and we also need to remember that as far as I can remember, Mrs. Green has never come before this court requesting things that she felt she didn't need," said Hill.
Justices will revisit the questions on the raise in their July meeting after St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco told them that an ordinance would have to be drawn up in order to approve the matter. The ordinance would include a clause which would make the raises retroactive to July 1. All employees of the county received a 3-percent pay raise which went into effect on April 1.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
A grant resolution was approved Monday night by the Hughes City Council that will be used to secure funds to purchase equipment and make the police station more accessible to the handicapped.
"We have a grant resolution from the Enterprise Community," Mayor Donnie Mooney told the council. "We asked for $45,000, and it is a 25/75 split grant. The money will be spent on a police vehicle, airbags for the fire department and to make the police station handicapped accessible."
City attorney Jerry Roberts added that the remodeling for handicapped accessibility needs to be done. "There is an organization that has been touring the state looking at buildings," said Roberts. "They are checking to see if they are handicapped accessible. I don't know that they are coming to Hughes, but they will file a lawsuit if the building is not accessible." The members voted unanimously to pass the grant resolution.
Mooney also told the council that Hughes is one step closer to having towers for cellular phones placed in the city.
"We have contacted Nextel (a cellular phone service provider) and told them of our situation," said Mooney. The city in recent months joined TowerLink America, an organization that helps provide cell towers to small communities.
"We emailed them and told them that we want to place the towers on our water towers," continued Mooney. "We would lease the placement of the towers. We received a response from Nextel, and they said that we are a potential site for a new tower. They said that they would take a look at the sites and if there are no problems they will contact us for more information."
Before adjourning, Mooney offered an update on two of the city's summer programs. "We started the summer feeding program on June 7," stated Mooney. "We have had a lot of children come out, and it has been a great success so far.
"Another thing we do each summer is hire some area teenagers to do different jobs," continued Mooney. "We hire them for about a week or two and pay them minimum wage for 40 hours of work. We are trying to put a little money in their pockets so they can buy things they need for school in the fall. If you know of any children who are interested in working with the city, contact us at city hall."
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Water Commission heard from manager Jim Beazley about several projects that he would like to get under way this summer and fall.
Beazley offered a plan to place a new water line on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. "We have Paul Gunn (a local engineer) looking at the line on MLK that would run over to Grant Street. I'd like to put a 16-inch line through there to help the system flow better.
"I would like to lay a line on Newcastle near the old St. Francis County dam to Barrow Hill. It costs us a lot to operate that pump out there (on Barrow Hill). Not only does it cost us money, but it is inefficient and inconveniently located.
"Another project would be running a line from Chapel Ridge (apartments) and Baptist Memorial Hospital," continued Beazley. "That way the hospital will be on double feed, and the hospital will be on the elevated feed. It won't be fed from both ends at one time, but there will be a valve that will switch them from elevated to low feed. That will help them if there is a problem with the system."
Beazley then offered two other lines he said he feels need to be placed. "One of the main things I would like to get done would be a big line from Forrest Street to Broadway," stated Beazley. "We need to get that line out of the highway. That will allow us to do maintenance on the line without having to ask the highway department. We want to run the line from Wolf Street, and we will need to run it under the sidewalk.
"Another project is a line from the prison to the ballpark (the Forrest City Sports Complex)," continued Beazley. "The city will be paying for that. They want to provide better fire protection and water supply out there.
"I'd like to do these projects all at once," said Beazley. "That way, maybe it will cost less. But these are our goals for the summer and fall."
The Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute will holds its 2004 graduation on Friday, June 18, at 7 p.m., at the Forrest City Civic Center.
According to officials at CRTI, nearly 200 students will be awarded degrees, along with the recognition of the 13 outstanding students in each department.
The top students in each program are: Accounting Office Technology- Leslie Hagler, Administrative Office Technology- Summer Taylor, Auto Body- Joshua Hendrick, Auto Service Repair- Hunter Geisler, basic Drafting- Ashley Cheney, Computer Repair and Networking- Willie Ryland, Cosmetology- Ashley Bokker, Electronic Technology- Charles Aldridge, Industrial Equipment Technology- Bobby Adamson, Major Appliance- Leon Gadberry, Practical Nursing- Amanda McLeod, Residential Construction Carpentry- Barbara Moorman and Welding- Larry Haggins.