By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A new endowment, honoring the memory of a local golf fan, was announced Tuesday night by the St. Francis County Community Foundation.
The Stevie Stevens Golf Endowment was announced during a program held at the Forrest City Civic Center.
"A few months ago, we lost a great representative, a great friend, a great person in the community," said Buddy Billingsley, chairman of the foundation. "He symbolized what many of us would like to be, and that is, he never met a stranger. He could talk to anyone, from the President of the United States to Buddy Billingsley. And we had many conversations about a lot of different things. But tonight we're going to announce a new endowment in memory of Stevie Stevens."
Billingsley said golf was one of the loves of Stevens' life. He said the purpose of the endowment "is to support and promote junior golf charities and add scholarship assistance to any individual who has participated in a junior golf program for three years."
Billingsley unveiled a portrait of Stevens. It was also announced that a golf tournament will be held May 28 in honor of Stevens' honor, with the proceeds going to support the endowment.
Also speaking was Pat Lile, CEO of the Arkansas Community Foundation, of which the local foundation is an affiliate. She said that the building of permanent funds is being recognized more and more as a good way to help the efforts of non-profit organizations.
Some of the other organizations, funds and foundations recognized during the program were the EACC Foundation, The Forrest City Education Foundation, the Cohn Foundation, the Lois Nimocks Beeson Library Endowment and the Joe Gattinger Forrest City Kiwanis Club Endowment.
Also recognized were some new funds which are on their way to be endowed, such as the Mary Gregg Loeb Animal Welfare Endowment and the Ralph Thompson Endowment for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The Times-Herald and radio station KXJK were also recognized for their work in publicizing the efforts of the foundation.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Discussion over the fates of the Civic Center caterer and the Civic Center Commission continued Tuesday before the Forrest City City Council, with something new in the mix -- a proposal by the Forrest City Advertising and Promotion Commission to basically take over the operation of the Civic Center.
The council heard second reading of an ordinance which would abolish the Civic Center Commission -- a move opposed by members of the commission and at least one council member, Cecil Twillie, who spoke against it at the previous council meeting. Council member Steve Hollowell requested the ordinance.
Third reading and a vote on that ordinance is scheduled for the next meeting.
There is also a proposal before the council to extend the current Civic Center caterer's contract to the end of the year. That has been requested by the caterer, Jim Hitchcock. Hitchcock has claimed that the Civic Center Commission has been slow in coming up with a new contract, and extending his contract would help make for a smoother transition. The contract expires at the end of May.
However, Willie Ann Ford, a member of the Civic Center Commission, spoke to the council. She said Hitchcock has been uncooperative with the commission.
"He also went ahead, with his contract expiring, and took some catering services (for after his contract expired)" said Ford. "And even though I was thinking that maybe we could extend his contract, I thought about those things and I knew that would not work."
She continued, "The thing that really concerns me is his unwillingness to try to work with the commission...So whether you accept or not what we have proposed for you, I would like for the record to show that I did not vote for him, because I don't think that he is willing to work with the city as a whole."
Mayor Larry Bryant reported that at the last Civic Center Commission meeting, which he attended, a tentative contract had been proposed, "based on North Little Rock and a couple of other places, which would not have an in-house, contracted caterer, per se, but caterers certified by the Health Department and others would have the option to use the Civic Center. I'm still looking at that one, and still looking at the old contract. There might be a possibility to come up with a little of both. That way you could have a caterer in-house, but also caterers who are certified could have access to utilize the facilities. I'm working on it as we speak."
The controversy became more complicated by the proposal presented by Mark Turner on behalf of the A&P Commission.
Under the written A&P proposal, the commission would "assist the city with the operation, administration and finances" of the Civic Center in the following ways:
* Handle and collect revenues.
* Review present rates and compare with other areas this size.
* Sanitation and building maintenance.
* Supervise Civic Center personnel.
* Kitchen catering.
* Review monthly expenses.
* Handle all bookings on premises with a qualified person to be employed and paid for by the A&P.
According to the proposal, the recommended structure would be as follows: Forrest City Mayor and Council; A&P Commission; and Civic Center personnel. There was no mention of the Civic Center Commission in the proposal.
Bryant said he and the council would need some time to absorb the proposal.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The break in a water main Saturday night that left Forrest Citians under a precautionary boil order headlined the monthly meeting of the Forrest City Water Utility Commission Tuesday evening.
The boil order, which was issued on Sunday, remains in effect today for parts of Forrest City and St. Francis County.
Jim Beazley, manager of the FCWU updated commissioners on several aspects of the situation that was a result of a "major blowout" of a 12-inch main near Forrest City Grocery.
"I've been here 31 years, and that is the first time that has happened," began Beazley. "We have had minor blowouts, but never on this scale. Our pumps to our elevated tank were sucking wind because all of the water on the ridge was gone due to the blowout. Another thing was that our million-six (the largest water storage tank in the FCWU system which can hold 1.6 million gallons of water) was shut down at the time because we are putting a new roof on it. That was a real killer. If the million-six had been on, it wouldn't have caused as much of a problem."
Beazley then offered a suggestion to commissioners that he said would help prevent another situation like this past weekend.
"This (blowout) brought up something that we have a need to do," said Beazley. "We had a study done on the system, and one thing it suggested was to have another 12-inch line that would run north and south so the water can feed both ways. It would help the ebb and flow of the system." According to Beazley, the study, a water distribution master plan, was completed in June of 2003, and it suggested running a line from Martin Luther King and Garland streets to help with water distribution.
"This is something that we might need to move to the front burner," added Beazley. "The estimated cost of the line is $100,000. If we extended the line, it would also open up the opportunity for another well on the south end."
The commission did not take any action on Beazley's suggestion for a new line.
Beazley then spoke about the precautionary boil order issued for residents east of Forrest Street and north of the Union Pacific Railroad to Interstate-40. That area also includes the Highway 1 area north of I-40, including Caldwell, the Newcastle Road area, Madison and Widener.
"The earliest that the Arkansas Department of Health said that we would know if we could lift the order was this afternoon, and they haven't contacted us yet," stated Beazley. "We were told that we would know by tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, and we hope to have it cleared up by then. Also we hope to learn from this so we will know better what to do if it ever happens again."
In a phone conversation late this morning, Beazley said the order had still not been lifted. "We had to take a water sample on two consecutive days and submit them to the ADH," said Beazley. "We did that on Sunday and Monday. Once the ADH gets back with us, we will know."
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The city council was asked Tuesday to call a special election to shift some funds to the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce.
Randy Pearson, who recently took office as Chamber president, presented the proposal to the council.
If the council approves the election and the proposal passes, $125,000 a year for four years would be transferred from the city's share of the county solid waste sales tax.
"It means no new tax for the city," said Pearson. "All it does is transfer funds from one pocket to another.
"I feel, the Chamber feels, that Forrest City can go forward with economic development," Pearson said. "It would really help if this were brought before the people (and it passed), to show industrial prospects that the whole city is behind this."
The money would also help the Chamber to attract and hire someone to replace Danny Ferguson, who is leaving as executive director of the Chamber at the end of the month.
"This will give us some money to put in a war chest," he said. "It will also give us money to hire a great economic developer to come in and help us. There are just numerous things we can do. Things that have happened in Forrest City, like Boar's Head and the prison -- things like that don't just happen. There is a whole lot of work."
Alderman Cecil Twillie asked for some examples of what the Chamber would do with the money.
"We get 20 to 30 calls a day from people looking at the area," Pearson said. "We send out packages to show what advantages there are to using in this area."
Twillie asked if the Chamber was already doing things like that now, and Pearson said it is, but only barely. "The Chamber is operating on a shoestring," he said.
Dr. John Alderson also spoke, saying that at present, the Chamber doesn't always have the funds even to attend trade shows to which it has been invited.
Council member Roger Breeding said he liked the idea of asking voters to make the decision concerning their own tax money.
Mayor Larry Bryant said the idea sounded good, but he also said the Chamber would need to remember that if such a thing happened, funding would be for four years only. He said that there are enough extra solid waste funds now, but he said the cost can be expected to increase over time. Bryant also said he would encourage the Chamber to continue working with existing industry.
Breeding joked that, "It's almost scary when Larry and I agree on something," but said he agreed with Bryant's comments on existing industry.
No action was taken on the proposal. City Attorney Alan Cline was asked to find out the legalities involved in transferring solid waste money in the manner proposed.
In other business, the council heard first reading of an ordinance amending the 2004 budget. The budget as proposed requires that $44,812 be transferred from the city's reserves. It had been reported that the deficit was $600,000. After the meeting, Bryant explained that the money in question was separate and to be used for one-time-only expenses, such as equipment being purchased out of reserves.
In other action, the council heard second reading of an ordinance to adjust fees for out of town fires and rescue runs and second reading of an ordinance to amend the current law on penalties for repeated errors or malfunctions in alarm systems.
Bid openings were also held for uniforms. Gadberry Sporting Goods of Forrest City, Wynne Sports World and Mohr Sports of Wynne submitted bids. The bids will be studied.
There were no bids received for gravel, asphalt and road materials.
Bids were also opened for safety lighting equipment at the Forrest City Municipal Airport. There were seven bids received, the apparent lowest of which was $38,802, from Stuttgart Electric. The bids were turned over to Dan Clinton, a consulting engineer working with the Airport Commission.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Quorum Court unanimously agreed Tuesday to a measure which will ensure the financial solvency of the county's trust fund for the near future.
By an 11-0 margin, justices voted to replenish the balance in the trust fund on Dec. 31, to equal the amount it was on Jan. 1 of the same year. According to the ordinance, on Dec. 31, of this year, the balance in the trust account will equal $471,944.59. The ordinance also read that the balance should equal at least that amount until the ordinance is repealed or amended.
In other business, justices agreed to changes in titles for the employees of the St. Francis County Museum. According to Museum Board chairman Anita Widby, the changes in title are necessary for the museum to apply for certain grants. The title of current museum director Laura Mazzanti will now be Executive Director and museum business manager Brenda Fort will now be Business Manager/Education Coordinator.
Justices also agreed to look into a requested increase in salaries for Mazzanti and Fort at the next meeting of the county's personnel committee.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco and County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, both employees are scheduled to be included in the 3 percent across-the-board pay raise for all county employees scheduled to be implemented on April 1. The letter to justices requested an increase in Mazzanti's salary from $10 per hour to $12 per hour and an increase for Fort from $9.33 per hour to $10 per hour.
A 29-year-old Forrest City man is being held on a $25,000 cash only bond for an alleged kidnapping, rape and burglary that occurred late Monday.
According to a press release from the Forrest City Police Department, Oma James, 714 Hickey St., Forrest City, was arrested Tuesday, on charges of rape, burglary and kidnapping involving his 23-year-old estranged girlfriend.
Police reported James allegedly broke into the apartment of the woman, who is the mother of two of his children, about midnight Monday, and he remained in the residence until close to 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The woman allegedly heard James outside of her window and attempted to call 911 but the telephone line was dead. According to the report, FCPD officers later found that the telephone line had been cut. After entering the apartment, James forced the victim to have sexual intercourse.
Three children were in the apartment at the time of the assault, but none of them were injured according to the report. James was later apprehended at the home of his brother on Buford Street about noon Tuesday.