Members of the East Arkansas Delta Regional Airport Authority received the news last night on the prospect of a regional airport between St. Francis and Cross counties, and the news was good according to officials with Garver Engineers.
According to EADRAA chairman Dr. John Kerr, a recent finding from the Federal Aviation Administration will now allow the project to move into the next stages of the feasibility study.
"We have a very favorable look from the FAA on this project and the FAA is saying that a regional airport for this area is feasible. There had to be some tweaking and some overhauling on the original presentation but we're on track to where we need to be," said Kerr.
According to Mike Stengel with Garver, several changes to the original presentation had to be made to suit officials with the FAA. According to Stengel the hands on approach that FAA supervisor Lana Logan has taken is a positive.
"We made our first presentation in November and Lana wanted us to show the actual need for the airport. We originally put together a survey that was sent to business and industries in Wynne. We sent the survey's only in Wynne because the FAA said that they already had the information necessary for the Forrest City area," said Stengel.
"We later had to go back and do the same thing in Forrest City because the FAA could not find the survey information for Forrest City. We also surveyed all of the pilots with registered airplanes in the area to see what their needs would be. Compiling all of that information is what has caused the delay between us getting information back to you, but we've gotten the FAA's response and they have told us to move forward with the next three stages in this first phase of the study," Stengel said.
According to Stengel, the next phase in the study will consist of taking the compiled forecast information and making determinations on several issues including the necessary runway size. At this point, no area has been selected for the site of the airport. Site selection will be the major portion of the next stage in the process which should begin next year.
Kerr also commented on the positive aspects of Logan's hands on approach.
"We're kind of floating to the top of the FAA's list. We're making progress because we're working with the FAA's blessing and Lana Logan is taking a hands on position on our project. With her involvement, she's making sure that we have all of our i's dotted and our t's crossed and that will only help us in the long run," Kerr said. In other business, Kerr notified board members that the EADRAA is now listed on the federal registry which authorizes the board to now accept grants and gives them federal and state recognition. The next meeting of the EADRAA is planned for Thursday, April 29, at 6:30 p.m. in Forrest City.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City School District is one of several contacted by the Lake View School District about the possibility of administrative consolidation.
Locally, Superintendent Lee Vent said there might not be time for the school board even to give the proposal a fair consideration.
There is just a week left before an April 1 deadline for petitions for voluntary consolidation to be submitted to the state Department of Education.
The school district that helped spark Arkansas' education debate, tiny Lake View School District sent invitations to school districts much larger than the ones that have already turned it down Thursday. Besides Forrest City, it sent letters to Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Marion seeking to be administratively annexed.
Contacted this morning, Vent said the Lake View proposal, while exciting, is legal.
"New legislation does allow districts to not be contiguous," Vent said. "And while that has not been a major issue yet, I do understand the plight of smaller districts in that regard."
Vent said the administrative functions might be able to be absorbed efficiently. However, he said the idea of absorbing a faraway district academically would require a lot of technology.
"Certainly with the advent of distance technology and things of that nature, I can see where it might be worked out," he said. "It would be a matter of taking the mountain to the people rather than taking the people to the mountain, so to speak."
However, Vent added that the time is too brief.
"It would be a logistical challenge, and I cannot speak on behalf of my board," he said. "We wouldn't mind hearing what they have got to offer, but we just can't do that by April 1."
Vent also said the Forrest City district is under a federal court order, which might affect consolidation.
Lake View is one of 57 school districts with fewer than 350 students that must consolidate or annex by July 1 under Act 60 of 2004. Lake View has about 160 students.
Scott Smith, an attorney with the Education Department, said a petition to annex districts some 300 miles apart would be legal under Act 60. But he would not gauge its feasibility.
The law says districts that do not share borders may voluntarily consolidate if the state Board of Education approves and finds that the merger will result in the overall improvement in the educational benefit to students in all of the school districts involved.
Act 60, the Public Education Reorganization Act, was passed in January in partial response to the state Supreme Courts November 2002 ruling declaring the states system for funding its 308 school districts inequitable, inadequate and, as a result, unconstitutional.
The Lake View district was the lead-plaintiff district in the 1992 class-action lawsuit that accused the state of inequitable funding of public schools and resulted in the state Supreme Court order.
Lake View Superintendent Clausey Myton said the district sought mergers with the Marvell, Barton-Lexa and Helena-West Helena school districts, all of which border Lake View, but all those districts rejected Lake View. Only the Elaine School District is left as a possible mate, and Myton said last month that the Lake View School Board was not enamored with that idea.
''My board is not interested at this point in going to Elaine,'' he said. ''They think Elaine is more isolated than (Lake View).
Elaine, one of the two school districts taken over by the Education Department in 2002 because of chronically low test scores, has not agreed to a merger with Lake View. Myton said Lake View has been against consolidation from the beginning, and district leaders have repeatedly asked that the state provide more resources to small school districts.
Districts that fail to submit petitions to the Education Department before Thursday will have their partners chosen for them by the Education Board.
Regan Hill of Forrest City announced today that he is a candidate for reelection to the St. Francis County Quorum Court from District 7.
In 1993, Hill was elected to the quorum court. In the time since he has served on the Personnel Committee and is presently serving on the Building Committee, the Budget Committee and the Transportation Mall Board.
"While serving on the Quorum Court, I have tried to listen to the citizens of District 7 and work with all the citizens of St. Francis County to make our county a better place to live," said Hill. "We have been able to accomplish several things over the past years. The establishment and growth of the Northeast Arkansas Recycling Co., paving projects, equipment purchases and at the same time being able to maintain and substantial amount of county reserve. It is my goal and hope of the entire court to continue moving the county forward and provide the citizens with their necessary needs and at the same time keep the county financially sound.
"I would like to thank the citizens of District 7 for the support they have shown in the past, and I would appreciate their continued support in the upcoming election," Hill said.
A Forrest City native, Hill is married to the Former Carla Collins, a teacher in the Forrest City Public Schools. They have two sons, Collin Benjamin Hill and Jon Ball, and one daughter, Jaynee Claire Hill. They are members of First Baptist Church. Hill is employed by Stevens Funeral Home and is co-owner of H and H Monument Company.
St. Francis County Assessor Craig Jones has announced his intention to run for reelection for the office. He will be seeking his third term in the Democratic Primary, which will be held May 18.
Jones, a lifelong resident of St. Francis County, was elected assessor in 2000 and began serving his first term in January of 2001. Prior to his election Jones worked in the assessor's office for eight years as an assessor.
Jones is a Level Four Senior Appraiser and is in the group of only 27 assessors out of 75 in Arkansas to obtain this certification.
During his tenor as assessor, Jones implemented several changes to the office. For taxpayer convenience he combined the real estate and personal property offices. He has worked to keep taxpayers informed of the changes and deadlines that take place in the assessment of taxes by notifying the local media of upcoming deadlines and mandates. On several nights each year Jones and his staff open to office to answer questions that working taxpayers may have but do not have to the opportunity to cal or come by during normal business hours.
Jones said he has saved the taxpayers of St. Francis County about $88,000 over a five-year period, through negotiations of the current reappraisal contract.
Jones added, I will continue to look for ways to run the office efficiently while saving taxpayers' money."
Jones and his staff have processed more than 5,800 tax credits. These credits give taxpayers a $300 tax credit on their real estate taxes. They also recorded more than 1,200 "value freezes" to taxpayers who are over 65 years old or totally disabled.
Jones complimented the staff for dedication and hard work.
"I am truly blessed to have such a knowledgeable and experience staff. They know how to do their jobs and they do it with eagerness and compassion. It is a pleasure to work in this office," he said.
Jones also said that "with the generosity of the Quorum Court and with help from the State of Arkansas, implemented a mapping program for the county."
This program will draw the boundaries of every parcel of taxable property in the county on a digital aerial map. The information will give taxpayers a better idea of what they are paying taxes on, and will allow people who are looking for small tracts land a better chance to find them.
Jones added, "I am very excited about our mapping program. This is an area of the office I felt was far below its potential as compared to the rest of the state. As it stands right now, to locate the exact owners of small tracts of property consumes much time and effort on the part of the staff and me. When this program is complete we will be able to pinpoint small tracts of property and locate the owners within minutes."
Jones is married to the former Niki Russell and they have two children, Cooper, 4, and Carter, 2. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church and a Democrat.
Jones said, "I would like to thank the voters of St. Francis County for allowing me to serve as assessor for the past three and a half years. I truly love my job and I enjoy coming to work each day." Jones continued, "I will always be fair and impartial and work hard for all the citizens of St. Francis County. I will continue to keep the computer system in the St. Francis County Assessor's Office up to date. I will also continue to look for new and better ways to incorporate computer technology with our current database so we can in turn make the office more helpful to more people."
Jones added, "The doors of the assessor's office are always open to all of the public and I welcome any questions that you may have about your taxes. I will continue to listen to your concerns and I will be there to help o when I can."
He concluded, "I would like to take this time to humbly ask the citizens of St. Francis County for their vote and continued support on May 18. Together we can keep St. Francis County moving forward."
Forrest City Police are investigating two commercial burglaries and an attempted commercial burglary which were reported one Thursday and Friday.
The attempted burglary took place sometime Wednesday evening at O'Reilly's Auto Parts, located at 901 E. Broadway. An apparent attempt had been made to break into the building. Pry marks were found along the edge of a door frame and glass/metal panel.
The second burglary was reported Friday morning, at Forrest City Muffler, located at 603 N. Washington. A wall of the business was knocked out, and apparently had been hit by a vehicle. All that was reported missing at the time was about $15 in change.
Also reported Friday morning was a burglary at Gray's Service Station on 1027 N. Washington. The front door glass was knocked out with a brick. Taken was an electronic cash register and about $75 in the register.