By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The long-awaited opening of the Forrest City western bypass became a reality today, as state and local officials, along with invited guests and members of the general public attended a ribbon cutting, officially opening the northern leg.
The opening was held on the overpass where the bypass crosses Interstate 40.
The 8.34-mile bypass is a two-lane facility which cost a little more than $26 million. The bypass is two-lane, but right of way has been purchased for four lanes, and according to Buddy Benafield, chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission, the bypass will be widened when traffic volume warrants it.
Several people spoke before the ribbon cutting.
"We're certainly pleased that all of you have come out on this windy day," said Dan Flowers, director of the state Highway and Transportation Department, who introduced the speakers. "We're here for an event that's been a long time coming and that you're really pleased with."
Flowers introduced Buddy Benafield, Highway Commission chairman.
"I've had the honor and the privilege of serving as your commissioner now for over 12 years," said Benafield. "I want to assure you it has been a wonderful experience. I will be going off in January...I enjoy as much today these ribbon cuttings and seeing things completed. In fact, that's the reason I excepted this appointment by (then) Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. When you serve on this commission, you really have the opportunity to be in on the beginning and again at the end."
Benafield continued, "In November of last year, we opened about half the project (south leg) so you could start using the section from Highway 70 to Highway 1. And today we open the rest of the project.
"Being a farmer, I travel these roads over here a lot. I know the importance of getting truck traffic around your city instead of through your town. I'm sure this project will help improve traffic with much more safety.
"I want you to know this is more than just an eight-mile bypass. This bypass plays a large role in development of the Highway 1 corridor, connecting Jonesboro and Helena."
Then he told about how the bypass will be four-lane someday.
State Sen. Steve Higginbothom, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, reiterated that the bypass is "a very, very big piece of the Highway 1 corridor. And this is going to be not only beneficial for getting congestion out of Forrest City, but to Marianna, Wynne and Jonesboro."
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant called the opening of the bypass a positive thing for the city.
"Isn't this a great occasion?" he said. "Something that has been in the works for over 25 years. But sometimes it's like fine wine. It takes a while for it to mature. But I'd like to salute Highway Commissioner Benafield for being a friend to Forrest City."
He thanked Ray Woodruff, district engineer with the Highway Department. He also said there would be growth associated with the bypass.
"In five years, I hope to see an access road and see business, industry and housing, so that Forrest City can truly grow."
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco also thanked everyone who worked to bring about the bypass.
"And like the mayor said, this is not going to be just a part of Forrest City," Cisco said. "Forrest City is going to grow this way. I think it's going to help industry. It's going to help us all...I hope you can all come back in about five years and just say, 'Look at this, what's grown up around this place in such a short time.'"
The bypass includes interchanges at Interstate 40 and U.S. Highway 70 (Broadway).
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With the acquisition of land considered the most pressing issue for a transportation mall in St. Francis County, a three-member committee of the group in charge of the project held its first meeting this morning and introduced a new possible site among the selections for what could be the largest venture of its type in the nation.
Transportation commission chairman Cecil Twillie, along with members Rujay Burke and Kevin Lewey, met today to discuss possible sites for the facility and possibly moving it closer to Forrest City. According to Burke, a recent meeting with St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco and potential investors in the transportation mall project led to four sites taking precedence for the travel center. Burke told committee members that the four sites include three locations east of Crowley's Ridge near Widener, Parkin and Shearerville, and a possible site in the Forrest City area near the new Highway 1 Bypass.
Twillie questioned the changes in the potential location asking why the sites have shifted.
"I've been working on this commission for a long time, and Sorrell (Sorrell Engineering the engineering firm contracted by the transportation commission) has done several studies on the potential sites and addressed the commission, but this new site was never included. I guess my question is how this new site was included," Twillie asked.
"When those other studies were done, the bypass wasn't completed and was still early in its development. Now that it has been completed, it gives us another access ramp, and it was one of the sites that the investor liked. Our main goal is to find the best site," Burke said.
Twillie also questioned whether a site closer to Forrest City would impact the amount of traffic accessing the mall.
"We've met with trucking companies from Memphis and Fort Smith and Little Rock, and one of the things that they have told us is that they like the idea of a location east of Forrest City because it would give easy access to trucks away from an urban location where their families could meet them and they could basically spend a day in a place with their vehicle secured and still be able to reasonably travel to Memphis to shop or to places in the area," Twillie said.
Burke was unsure of what influence a potential location near Forrest City would have on travel along the I-40 and I-55 corridor, but he did say that a Forrest City location might benefit from the expansion of Hwy. 1 from Helena to Forrest City.
"I've been in the highway business for about 25 years, and I know that Hwy. 1 will be opened up from West Helena to Forrest City and be a four-lane road that entire way. That's not something that is in the distant future, that will be happening soon. When it does, it will give many truckers who have to drive through Memphis to get to I-40 and I-55 an alternate route away from the traffic congestion over there, and with the bypass now open, that would be a benefit to them," Burke said.
Twillie also questioned what effect another potential trucking centers might have on the transportation mall.
"In 10 or 12 days there will be a groundbreaking near the bypass, and if we go with the Forrest City site, will that have an effect on the transportation mall? Can that area sustain multiple facilities?" he asked.
According to Burke, the commission should contact the developer. "Because what he is doing is similar to what we're trying to do, I would really like to sit down with Mr. Bell (Ellis Bell, the developer of the proposed center) and let him know what we're doing so that we can be fair," Burke said.
Committee members agreed to attempt to schedule a meeting with Bell for next week. The proposed transportation mall will be located on approximately 200 to 250 acres at one of the four potential sites.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A proposal to pay incentive bonuses to St. Francis County employees is being sent to the county's budget committee to determine the feasibility of the plan.
The quorum court's personnel committee Wednesday evening reviewed the plan to pay full-time county employees a $1,000 incentive bonus and part-time employees a $500 bonus.
By a 3-to-1 margin, personnel committee members approved the proposal which will pay the incentive bonus from a fund set up for workman's compensation benefits. Justice Donald Cagle, the lone dissenting vote against the measure, asked committee members to take into consideration possible financial shortfalls that county government could face next year.
"In the past, I've been accused of not wanting to give the employees of this county a raise or incentives, but that was just a lie. Since I've been on this court, I'm not sure whether we've been able to give the employees a simple cost-of-living raise, and it's not that I wouldn't like to give the bonus, but on the other hand, you can't give what you just haven't got," Cagle said.
"I can't go along with sending this bonus to the budget committee because we could end up giving them this $1,000 and then turning around at the beginning of the year and having to come back and say that we're broke. We'll be a laughing stock. I don't feel like we can give this if we can't afford it. I would think that $200 would be enough of an incentive for the employees so that we can give the employees of St. Francis County job security," he added.
While Justice Jack Crumbly agreed that justices have to consider the financial status of county employees, he also wants to see employees receive the incentive bonus.
"I equally agree that we need to be cognizant of the financial state of the county for next year, but we have to give something back to the employees. We need to give them an incentive to want to continue to work for the county, and in the past, we haven't been able to give them a raise. I feel that this would be a good gesture from the court if the money is there," Crumbly said.
According to St. Francis County Treasurer Ann Harbin, while the funds for the bonuses would come from the workman's compensation account, not all of the funding is from workman's comp dividends. Harbin told justices that $17,890 of the $118,184.18 is actually from the dividend payment. The remaining funding, according to Harbin, is from gross revenue payments from the state. Harbin told committee members that the payments have been used in the past to shore up the account to ensure that funding for the incentive payments would be available.
"All of this money is one-time-a-year funding that we receive either from the state for gross revenue or for workman's comp that we don't file claims for. I went back and researched my records back to 1998, and we have been using the gross revenue payments in the account so that there would be enough funding for the incentive bonuses at the end of the year," Harbin said.
In November of 2003, full-time county employees received a $1,000 incentive bonus. That bonus was followed up by a three-percent across-the-board pay increase which became effective in April of this year.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Even though St. Francis County is under a burn ban, three grass fires were reported in the county on Wednesday.
SFC Judge Carl Cisco issued the burn ban Monday, and since that time, his office has authorized only two controlled burns.
According to the SFC Sheriff's Department, there have been no citations issued in any of the fires.
Forrest City Fire Department Chief Dan Curtner said the grass fires yesterday afternoon were in the county, but only one was worked by his department.
"Two were in Palestine," said Curtner. "Both were controlled burns and were under control when the calls came in. It is my understanding that people just saw the fires and called them in.
"The third was a fire near St. Francis County Road 232 (north of Forrest City). We were called for mutual aid by the Caldwell Fire Department at about 4:30 p.m. It had been burning for about 20 to 30 minutes before we got out there. We generally don't go out until they call us for mutual aid."
According to Curtner, the fire began when a woman was burning her fence row and the fire got out of hand and burned grass, a field and a structure. No damage estimate was listed on the report on file at the FCFD.
Cisco stated this morning that only two requests have been granted by his office for controlled burns in the county. "We've had two requests and that is all," stated Cisco. "They were both granted because they had the necessary safety requirements."
When asked why no tickets had been issued, Cisco said that the sheriff's department makes the determination about issuing tickets. "They (tickets) come out of the sheriff's office. If they feel like the burn is an accident, they don't issue a ticket. But if they feel like it is an intentional violation of the burn ban, they issue tickets. The Forestry Department also makes determinations on fires."
SFC Chief Sheriff's Deputy H.N. Green stated that the sheriff's office is not in charge of making the determinations on issuing tickets for the burn ban. "He (Cisco) put on the ban and he decides if people are allowed to burn or not," Green stated. "If he issues a permit to somebody and says they can burn, they can burn. All people have to say is that they have permission (from his office). If someone burns illegally, he needs to sign an affidavit on them and we can go out and enforce the ban."
Cisco responded that verbal permission is not given through his office. "We issue a written permission from my office," said Cisco. "That permission is given only when we know that the burn will meet our safeguards so that the fire doesn't burn out of control. If they say that they have permission from my office, that is not enough. They must show written proof from my office that they are allowed to burn, if not, they are burning illegally."
Another note on burning was offered by Curtner. "I've heard that the forecast is calling for rain this weekend," Curtner said. "And many people will say, 'Well, it just rained, so it is okay to burn.' As dry as the ground is now, we would have to get a large rain that will soak into the ground. The humidity also has to rise to at least 50 percent before we are out of being in high risk of fires getting away from people."
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The annual East Arkansas Heartwalk will be held on Saturday, Oct. 16, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Forrest City. The walk is held each year to benefit the American Heart Association (AHA) in its efforts to find cures and treatments for those suffering from heart disease.
Local organizers are preparing for the event that will feature not just the traditional walk, but chances to learn more about heart disease and how to live a healthier life style.
Tara Thomason, regional director of the AHA, says it is not too late to join the walk and help fight heart disease. "You can sign up teams until 9 a.m. the morning of the event," said Thomason. "Registration and sign up starts at 8 a.m., and the actual walk will begin a 9 a.m. We will have door prizes, the hospital will be doing blood pressure checks before and after the walk, we will have heart healthy snacks and we will have literature on heart disease, exercise and how to live a healthy life."
Carolyn Stewart, the chairperson of this year's walk, stated that donating to walking teams are not the only way to help the cause. "We are accepting donations," said Stewart. "One way to donate is by purchasing 'route signs.' A route sign has a team's name or the name of a business on signs along the walking route. Four signs cost $100." Stewart added that "Bank Day" will be Friday, Oct. 15, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at Forrest City Bank.
Stewart also said that the tradition of honoring survivors of heart disease will continue this year. "We are asking for heart survivors to join us at the Heartwalk," said Stewart. "Our goal is to have as many survivors as we can get. They are more than welcome. Each year we honor those who have survived heart disease by giving them red caps and visors. If you are interested in being a 'Red Cap,' contact me or Tara."
Another point that Stewart stressed was that donations to the AHA do more than people might realize. "Heart disease is the number one killer among women, and I think it is the number three killer in men, but the donations not only go toward researching heart disease, but to treatment and education as well. Educating people about the risk factors of heart disease can help prevent them from becoming sick," Stewart said. "The AHA donations also go to both children's and veterans' hospitals. I am a member of the Lions Club in Forrest City, and we are talking about starting a diabetes support group. The AHA can provide us with educational tools and speakers for this group. The Heart Association has the most volunteers of any other organization of this type, and they are really trying to make the public aware of heart disease and like illnesses."
For more information about the AHA Heartwalk, contact Stewart at 870-633-1149 or 870-270-7820. You may also contact Thomason at 870-494-3521.