The meeting can be seen in its entirety just below the photos. 

The first matter that came before the board was City Attorney Randal Wright’s update on the status of the transfer of ownership of the right to operate the Wadley Regional Medical Center of Hope. A July 24th press release disclosed that Steward Healthcare, the parent company of the hospital has decided to sell the right to operate it to Pafford Health Systems.  

Hope and Hempstead County have partnered to purchase the real estate of the hospital from MPT and lease the site to the eventual owner.  The transfer of ownership of the license to operate is pending approval by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. 

“Everybody's doing due diligence trying to get this matter worked out and done, but it's a lot of different things that need to be considered,” Wright said. “The last thing we want to have is an agreement that becomes a nightmare. We're not going to do that. We're going to have an agreement that's going to be good for everybody. That takes some time to put together, but good lawyers are working on that. We're trying to get there, so I believe it'll be there, but no money's been spent yet by the city of Hope or Hempstead County. We're waiting to make sure we have the purchase agreement in hand and a lease in hand, so when that's done, we'll know where we are.” 

Mayor Still said, “The ship is moving just not very fast right now.” 

Wright responded: “That's not atypical for a kind of transaction we're dealing with. This is something that's got a lot of points that need to be made. To make sure that we're dotting our I’s crossing our T's.” 

Next, a Rob Graham of Graham Engineers spoke on a project to perform repairs to 1,300 feet of a city-owned rail spur at the Industrial Park so that New Millennium can make plant improvements that will lead to new jobs as well as increased efficiency.  Graham said the project involves raising the level of the railroad track. 

The repairs will cost about $200,000, $170,000 of which could be provided from revenues the city has collected for use of its railroads. City Manager J.R. Wilson told the board that future ordinances may come to them for decisions related to the work which he said would likely be complete at the end of this year. 

Hope-Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Director Anna Powell said the investment by the city will pay dividends in terms of job creation and the health of a leading industrial presence in the area. 

“This particular expansion is going to add anywhere from 10 to 14 jobs that could grow long term,” Powell said.  She said the project will “save New Millennium a lot of supply chain costs, and then they're going to be actually sourcing something there that they previously were outsourcing. … Ultimately it's going to yield a much more efficient process and a little bit larger profit margin for our partners out at New Millennium.” The company, Powell said, provides 300 jobs that are high-paying. 

After the project is finished, New Millennium will be responsible for future maintenance costs for the 1,300 feet of track which would still remain in the city’s possession. 

During the discussion, Vice Mayor Kiffinea Talley asked how many derailments have taken place this year. Wilson said only one had taken place. This happened near the Hexion track. But since then, Wilson said, that track has been repaired and is “in a lot better shape.” 

The board voted unanimously in favor of a motion to approve the project. 

Afterward, New Millennium Assistant Production Manager Matt Rakestraw said to the board, “Currently we're at 900 [railroad] cars a year, and we're going to be ramping that up to about 1,500 cars a year.”  New Millenium produces steel structures for building construction. 

Next, Summer Chambers, Parks Superintendent spoke on her department’s third attempt in three years to acquire an Outdoor Recreation grant from the state. As part of the application, the city must show it has held public meetings to allow comment on the needs of the park department. In the past the Parks Department has used funds from this grant to build playgrounds at Northside and Fair Parks as well as improve the Pocket Park downtown, but this success may have hurt the chances of winning the grant more recently. Nonetheless, Chamber requested permission from the board to apply this year. 

Powell asked how winning the grant would align with the city’s proposal to upgrade the parks facilities through an upcoming vote on the November 5th ballot that could fund a new aquatic and recreational center should voters approve a one-cent sales tax. Chambers replied that the funds from the grant would substitute funds that would otherwise be provided by city taxpayers. 

The intent of the application, Chambers said, is to seek funding to build a splash pad at Northside Park.  Hope resident Charles Primus raised the concern that the pad be placed where it is easily visible to passing cars to prevent it from being damaged by vandals. Mayor Don Still said the original plan had been to place the pad where the Northside Park pool once was. 

Still said trees could not be cut along Bill Clinton drive, making Northside Park more visible, because of laws protecting the wetlands in that area. 

Primus went to the podium again and asked that more attention be paid to cleaning litter from the ditches in his neighborhood. Vice-mayor Talley said these were concerns to raise with Hope’s Street Department.  Primus also raised the issue of drainage at Rose Hill Cemetery while praising other recent alterations there, including the rebuilding of a fence. 

Former city director David Johnson rose to speak but agreed to hold his comments until Citizens Request time later in the meeting. 

Next, the directors discussed the decision of raising rates for non-residents of Hope seeking to add Class IV material to the city’s landfill. While the cost would remain the same per cubic yard for Hope residents, the relevant ordinance would be amended to raise these rates to $20 per cubic yard for non-residents. 

Director Trevor Coffee asked Wilson how often the city was seeing Class IV materials (defined under Arkansas law as “construction and demolition wastes, appliances and furniture, and other bulky, inert wastes”) being brought to its landfill. Wilson said that because the city was charging the lowest rates within about a 100-mile radius, this is occurring often. 

Coffee asked if Hope would still be the least expensive option for this category of waste for non-residents. Wilson replied this would not be the case, but that Hope’s rates would still be relatively low compared to other options in the area. Wilson then offered some numbers and a rationale for the $20 per cubic yard cost. 

“We used to receive $30 to $40,000 a year. Now we're getting about $120,000 years on tipping fees. So we didn't want to set it so high we drive it back down to $20 or $30,000, but we also want to make sure that we can capture the cost to create additional class four landfill space, which is a lot cheaper than class one landfill space, obviously, but there is still a cost to it,” Wilson said. 

Coffee asked how much space remained in the city’s Class IV landfill. Wilson said about three years’ worth before another landfill would need to be created. Responding to other questions, he said the current landfill would likely last five years at the current rate of usage.  It was predicted to last eight years originally.  Buy since the city already has a permit to build its next landfill, it could begin doing so in two years as the current Class IV landfill reaches its final year. 

Wilson said about 90 percent of the waste being brought to the Class IV landfill is from nonresidents, representing a three-fold increase over the past few years. He said he hoped the fee would slow down the usage.  Mayor Still said if it doesn’t, the city can revisit the decision and raise the fee further. Wilson agreed. 

A vote to approve the ordinance amendment was passed unanimously on the basis of suspension of the rules and an emergency clause. 

For the next item, Hope Police Chief asked for permission to apply for $75,000 Arkansas Public Safety Equipment grant to replace body-worn and vehicle cameras that are going out of service. The city would have to cover the remaining cost of the $116,000 upgrades which would include 7 car cameras and 10 body-worn cameras along with servers. 

The next item was a waive bid ordinance for 36-inch concrete pipe and rubber gaskets to finish the 2024 South Fulton drainage project.  The materials would be for the more urgent half of the project that would protect residences there from flooding. The next half would be completed next year. The cost for the materials, which was not budgeted this year, would amount to $35,000, Wilson said.  The board approved the waive of bidding and the acquirement of the materials. 

In City Manager’’s Report, Wilson said the recent city clean-up day had picked up a total of 608 cubic yards of trash. He also announced that all incumbent directors up for election have turned in petitions to run again this year. Wednesday at noon is the expiration date for petitions. A ballot drawing for incumbents with opponents will take place August 21st at the County Clerk’s office. 

A new fire truck has arrived, which cost $105,000, and is going to be striped and equipped. Sixth Street will not be striped until Monday August 12th due to the lack of beads for the paint and weather-related delays. Signage has been placed in Fair Park in time for the Watermelon Festival and parts of the park are now mapped in the 911 system, Wilson announced. 

Wilson said he and Assistant City Manager Daniel Shelman had travelled to Texas A&M for the Southwest Arkansas Red River Navigation Public Scoping meeting. Dredging of 130 miles of the river so it can accommodate more traffic was on the agenda. Options include dredging up to Index, Texas; Garland City, Texas or Fulton, Arkansas. 

Finance Director Cindy Clark relayed a request from Mayor Kimberly Hernandez of Bodcaw to bring a prospective water service employee into Hope’s health insurance plan. Board members opted to find out more information prior to making the decision. 

Wilson then briefed the board on the work toward informing the public about the proposed one-cent sales tax to fund a new fire department headquarters, an aquatic recreation center and park improvements. He said he would be calling on local volunteers to spread the word as well as the Economic Development Corporation and he had ordered a video to help make the city’s case. He also confirmed there would be meetings in different parts of the city to promote the tax. 

In Citizens Request, David Johnson said he approved of plans to place a splash pad at Northside Park. He also invited any city leaders who wished to travel with him to Fayetteville August 17th to present Hope Watermelon to Arkansas Razorbacks football players on their last day of two-a-day practices. 

The meeting adjourned at about 8:15 p.m.