Arnetta Bradford of the newly formed Creating a Brighter Future for Hope group presents a proposal to the Hope City Board Tuesday night.
In the same Tuesday evening meeting in which City Manager Catherine Cook's resignation would be announced, the Hope City Board of Directors made the following decisions:
It agreed to the newly constituted group Creating a Brighter Future for Hope's request, presented by Arnetta Bradford and Kelly Muldrew, to waive the deposit fee and rental costs for use of the Fair Park Coliseum July 30 for a Youth Event. The group, according to a letter it submitted, "was created to fill a void that will help their community by developing the family unit" in the wake of incidents of gun deaths in Hope. The July 30 event is descibed as a "combined effort from several entities in our community to show a unified stance against violence and drugs that are plaguing our city." Its to include a talent show, three-on-three basketball, volleyball, hygiene and giftcard giveaways, bounce houses." The group also invites food vendors to take part. The letter ends by asking those interested to contact Corey Weston at 1-903-733-0896 and Sheree Phillips at 1-870-703-5525.
It approved the spending of $84,800 for City Hall maintenance by MTS Contracting of Kansas City in an emergency resolution.
It approved an easement to be used at the Hope Public Schools solar array on 710 Lakeshore to allow vehicles from the west end of the array to access Lakeshore.
It approved a request from Boy Scout Reilly Golden to grant funds allowing him to oversee the creation of a concrete sidewalk from another concrete slab--used by the Lions Club for staging its fish fries--near the Fair Park Coliseum. Golden's project will help him attain Eagle Scout status. Cook estimated the city's cost would be $3-4 thousand.
In Citizens Request time, Sylvia Brown provided an update on what can be expected during the Juneteenth Parade to take place Saturday June 18, rolling from Yerger Museum at 10:45 a.m.. She described the origins of the now national holiday in the date a group of enslaved African-Americans in Texas learned of their freedom in 1866.
At that point Mayor Don Still announced the need for an executive session. After 20 minutes, the board returned, with Still announcing Cook's decision to retire.
The meeting is shown in the video below, which begins its coverage with Bradford and Muldrew making their request.
https://youtu.be/368z0FSAjqU