Below this article and the photos accompanying it, a video of the entire meeting can be seen.

Mayor Don Still, presiding over the meeting, briefly ended the city board session to allow for public comment on the HW&L action.  No one spoke, so he opened the city board meeting back up.  From that point, Ryan Bowman of the firm Friday, Eldridge and Clark, explained the terms of the ordinance.

“Thank you. Again, as was mentioned, this ordinance authorizes the issuance of bonds amount of $9,975,000 assuming that you all approved this ordinance, then we would proceed with the bond closing scheduled for December the 30th. That's when the city would have the funds to finance the water improvements. The bonds were offered by Stephens to investors this morning.”

Bowman also provided historical context for the action. “This is very similar to what the city did back in 2015. We refinanced that bond issue in 2020 and we did a new money issue in 2021 and so the terms and the conditions that you all are currently obligated to follow with respect to those bond issues, those are the same obligations.”

Bowman added that a meeting of the HWL commission at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday resulted in that commission’s approval of pursuing the revenue bond issue.

The city board then approved a series of motions, including approval of the ordinance, which Bowman read by title only, a suspension of the rules and an emergency clause.  The latter two approvals allow for the process to move forward immediately.

The other major topic of the meeting was City Manager J.R. Wilson’s remarks about the proposed 2026 budget.  He spoke from a Budget Notes document projected on the room’s screen. As a result of much work by his staff and by department heads, Wilson said, the board members now have copies of a working budget proposal to be followed from January of next year to the end of 2026.  In general, Wilson said, revenues for the city are projected for next year to be about the same as they were in 2024 while costs, especially of employee benefits, have risen.  This has made it necessary for hard decisions.  

In a previous meeting, Wilson had disclosed that health insurance premiums will be a major part of the increased overall costs of running the city in 2026.  Premiums for lower deductible plans would increase for employees wishing to keep those.  Wilson advised the board, and the board concurred, to offer employees options that had higher deductibles but retained relatively lower premium costs.  He said during his remarks that at a recent benefits fair about half of city employees opted for the higher deductible and relatively lower premium cost plans.

Employees will receive $750 raises, Wilson said, which are consistent with an adjustment for the inflation rate this year.  “This is what's recommended by management. It allows us to balance the budget,” he said.

In other budget matters, Wilson said that some spending that particular departments requested had to be moved forward to future budget years.  But the needs of the Sanitation Department, especially at the city landfill will compel big expenditures in 2026 and after, he said  “The baler is an issue, and [replacing] it's around close to a million dollars, little under a million dollars to do that. We have a class four landfill cell that is within three years of max capacity. That's the estimates from engineers, not J.R. Wilson. So we're looking at trying to cover those costs and getting started on [the new landfill cell] early with engineering.” He added that a bond issue should be considered to defray about $2.8 million in sanitation department costs.

Wilson also raised the possibility of farming out the expense of keeping up City Hall and Klipsch Auditorium to other sources, possibly a foundation that could raise funds for the cost of these older buildings. 

The board has until late December to approve a budget that will kick in on January 1st.  Wilson invited directors to ask questions, make suggestions and raise concerns about the proposed budget in the time between presentation and final approval.

In other business, the board approved by resolution an Artificial Intelligence policy, in accordance with recently passed state law.  That law, passed this year, states that all city employees, elected officials and contractors must adhere to a set of rules governing the use of AI in their work and be trained in its use. Among the rules are requirements to check AI work product for accuracy, disclose its use in documents and avoid relying on it for making final decisions, including in hiring or firing or issuing citations.  Confidential information cannot be submitted into an AI tool. 

The resolution includes a recommendation of the Arkansas Municipal League’s Ace Hub Module on Ethical AI Use for further reading.

The board approved a lease renewal request from the Arkansas State Police for the usage of facilities near the Hope Municipal Airport for two years at $1,500 a year.

The board accepted a Transportation Alternatives Program grant for $440,000 in federal funding for use in upgrading sidewalks near Highway 67 (East Third Street) in Hope.  The grant will require a 20 percent match from city funds.  Wilson said this cost will be figured into the 2027 budget. 

In the City Manager’s Report, Wilson recommended and was granted permission to buy a $4,500 third-party assessment by a Dallas architectural firm of the 100 percent plans for the recreation and aquatic center.  The board approved this. The results should be available in time to make any adjustments prior to contracts being agreed to. The funds would be paid out of those raised from the bond issue that followed voter approval of the one-cent tax to fund the Hope for the Future series of capital projects, which includes the rec/aquatic center, park improvements and a new fire department main headquarters.

Wilson reported agreement to terms with the prior owners of the site on East Third, the former Village Shopping Center on a purchase of it for $100,000.  Work to abate the asbestos and demolish the buildings will start soon, he said.

Hope-Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Director Anna Powell spoke to invite board members to a lunch to celebrate the county’s designation as a competitive county. It will take place December 18th.

Hope Public Schools Superintendent Jonathan Crossley praised the board for its perseverance through the hard process of budgeting and announced a food relief project underway by students, a part of which will take place Saturday.  “We have Stuff the Bus actively going on. At Piggly Wiggly and Walmart this Saturday, between eight and noon, bring all the canned goods you can stand and you can muster to those two locations and help us stuff the bus and provide for our ongoing food pantry and food for our families this holiday season,” he said.

Two citizens spoke in Citizens Comments.  The first to again express his view that the city was responsible for repairing conditions leading to the flooding of his property, the second to negotiate a way of tearing down a condemned house she owns.

The board had an executive session on a personnel matter for about 12 minutes.  Mayor Still reported no action was taken when the board returned from meeting in a private room.

Above photo: City Manager J.R. Wilson speaks to the Hope City Board of Directors Tuesday night about the 2026 proposed budget for the city.