The City of Hope Board of Directors met tonight to consider a shorter than usual agenda, but took action on a couple items while hearing reports on matters including train stoppages and departmental numbers.
The regular second August meeting of the City of Hope Board of Directors including the passage of an ordinance confirming pension payments for widows of police officers or firefighters who married their partners within five years after their spouse’s retirement date and the okaying of an application for a $50,000 Public Safety Grant for the purchase of cameras for the Hope Police.
City Manager J.R. Wilson reported on his work on the problem of railroad cars blocking roads for too long and the work of city employees by the numbers. The success of this year’s Watermelon Festival was also gauged.
The meeting began, after the call to order by Mayor Don Still, the Invocation by Director Linda Clark and the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Director Mark Ross, with the approval of minutes from the previous two meetings. The July 18th minutes had not been approved in the August 1st meeting.
Then Wilson explained that a bit of business related to the transfer of several retired firefighters and police pensions to LOPFI (Local Police and Fire Retirement System). Though regulations already provide for the right of spouses married to the pensioner within the five years after their retirement date to receive proceeds from the pension, the city needed an ordinance to reflect this. This was read out by City Attorney Randal Wright, then passed on an emergency basis by unanimous voice votes.
The next item was Wilson’s report on his attempts to solve the problem, often complained of by citizens, of trains stalling or being parked along tracks that cross streets. Wilson reported that he had spoken to many of the principals involved in managing the two railroads that service the Hope area, Union Pacific and KKR several times over the past six months, only for the trains to continue to occupy crossings and not be separated by crews for cars to pass. This is an issue that could endanger citizens depending on the free egress of emergency vehicles, Wilson said, and that, together with the number of complaints compelled him to persist in seeking a solution.
Waiting times that exceed ten minutes appear to break Arkansas law unless they are provided for by the Arkansas Highway Commission, which has sole jurisdiction over regulation of railroad companies in Arkansas. Wilson said the delays in Hope have ranged from hours to, in one case a week and a half day in the case of the Old Highway 29 crossing.
After writing certified letters to the registered agents of Union Pacific and KKR, Wilson said he received a response in the form of an office visit by the General Manager of KKR from Garland, Texas and a written response from UP. But the railroad crossing problems have continued. On August 9, 2023, a day when the Sixteenth Street crossing would be blocked for 32 hours, Wilson wrote a certified letter of complaint to the Arkansas Highway Commission, which can schedule a hearing on the matter.
Wilson said he was optimistic that the help he had received from Mayor Still and Representative Danny Watson in bringing the issue to the right entities’ attention, including the Arkansas Department of Transportation was going to move things to a solution soon.
Next, Wilson presented activity reports that show the numbers of various forms of productivity of Hope’s governmental departments. Among these that stood out:
There have been 55 felony crimes against persons and 202 property crimes from January 1, 2023 to the end of July.
The total UCR crimes (more serious crimes that must be reported to the FBI) during that time period was 361, with 168 of those cases cleared, meaning an arrest has been made or the circumstances of the crime ascertained. The clearance rate is therefore 47 percent, which Wilson characterized as pretty good.
The Fire Department has handled 23 fires and 79 medical emergencies.
Code enforcement has provided 11 commercial building permits, done 93 inspections and written 425 violations while issuing no citations and removing one structure.
Animal Control has picked up 194 animals, of which 40 were reclaimed, 60 surrendered, 48 fostered, 32 adopted either from the city (three) or from Hope PAWS (29). One hundred twelve animals have been euthanized from the beginning of the year to the end of July.
The Parks Department has seen an increase in the number of swimming pool attendees over last year at this time, with 2,368 using the pool since May.
Hope Police Chief Kim Tomlin asked the board to approve an application for a fully vested $49,800.55 Public Safety Equipment Grant from the Arkansas Department of Public Safety which would help purchase ten body cameras needed to replace cameras being phased out, a server, docking stations and five-year warranties.
During the City Manager’s Report, Fire Chief Todd Clark reported on the replacement of the central air unit for Fire Station 1. The Watermelon Festival was assessed by Parks Superintendent Summer Powell to have been a success. The city is being audited currently and will be through October or November by the Chad Miller firm.
City Director Mark Ross said he had heard many compliments by softball players, coaches and attendees during the Watermelon Festival about the new lighting for the diamonds that allows for the better tracking of the ball in the air. He was complimentary himself about the job done by city and park employees overall during the festival
Anna Powell, Hempstead County Economic Development Executive Director reported that the financial numbers aren’t yet definite about the proceeds from the Saturday concert, but that 900 attended, a number that was down from last year, she said, most likely affected by the cancellation of the originally scheduled performers. She also announced she had sent out invitations to the upcoming Hempstead County Economic Development Annual Investor Luncheon to take place September 8th starting at 11:30 a.m. in Hempstead Hall.
Wilson commented on the loss of 24-year Hope employee Ricky Cox and said next Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Wilson would participate in a walk-through inspection of the work on the Streetscape Project, writing down jobs needing doing before the payment of the last ten percent of the cost of the contract.
Director Ross inquired whether a striped crosswalk would be painted. Wilson said if it was in the project’s plan, it would be, but he wasn’t sure just then if it was.
At this point, the meeting adjourned about ten minutes before 8:00 p.m.
Police chief Kim Tomlin speaks to the Hope City Board about an application for funding to buy replacement body cams.
City Attorney Randal Wright reads an ordinance on a police and firefighter's pension plan.
Fire Chief Todd Clark speaks to the City Board about a central air unit replacement.
Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Exec Director Anna Powell speaks to the City Board.
