The Hope City Board of Directors spent much of its two‑hour meeting Tuesday night weighing whether to add a debt‑service fee to sanitation bills to finance long‑planned capital improvements at the city landfill.

Video of the meeting, which will be available below this article when it finishes processing, begins with the first item of discussion.  

City Manager J.R. Wilson told the board the city faces “looming needs” at the landfill that can no longer be deferred, including remediation work, new equipment, and planning for the next landfill cell. While the remediation project itself is expected to be covered by loan‑forgiveness funds, Wilson said additional improvements would require borrowing money.

“We estimate two and a half million dollars will do this project,” Wilson said, explaining that the city had asked Raymond James to project what it would take to finance that amount through a bond issue.

The project, Wilson said, would include replacement of a baler, replacement of old equipment, remediation of contaminated water leaks and of drainage concerns around the landfill's central building and preparations for a new landfill site.  He said if completed, the project would put Hope in the position of minimizing big expenses for its landfill for up to a decade and a half.

Wilson emphasized that the sanitation system does not currently generate enough revenue to cover the anticipated bond payments. “This bond is going to be about $240,000 more a year just to make payments on the bond than what we’re doing currently,” he said.

Rather than raising base sanitation rates, Wilson proposed adding a separate debt‑service charge to bills. “What we would propose to you is that we wouldn’t go up on these rates, per se,” he said. “We would just introduce, like we do in sanitation, we’d introduce a debt service charge, just a base debt service charge.”

Wilson laid out several scenarios, noting that the city has about 3,500 residential sanitation customers and roughly 500 commercial accounts. Under one option, a $5 monthly charge for residential customers, $10 for commercial bag customers, and $25 for commercial dumpster users would generate about $309,600 annually. Staff, however, he said, recommended targeting closer to $400,000 per year.

“Staff would like to suggest to the board to target somewhere close to $400,000,” Wilson said. “That would easily cover our $240 to $250,000 payment on the bonds and give our system about $100 to $150,000 additional monies to operate on.”

Wilson said the additional revenue would help the city address inflationary pressures, build reserves, and reduce maintenance costs by replacing aging equipment. “We want to build reserves,” he said. “Our checkbook is operating day-to-day.”

Board members expressed concern about the impact on residents. Vice mayor Kiffinea Talley said her concern was affordability. “This is just an added burden to our residents, and some can’t afford that added burden,” she said.

Wilson said staff shared that concern. “We’re trying to really keep this as low as possible,” he said, while stressing that the landfill’s condition could not be ignored. “We’ve been putting a band‑aid on that failure.”

After discussion, the board authorized Wilson to begin working with Raymond James and the city attorney on drafting an ordinance, with the specific fee amounts to be finalized later.

Before the sanitation discussion, the board spent an hour on the planned aquatic and recreation center at Fair Park and formally accepted the low bid from Ideal Construction, contingent on further negotiations.

Clay McGill, of BiLD Architects, the Fayetteville firm in charge of the center, introduced Ideal Construction as the low bidder for taking the project on as a general contractor, and said the firm had been put through a process of making sure it is up to the task. “We have vetted them and contacted their references, and the ones that I’ve contacted all came back good,” McGill said.

Hunter Klippert, president of Ideal Construction, addressed the board and outlined the company’s background. “This is our 78th year,” Klippert said. “We started in 1948. In fact, the family that started our company is still in charge of our company.”

Klippert said Ideal, based in Crossett, has extensive experience in this region and is familiar with local soil conditions. “We’ve specialized in working in south Arkansas,” he said. “Ground issues, the soil, right? That’s what we know about.”

Board members questioned Klippert about past projects, including HVAC issues at the Hempstead County Courthouse. Klippert said Ideal installed what was specified and approved by engineers. “We installed what’s in the drawings, what’s in the specs, what was approved,” he said.

He also addressed concerns about foundation stability at the new aquatic center. “Ground does move a lot down here,” Klippert said, explaining how geotechnical testing would be used. “Everybody’s very well aware of what the situation is down here, and none more so than us.”

Klippert said Ideal would work with McClelland Engineering on soil testing and emphasized that unspent contingency funds--$500,000 is set aside for this--would be returned to the city. “All owner savings, including unspent contingency funds, will be returned to the owner in 100 percent credit,” he said.

After extended discussion of a report listing engineering options that may save money, specifying a project timeline of 12 to 18 months, and a pledge to include local subcontractor participation, the board voted to accept Ideal Construction’s bid contingent on working through the engineering process. Director Trevor Coffee and other members at times seemed flummoxed by some changes in the original plan that the report said might need to be made to save money, including reducing the number of lanes in the pool from eight to six.

Later in the meeting, Wilson asked the board whether it wanted to approve McClelland Consulting Engineers as the third‑party testing firm for the aquatic center. He explained that certain inspections must be performed by an independent party. “These are things that Clay cannot do by law. Neither can the construction company,” Wilson said.

Wilson said staff members had reviewed requests for qualifications and scored the firms. “We all three scored them independently,” Daniel Shelman said. “We all had them in the same order.” He was referring to how the scorers rated the three bidders.

Some board members questioned whether cost savings were driving the recommendation of McClelland. Wilson had mentioned that the other bidding firms would have to charge for travel expenses. Director Trevor Coffee said he wanted to be sure the city was getting the best service. “I just want to make sure that we’re going to get the best service and have the best people,” he said.

Mayor Don Still suggested tabling the decision so the city engineer could be present. With no second to the motion to approve, the board agreed to table the item until the next meeting.

The board then approved advertising land owned by the Hope Municipal Airport for lease to potential developers.

Wilson said leasing airport property is favored by the FAA and could generate long‑term revenue. “FAA loves leasing airport property,” he said. “That’s how they prefer it to happen, as opposed to selling.”

Using a recent appraisal that the land was worth $5,000 per acre, Wilson said staff proposed a lease rate of $350 per acre per month, designed to recapture the land’s value over 15 years. “We thought that would be trying to recover our per‑acre price in 15 years,” Wilson said.

Board members discussed comparables and flexibility for negotiation. Wilson said the proposed rate would serve as a starting point. “We can keep it up and then just plan for negotiation,” he said.

The board voted to proceed with advertising the land at the proposed rate.

The board also approved a contract for trash bags after reviewing bids. Wilson said the sanitation department recommended Houston Poly, which currently provides bags to the city. A motion to approve the bid passed unanimously.

Next, the board approved a bid for hot‑mix asphalt and paving services. Wilson said Tri‑State Asphalt was the low bidder, and staff recommended acceptance. The board approved the bid.

The board then approved Mayor Still’s appointment of Judy Watson to a new term on the Planning and Zoning Commission.

In his closing remarks, Wilson updated the board on several operational matters, including winter storm response, street work, and departmental efforts. He praised city employees for their work during recent severe weather. “I’ve had so many people call us saying, ‘Thank you,’” Wilson said.

Wilson also discussed ongoing challenges with police staffing, noting that the department continues to operate under strain. He said the city is exploring strategies to improve retention and efficiency. “We’re strategizing now with the chief,” Wilson said. “We’re looking at different pay situations, maybe to help retain people.”

Wilson said he would continue to keep the board informed as adjustments are made. “We’ll keep you informed as things change and as we move in the right direction,” he said.