Tuesday night's city board meeting brought several items up for vote, including the renewal of the city's lease with the Arkansas State Building Services. The lease request was for an additional two years at the going rate of $600 per year to provide maintenance for an acre of land at the airport where CDL certification testing is conducted. The extension was unanimously passed.

Also on the agenda was the request to add Cynthia Clark, Hope's new finance officer, as a check signer to the city's bank accounts. Debbie Hall will be retiring later this year, and will be removed as signatory at that time. The request met with unanimous approval.

A request was made to approve the 2022 Step Grant, which would allow funding to support DWI/DUI, speeding, distracted driving, and seat belt enforcement by the Hope Police Department. HPD sought board approval to accept the award. The board unanimously granted the request.

Also up for approval was a rezoning request from R-2 Medium Density Residential to R-5 Residential Use to allow placement of a mobile home for property at Oaklawn #1 Block 7 Lots 9 & 10 located in 400 Block of Berry Street by Billy and Charles Pickens. The request was approved with six "yeas" and Kiffanea Talley voting "nay."

The board also voted yea on waiving the cold milling bid ordinance in order to get the roads prepped for colder weather. Redstone, the low bidder at a previous meeting about the project, has been unable to mobilize to complete the job and, citing the need for cold-weather preparedness, the board decided to remove the need for a bid in order to get the project rolling.

The final item before the board was a request to upgrade the network's cybersecurity and add/enhance the Boardroom audio and video capabilities through use of funds from the American Rescue Plan. The board voted unanimously to start the process of deciding which upgrades would be feasible.

The city manager's report detailed that the first 300 feet of the city's rail project was complete, as well as the need to get the milling under way. Wadley Sign Company has also been contacted to put together a design presentation for signage for The Hub downtown. In addition, graffiti at the skate park should be painted over on Wednesday, barring the weather.