The City of Hope Board of Directors, with City Manager J.R. Wilson, listen to a presentation at last night's meeting. Left to Right are City Directors Mark Ross and Reginald Easter, City Manager J.R. Wilson, Mayor Don Still, Vice Mayor Kiffinea Talley and City Director Trevor Coffee. Directors Steve Montgomery and Linda Coleman were absent.
The Hope City Board of Directors, in its sole July regular meeting (the first July meeting being cancelled because of the holiday), dealt with a range of subjects, including one that drew one of its largest audiences in quite a while, the proposal to build a splash pad in Northside Park. In addition, the board made a decision on a wastewater project that has been in the planning stage for a long time.
A video broadcast of the meeting is available on the city’s Facebook site.
The second item discussed after the meeting’s preliminaries (invocation, pledge of allegiance, approval of last meeting’s minutes) pertained to a second attempt at applying for grant funding from the state for the construction of a splash pad at Northside Park. The word had gone out through Facebook that the issue was to be discussed at last night’s board meeting, so about a dozen more attendees showed up in support of the pad.
Hope Parks, Recreation and Tourism Superintendent Summer Powell presented the facts of the proposal. She explained that the application for the Outdoor Recreation Grant through the Arkansas Parks, Heritage and Tourism Department had turned down last year, most likely because of the city’s success in winning funds for past projects.
But Powell and her staff are applying for funding again this year. The grant is a 50/50 grant, meaning the city would have to finance 50 percent of the cost of the project. The estimated cost of the three options for the splash pad project is $342,000 for the 5,000 square feet option, $287,000 for the 3,500 square feet option and $212,000 for the 1,800 square feet option. The city’s cost would be half of the total cost for each option should the grant be approved.
Hope City Manager J.R. Wilson said the board did not have to specify a particular square footage in its motion to approve the application. Mayor Don Still said he felt the best strategy was to ask for the grant for the 5,000 square feet option and then, depending on what the state granted, determine what size was possible. Director Trevor Coffee then made the motion to apply for the grant for the 5,000 square feet option. This was seconded. The vote to approve the motion and written resolution was unanimous.
The first item to be discussed was moved up from Item 9 on the agenda. Wilson gave the news that on June 22 the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission approved the city for a $3,488,000 loan for a large wastewater project that includes the dredging of a wastewater pond to prevent overflow. The loan would cost about 1.75 percent per year in interest over 20 years. The funds came to the ANRC because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act passed by Congress in November of 2021 and signed by President Joe Biden.
The city had applied for funding of the project from American Recovery Act funding, but this was turned down. The next step in financing the project, which is required if the city is to meet Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality standards (or else possibly be fined) was to seek a loan from ANRC.
Part of the terms of the loan would require the city to raise 32 percent of the loan in revenue to service the debt. The city will therefore raise the debt service portion of wastewater rates for each customer from $10.50 to $13.86.
Glen Spears of Spears Engineering Company from Texarkana, Arkansas, a firm retained by the city for engineering planning services, told the board of the necessity of the project for meeting Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality requirements. He also explained some of the specifics of the project, which will involve the installation of a filter and the replacement of pipes and parts of the electrical system. In answer to a question from Coffee, Spears said the last time the city’s wastewater holding ponds were dredged was over 20 years ago.
Mayor Still said, “We never quit spending money on this. If we're not repairing pipes, we're trying to work on the plant. So this is just ongoing.”
Spears said the amount the city will borrow may be less if prices for labor and equipment are less than the plan estimates. But if prices have gone up, the city may borrow more. Spears said he did not expect the interest rate on the loan of 1.75 percent to change. He added that his firm will continue to seek grant money possibilities for the project.
City Director Mark Ross made the motion to approve the city manager signing the loan document. Upon being seconded, the roll-call vote was unanimous in favor.
Other business:
Three airport items. Nichols Fence of Stephens, Arkansas won the low bid to provide fencing. Their bid was $89,340; B&K Cattle will pay the city $15,000 for two buildings built on the airport property by FEMA and will incur the costs to move the buildings to its property; Weyerhauser won the bidding process to harvest timber on airport land over its nearest competitor Ax’em Timber Services. Weyerhauser will pay the city for the timber.
Rezoning requests were granted to James Kelly and Tara Capps to allow them to set up a storage facility business on 2400 Bill Clinton Dr and to Jonathan Aguilar to set up a car sales lot at 604 & 620 East Third St.
The City Manager’s report announced the closing of East Second Street from Walnut to Main on October 7 from 10:00 a.m. to noon for a dedication of a building to former Hope Mayor James Harvey Betts. The businesses in that area will be notified about the closure. Wilson also announced that the Hope Police Department had passed its third-year accreditation review, making it one of 15 city police departments accredited in the state. Wilson credited Hope Police Chief Kim Tomlin and her staff for the work that made this possible.
On July 22 the city will sponsor a clean-up day. In Citizens Request Marcia White asked that the day be postponed, but the board did not do so. The meeting was adjourned at this point.