The meeting can be seen in its entirety just below this story.
About one week before Thursday’s regular June meeting, the governor’s office released a slate of appointments to quorum courts in ten counties. Krystal Goshen of Hope will serve as Justice of the Peace for District 2 during a term expiring December 31, 2026. This was the remaining term of Cherry Stewart. Joe Raschke of Hope will serve as Justice of the Peace for District 6. Hia term expires December 31, 2026, which was the remaining term of Troy Lerew.
The two joined the other JPs for votes on three ordinances and two resolutions Thursday afternoon. All were passed unanimously.
· Ordinance 2025-6 amends the 2025 budget to add $9,000 provided by a grant for law enforcement equipment, including weapons.
· Ordinance 2025-7 allows the county to exchange its half of a former clinic property on 16th Street in Hope with the City of Hope for half the cash proceeds from the city’s sale of the property. Sponsor JP Ed Darling said there was interest from at least one prospective buyer in this property, which was acquired when the city of Hope and Hempstead County were awarded the real estate property previously owned by Steward Health, which formerly operated Hope’s only hospital.
· Ordinance 2025-8 allows for the awarding of a promotion with accompanying raise in salary and benefits for a position in the office of the Eighth District North Prosecutor. After the meeting Darling said the approximately $26,000 in funds did not represent an increase over what was budgeted for 2025 for the office, but was coming out of funds already allocated to it.
The first resolution was a statement of recognition for the Arkansas 250 Commission, which will plan and organize events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next year. The second authorizes County Judge Jerry Crane to apply for a grant from the Arkansas Community Assistance Grants Program for up to $1.5 million for the fixing of Hope's only hospital's roof. In the event the county is chosen to receive a grant, it and the city of Hope would be responsible for a 20 percent match of costs by cash or in-kind match. Last Tuesday, the Hope Board of Directors voted unanimously to apply to the same source for a grant to purchase equipment for the hospital. If this grant is funded, Southwest Regional Medical Center would provide the 20 percent match.
After the resolution was read, Darling said, “This is not the way we actually expected the governor to assist us on our hospital properties, but this is the way it came down. Just to give you all a brief update, and I don't think they mind me sharing it, for the year to date, the Pafford-Grisham family has invested over $7 million in that facility out of their own pocket to keep it operating. We have worked repeatedly looking at some grants. The legislative council made made $25 million available for various and sundry projects, and we got a phone call saying ‘You need to apply.’”
Teresa Smith spoke. She is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get reimbursement for the county’s expenses for damage, wages paid, replacement materials and equipment use incurred during and after the storms of April 4th and 5th in the Guernsey area. “We did ask for a federal declaration, and were granted a federal declaration for public assistance. Public assistance is helping the cities and the counties and the public jurisdictions to recoup their cost of the disaster,” Smith said. The total cost being requested for consideration of 75 percent reimbursement from FEMA is $230,000. The county hopes to recoup is $172,500.
Smith said she is also attempting to get funds from FEMA for repairs to the Red River levee near Fulton. FEMA turned down an application for funds to make a fix to it nine years ago on the basis that another federal agency had the responsibility.
“That other federal agency being the Corps of Engineers, we ran into some issues. They didn't have any money anyway. We didn't get any funding for that levee in 2015, so we had asked FEMA for funding for the levee again, this time, knowing what we thought they were going to say, and they did. So we had the Corps of Engineers put it in writing that they were not going to fix that levee. FEMA has kind of picked it up, and they're working with us. I think they've sent it up to region six. Hopefully we'll get some assistance with the levee at Fulton,” Smith said.
If FEMA had not provided reimbursement, the state of Arkansas would have provided 35 percent of the reimbursement through its disaster aid program.
Anna Powell, Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Director welcomed the new JPs and recounted meetings concerning grant opportunities for Blevins and Fulton. They meet eligibility requirements for Community Development Block Grant funding. Powell is eager for other towns in the county to arrange similar meetings. “We hope to host more of those each year, probably once a year, just to try to get new leaders that are on city boards or city councils or newly elected mayors to come to those so if your community wasn't represented, I would love to set up a time to visit with them,” she said.
Powell also announced that the grant for repair of the roof of the 1939 Hempstead County Courthouse’s, which is in disuse due to mold contamination, has been closed out. “We should receive our final check if they haven't received it already. And then we applied and received funding for the phase two of the [Arkansas Historic Preservation Program] courthouse grant program.”
The HCEDC will also be surveying non-resident employees of Hempstead County businesses and agencies to learn what keeps them from becoming residents. “We know what our needs are, but we need to put them in data form and collect that data to be able to prioritize things like housing and quality of life,” Powell said. The goal is to collect at least 2,000 responses. She said the county has many more than 2,000 such workers, given that its average daytime population climbs to 27,000.
Powell asked for referrals from the JPs and audience members of names of nonresident employees who could be included in the survey.
JP Keith Steed asked Judge Crane to consider the closing of County Road 231 South due to its having only a single household, Steed himself, and two other landowners who are in favor of its being closed. “It's nothing but a party Road, whatever you want to call it, but it has no use,” he said. The two other landowners are willing to put up fencing and cabling there.
The meeting then adjourned.
In an interview after the meeting, new JP Krystal Goshen talked about the process by which she found herself appointed to the court. “I got a phone call from someone who thought that I would be good at the position, and they talked to me about the duties that I would have. I thought it was something that was very interesting, and I thought I would do a good job at serving the county. I did go back and watch a couple of the previous meetings to get a feel for how things went, so I would be prepared to know what I was going to walk into tonight.”