It approved applying for a grant to finance fixes at Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center and heard a briefing on sanitation department debt service and upcoming expenses so that it could make informed decisions on future rate increases.

The video below this article shows the meeting from the point after the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance to the flag to its adjournment. 

The Arkansas Community Assistance Grant opportunity was the subject of Hope-Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Anna Powell’s presentation.  Meant to support community and economic development, the grant can top off at $1.5 million for one project with a 20 percent cash or in-kind match from the grantee required.  The state, said City Manager J.R. Wilson, will dispense about $12 million in grants this year.

As Powell explained, the county and city both are able to apply and the funds would be used to fix part of the Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center’s roof and/or upgrade its medical equipment.  The hospital has pledged to provide the matching funds if the city’s grant request for equipment funding is approved.  If Hempstead County’s application for roof repair funding is approved, the city and county would share the cost of the matching 20 percent.  

Wilson emphasized to the board that the county winning its grant would entail a potential outlay of in-kind or cash of $150,000 for both the city and the county.  After some questions relating to the ongoing effort to acquire. funds for the hospital from the Arkansas legislature which have not panned out so far, the board voted to approve the resolution to make the application.  Hempstead County’s Quorum Court meets Thursday June 26th at 4:30 p.m. 

Powell summarized the time table on the grant and news about it.  “The submission deadline is the end of July, and then September is when we should receive word on that,” she said.

The board also heard a briefing from Wilson concerning the trend of increased costs for the Sanitation Department both in debt service and in handling expenses related to maintenance.  Debt service for 2016 bonds is $270,400 a year, set to expire in 2031.  Equipment debt service is $192,825 with $119,700 of that to expire next April. 

Short term needs include replacement of a bailing system at the landfill (estimated $900,000 cost), a remediation project to bring the landfill to Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality standards ($500,000), acquiring three years from now a new place for discarded construction materials ($500,000), replacing a track hoe and skid steer ($500,000) and saving for a 5 percent contingency expense fund. 

Wilson is proposing that the board consider a 10 to 15-year bond issue, separating categories on bills to residents and businesses into debt service and operations/maintenance. To cover the department’s debt service of $323,525/year and $2.52 million in short-term needs with the help of a ten-year bond issue, city staff estimates an increase of $7.50 per month per user would be needed.  With a fifteen-year bond issue, this would be $5.60 per month per user would be needed. 

Wilson acknowledges these raises would not completely cover debt service for unanticipated truck replacements.  Doing so would require a $2 increase again per user per month. 

The decision point on these matters would come as budgeting deliberations begin near the end of summer. 

Near the start of the meeting board members heard Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christy Burns introduce this year's Hempstead County Leadership Class participants and a summary of the itinerary over the year for the class.

City Attorney Randal Wright received permission to use a deputy city attorney in his work who would be paid from his current contract. He asked for her to receive reimbursements for expenses related to Arkansas Municipal League training. The attorney is Brittnee K. Edmondson, a graduate of UALR Law School. 

In City Manager Report, Wilson stated the pools to be built as part of the Hope for the Future project have been recommended to be no more than five feet deep, reports are expected on the topography of the tennis/pickleball court and splashpad, veterans memorial designs are expected, wastewater projects are in preparation. 

Wilson revealed that sales tax collections for the first four months of 2025 have been down compared to the first months of 2024 by about 7.25 percent and the city portion of the county sales tax is down by 3 percent. This will require curtailments in spending.

Near the end of the meeting, discussion among board members arose about the site chosen for the new Hope Fire Department headquarters. Wilson had said in his report that if a portion of the property the city is to purchase at the former Village Shopping Center on East Third designated for other kinds of development would have to be paid for with general funds and could not be used for fire department purposes.  Reacting to this, along with the potential cost of asbestos remediation, Mayor Don Still and Directors Mark Ross and Trevor Coffee said or agreed that choosing an alternative site could not be ruled out. 

There being no citizens requests or comments, the meeting adjourned about an hour after it began.