Video of the meeting in its entirety can be seen below the photos that follow this article.

At the second regular August meeting of the Hope City Board, Parks Superintendent Summer Chambers gave the news to the board, the mayor, the city manager and several attendees that this year’s Watermelon Festival was well attended despite the scorching heat of all three days.  The nearly hour-long meeting also featured a delegation by the board to Chambers of the power to choose the colors that will be used on the splash pad, which is set to be installed over the next several months at Northside Park.

Assistant City Manager Daniel Shelman presided over the meeting as City Manager J.R. Wilson sat in the usual place of Hope Finance Director and City Clerk Cindy Clark.  From this seat he would help answer questions about the city’s financial report.

During City Manager’s report, Shelman said he had placed in the city directors’ pre-meeting information packets information from placer.ai, which allows the city to monitor how many cell phones are on in given locations and therefore arrive at precise numbers of foot traffic. “It'll give you tons and tons of data about how many people attended, where they attended from, how long they stayed, where they went to eat lunch at, all kinds of information,” he said.  “Overall, we've seen about a six percent increase over last year in total attendance at the festival.”

Chambers then came to the podium, saying, “[For] he first year we've not really had any negative feedback on the festival. I've heard nothing but positive things, which has been great to me. It was the hottest year, but it was also the best attendance we've had in a very long time. “ The number of softball teams participating in the 49th Annual Watermelon Festival Tournament was 114, which was up by 40 teams.  Eighteen teams competed in cornhole. Only one incident required police at the softball fields. 

“I only had to call them once during softball. It was to the women's field, which is very good, since usually it's 10 to 12 times at night. We play all night. So it was great,” Chambers said.

“I talked to a lot of people, and like her, I've not heard any negative feedback,” Shelman said. “Seemed like spirits were really good. Everybody was glad to be there. Maybe the weather was a little bit cooler. That report says 30,800 people.”

Earlier in the meeting, Chambers presented options to the board of colors to be used for canopies for benches and for the parts of the splashpad, which RJR Enterprises won the contract to build for $384,000.  The project will be paid for with proceeds from a one-cent sales tax passed in the November 2024 election.  Since the passage, the city has gone through the process of a bond issue so that it can acquire funds in advance of the tax being collected over the next 15 years. A splashpad at Northside Park has long been one of the most requested projects, with the city applying at least twice unsuccessfully for state grants to fund it.

After showing slides of printed matter sent by RJR, the board members expressed a willingness to trust Chambers with the ultimate choices.  This was made official with the unanimous approval of a motion.

The next steps for the splashpad, according to agenda information made public before the meeting is “1. Pre-construction meeting, contract signing, obtain insurance certificates and provide notice to proceed estimated in second week of September. 2. Approximate 120 days for Splashpad construction. 3. Bathrooms, electrical and lighting are currently out for bid.”

The meeting also featured a period when city directors could ask questions about the July financial report which they were presented a printout of.  Director Trevor Coffee asked about various budget lines that showed revenues not coming at the expected pace or expenditures being ahead of what would be expected after seven months.  

Generally, the answers from City Manager Wilson and Assistant City Manager Shelman were that grant funding had not arrived yet reimbursing the city for work ongoing or completed, or that supplies and resources had been purchased for use in the future.

Two items pertaining to the landfill were discussed.  Shelman said he had become aware of an opportunity for EPA funding of an abatement project that would otherwise cost the city about half a million dollars.  The city quickly sent pre-application material to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission by the deadline to compete for the funds. “If approved, we will find out about that in November, and then if we don't get it this year, there's one more year of this funding available, and then this program is discontinued,” Shelman said.  The board passed a motion unanimously to proceed with applying.

The board also voted to declare a 1996 International Dump Truck with unknown mileage accumulation that has had $22,000 invested in repairs and which has transmission, rear-wheel, broken hood and truck bed problems.  

In the City Manager’s Report, Shelman provided the following information:

·       The staff is cooperating with an audit of 2024 records, which will finish by September 30th.

·       Debris has been cleaned by the Street Department from creek beds north of East Third and south of the Bill Clinton Boulevard bypass.

·       Work is near complete in addressing erosion along a drainage ditch in Northside Park.  

·       The splashpad bathroom, parking and electrical project has been let out for bid and advertised. Bids will be opened August 28th at 1:30 p.m.

·       The Recreation/Aquatic Center audiovisual outfitting Request for Qualifications has been advertised.  Deadline to receive these is August 29th.

·       An issue arose at the last meeting alleging that orange bags used for volunteer cleanup were too thin.  But measurements taken with a caliper confirmed they are actually slightly thicker than black bags.

·       Overgrown trees on Park Drive are soon to be addressed.

·       The city is awaiting cost estimates for a Phase 2 Environmental Study of the prospective location of the new Fire Department.  A grant is being sought to cover the cost of asbestos remediation of the buildings remaining at Village Shopping Center on East Third.  Wilson recommended demolishing the north-south running buildings first, but waiting for grant funding to help with the asbestos abatement of the east-west buildings.

The meeting adjourned at about 5 minutes before 8 p.m, having started at 7.

Above photo: Hope Parks Superintendent Summer Chambers speaks to the City Board Tuesday night about the Watermelon Festival, which ended ten days ago.