Montgomery files for re-election

with 16 years experience as Mayor of Decatur

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

— Mayor Bill Montgomery announced that he has filed to run for another term as mayor on Monday.

Montgomery has served as Decatur’s mayor for 16 years, and estimated he served on the city council for ten years before he became mayor, but his connection with Decatur began much earlier.

Montgomery was born and raised in Decatur and graduated from the Decatur High School. One of nine children, he grew up very quickly when his father died at age eight. Montgomery went to work at the Decatur State Bank as a senior in high school and over his 35 year career at the bank worked his way up to loan officer and eventually vice president. Since then he has worked in organics and recycling and is currently out of work.

Over the years, Montgomery has seen a lot of history as the town has changed, and he loves to sit down with friends and talk about how the town used to be, but just as much he loves to sit down and talk about the future, he said.

In the past 16 years as mayor, Montgomery has seen a lot of change and a lot of progress in Decatur. The biggest issue he has faced as mayor was the lawsuit over the Spavinaw Water Shed that lead to the building of the new wastewater treatment plant. When Montgomery came into office, he had to jump right in as he faced traveling to Federal Court in Tulsa with legal counsel every day.

As a result of the legal proceedings, the City of Decatur made an agreement to build a new wastewater treatment plant as part of the settlement, and Montgomery has seen the town through the entire process, from engineering, to getting bids, to selling bonds to the construction of the new plant.

After years of planning and hard work the plant was finally completed and went online last summer. Since then officials from Tulsa have toured the wastewater treatment plant and were very impressed with the new state of the art facility, according to Montgomery.

Montgomery said he has heard some criticism for spending so much money on a wastewater treatment plant, but explained that both himself and the city council were looking toward the future while planning the new plant.

While serving as Decatur’s mayor, Montgomery has also had a voice in building the new post office, the addition of the Benton Washington County Regional Water Authority to Decatur, new sidewalks, the extension of water lines beyond the city limits, phase one and two of a three phase annexation, the building of the Iva Jane Peek Library, Veterans Park and the new fire station.

Montgomery is also passionate about bringing new businesses to town. He met with FNA when the company decided to come to Decatur and has seen Simmons Foods buy Peterson Farms and bring their operation to the city, building a new pet food plant and bringing more jobs to the town.

Montgomery said he would like to see Decatur continue to grow even more, and pointed out the community has plenty of potential. Decatur has all the resources it needs for industry. The town sits on two major highways, it has plenty of water and wastewater capacity, land available for development and a railroad from Kansas City to New Orleans passing through.

“The future looks very bright for our area,” he said.

Montgomery has also worked to help businesses like Dollar General, and T-N-T Express come to Decatur.

Although a lot of cities have been hurting for revenue lately, Decatur has had a small but consistent revenue because of their businesses, he said.

“We have been able to keep things on the level,” Montgomery said.

If re-elected, Montgomery would like to work with the new county judge to improve Decatur’s streets. He would like to get some of the streets on the outskirts of town chipped and sealed, so that those who agreed to be annexed into the city will get more of the benefits of living within the corporate city limits.

Decatur is also getting ready for a major water line expansion to the south and east. Montgomery said the city is planning to upgrade some of the existing water system and add new water line, hooking into existing water line at Bredehoft Road.

With the current drought, having enough water is a concern for those who still rely on wells. The Decatur Sale Barn is one proposed customer on the new expansion in need of water.

In the future, Montgomery would like to have all water lines looped for continuous flow and have aerator tanks and filtration system so to make sure there is no sulfur in the water.

Decatur is one of the few cities that has its own wells and can produce some of its own water. This ability has kept Decatur’s water prices for customers probably one of the lowest in the area, Montgomery said.

Montgomery said his 35 years of banking experience help him serve as mayor, along with his rapport with people. State audits throughout his time as mayor, show that there have been no real issues despite a number of city clerks and administrative assistants serving throughout that time.

Montgomery said his current staff does an excellent job.

“I feel we have one of the best groups of department heads we could ask for,” he said.

Montgomery also said Decatur has a great council and he would like to take them to municipal league meetings so they could learn more about city government.

Montgomery said he would like to see the position of Decatur’s mayor become full time so that the next mayor can dedicate even more time to helping the community grow. A full time mayor could also spend more time sitting on municipal league committees giving northwest Arkansas, and especially the west side of Benton County, another voice.

“I’m here for the citizens of Decatur. I want to be more readily available, even if the mayor's position is part time,” he said.

Montgomery will be running for re-election in November against Charles Linam, according to records from the Benton County Clerk’s office.