GENTRY — City council on Monday authorized the mayor to negotiate the possible purchase of the old “Snack Shack” property and approved the purchase of a new snow plow and accounting software for the city.

Though council members expressed hesitation to purchase the “Snack Shack” building and narrow lot on which it is built (the white building immediately east of the cityowned court offices) a motion authorizing the mayor to negotiate its purchase up to a maximum of $5,000 plus half of closing costswas passed by the council, with all voting in favor of the motion except councilman Warren Norman, who abstained from the vote.

The property’s owner had offered the building and lot to the city for $7,000. Several council members voiced concern over additional costs which might benecessary to make the building stable enough for possible resale or rent to be used as a business location open to the public.

Though he later voted in favor of negotiating the property purchase, alderman James Furgason expressed his reservations about purchasing the property for $7,000, saying there are numerous other vacant buildings on Main Street which have historical significance and areavailable to rent and that it may take a lot more money to bring the building up to standards.

If major remodeling is done, city code would require the building to be raised up to accommodate the required 18-inchcrawl space or the pouring of a concrete slab under it.

“If the city is looking for investment property, this is not a good investment from a purely business point of view,” Furgason said. “It’s not a good business decision.”

Councilwoman Janie Parks called purchasing the building - which is of historical significance to the city as one of the oldest buildings on Main Street and as the location of the old “Snack Shack” which operated in the city for many years - a step forward for the city if it wishes to pursue cleaning up Main Street and preserving Gentry’s history.

Parks called purchasing the building a “good economic development and historical preservation” move. She had, at the October meeting, suggested the council establish a non-profit arm to purchase and renovate business buildings and resell them as a way to promote economic development and clean up the city’s downtown district. She said the city could accomplish this one building at a time.

“I’m afraid if we let this slip away and go on the market, the new owner will demolish it,” Parks said. “If the city purchases it, we will keep a historic building.”

Mayor Kevin Johnston told the council the cost of making thebuilding stable couldn’t be known with certainty until the building's contents are removed and the walls, floor and ceiling are examined. He did say the cost to demolish the building was $2,600, should the city find the building beyond repair.

Parks suggested that an inexpensive way to make the building useable would be to remove the later addition in the rear of the building and replace that with an up-to-code electrical and plumbing addition while restoring the original main building as an open room.

Parks suggested that for the price of $7,000, the city could always sell it and recover its investment.

Gentry resident Jack Elder, a longtime real estate agent in attendance at the meeting, estimated the property to be worth closer to $5,000 because of the narrow width of the lot (about 25 feet). He said it would be hard to sell to a new business wishing to build because of its width. He also suggested the building, if it can be saved, may work well for a coffee shop because of its proximity to the library, senior center and court building.

After discussion about the building’s condition and historical significance, councilman Todd Wagner made a motion to authorize the mayor to negotiate a purchase for up to $4,000, including closing costs. His motion died for lack of a second. Councilman Jason Barrett moved to authorize the mayor to negotiate up to $5,000 plus half the closing costs. Wagner voiced his second, and the motion was passed.

In other business, the council unanimously approved the purchase of a new snow plow, of the same type as the city’s current plow, to be mounted on a truck at the fire station for snow removal. Cost for the plow will be $5,700 plus shipping, according to Johnston.

The city chose to purchase the same type plow so that spare parts would be interchangeable.

The council unanimously approved the sale of the fire department’s 1970 pumper truck (unit 2213) to the city of Hector. The small Arkansas city has only two fire trucks and one was broke down, Gentry fire chief Vester Cripps told the council.

The next highest bid was $300 less, according to Cripps.

Council members approved the demolition of the old American Legion Post in the Main Street park, accepting the low bid of Paul Smith for $3,600 to demolish thebuilding, haul it off and leave a clean surface. Other bids were 2T’s Construction - $4,500; and Paul Blood - $5,500.

According to Johnston, the building has major termite damage. He also said a recent attempt to re-establish an American Legion Post in Gentry failed due to insufficient interest.

The council voted unanimously to authorize the purchase of new accounting and billing software for the city at a cost of approximately $8,000 including taxes.

The software, from CSAsoftwaresolutions - Accounting & Billing Specialists, will be used for managing city accounts and to do city payroll. It also includes a feature making direct deposit possible. The new software was needed because the city’s current software is a 10-year-old DOS system without adequate support.

A redistricting ordinance, establishing new ward boundaries to equalize population among the city’s wards using figures from the 2010 U.S. Census, was passed on its third and final reading.

The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to submit an application for a 100-percent funded Arkansas Rural Development grant to be used toward the building of a new fire department substation on land recently donated by American Electric Power Company (at the southwest corner of Taylor Orchard and Marion Lee Roads). The grant of up to $50,000 would be supplemented by Act 833 funds to build the new sub station - similar to the substation at Cherokee City but slightly larger - so that the station’s construction would be at no cost to the city.

A proposed budget for 2012 was presented to the council, with meetings to review the budget proposal to begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14.

News, Pages 1 on 11/09/2011