GENTRY — City council members approved an interlocal hazmat response agreement resolution at the Dec. 3 council meeting which would make Gentry a participating city in use of the new Benton County hazmat response team which is replacing a Benton and Washington County team set to disband at the close of the year.
The agreement will make it possible for the city of Gentry to use the services of the team should an incident occur involving hazardous materials. The team will be manned by trained personnel from the cities of Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Bella Vista and Siloam Springs. Cities providing the manpower and equipment for the new team will not be assessed a fee. Gentry and other cities who agree to the use of the team pay an annualper capita fee - 38 cents per person in Gentry.
The fee is almost the same as what the city was paying for the services of the Benton and Washington County response team and was estimated to cost the city only about $400 more per year, Gentry Mayor Kevin Johnston said.
The new Benton County hazmat team, it is estimated, will be up and running early in 2013, with mutual assistance agreements covering needs until the team is in place.
See “Benton County to form own hazmat team” elsewhere in this issue for additional information on the new team and the reason for the dissolution of the two-county team.
In other action, the Gentry City Council, at its regular Dec. 3 meeting, passed an ordinance on three readings with a single vote, and with an emergency clause, to establish a depository board to oversee deposits of city funds. Thedepository board will be made up of the mayor, city clerk and council member chair of the finance committee - currently Janice Arnold.
The council approved the low bid of Lemke Lawns for the city’s lawn mowing service for 2013. The city received three bids for the job: Blade Away - $35,275; Always There Lawn Care - $35,250; and Lemke Lawns - $34,195. Lemke Lawns is the existing provider and is responsible for most of the lawn mowing in the city’s parks, cemeteries and at city properties. Some lawn mowing is also done by fire department personnel.
An ordinance was passed on its third and final reading to vacate a portion of unused street right of way on property located in the College Hill Addition to the city (near the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department substation inGentry). The city has not used the property and has no plans for future use.
The council was informed of a 100-percent grant available from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department for the purpose of providing safe routes for children to walk or bicycle to school. The city intends to apply for the grant in order to complete more sidewalks and possible crosswalk improvements to make it safer for children to walk or ride a bicycle to school.
The grant is for improvements within two miles of a kindergarten through eighth grade school, which takes in most of the city, including current sidewalk improvement plans for Main Street and South Collins.
The council discussed a comment form regarding the application of Gentry’s EZ Mart, located on West Main Street, to sell beer and wine for off-premises consumption. As long as all legal requirements are met, there is little the city can do in regard to the application.
A date and time for a special council meeting to adopt a city budget for 2013 and take action on a required energy code was set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18.
News, Pages 1 on 12/12/2012