Decatur considers appropriate action for Head Start grant application

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

DECATUR - A special meeting of the Decatur City Council was called by Mayor Charles Linam on Thursday to consider a request by Head Start of Northwest Arkansas to build a new facility in Decatur.

This facility would be open to children from infancy to age 4. The proposed site would be located on the site of the old barbecue pit north of the swimming pool in the old city park.

The city would apply for a grant, totaling $325,000, to be used for construction of the Head Start facility to be located on city-owned property.

“On the grant, we have to specify a location,” Linam said of the grant requirements.

Officials with the Head Start program scouted several possible locations suggested by Linam. The old park site was the one that best suited the school’s requirements of flat terrain and proximity to Simmons Processing plant.

“It’s situated close to Simmons; and, with that, the working families in this impoverished circle, low income working families, will be able to drop their children off and pick them up. That’s what we are looking for,” explained Jerry Adair, executive director of Head Start of Northwest Arkansas.

Adair and Kaleigh Rigdon, community partnership coordinators, were on hand to answer questions about the project.

“If we’re not locked into the exact piece of property, I’m OK, councilman Robert Tharp said, expressing his concerns about the project site, “Personally, I love what you (Head Start) do for the community. I love the vision, a huge facility that would do more for our town. We need to find a place where Decatur wins, Head Start wins,” he stated.

Tharp said he was contacted by several residents in the community expressing concern that the old park site was unsuitable for this kind of facility.

Tharp worried that dust and odors from the Simmons plant would be harmful to the students at the proposed site. He further expressed his concerns about the proximity to the railroad and street traffic and whether it would present a danger to young students. Adair assured him that Head Start had thoroughly researched the safety issues and they would not present a problem.

Part of their master plan includes construction of a fence around the property.

Two other sites were considered for the Head Start expansion. One was the old Decatur Elementary school building. Linam quickly dismissed this site on the grounds that the city does not own the property. The other site being considered is a piece of property in Veteran’s Park. The property is located south of the baseball field, just off Austin Street. This tract of land might work should the old park property not work.

“I want to work with you and find a great piece of property,” Tharp exclaimed.

According to the grant guidelines, the filing deadline is set no later than 4 p.m. on May 1. Tharp expressed his concern about the short notice, calling it “a knee jerk reaction.”

“We only received the information two weeks ahead of time,” Adair replied.

According to Adair, officers at the state agency felt that this grant would be ideal for the expansion of the program in this area.

A concern was raised about the zoning of the old park property. Rigdon asked how the property was currently zoned and whether it would need to be zoned “starting school.”

Linam asked if there was a need to involve the Decatur Planning and Zoning Committee.

Tharp, along with council members Kim Wilkins, Kim Goble and Nan McClain, all agreed that calling a special meeting of the committee would be in the best interest of the Head Start project. Linam announced a special meeting of the Planning and Zoning committee, to be followed by a city council meeting, on Monday.

Rigdon said the city should know if it received the grant by July 1. She also responded to rumors concerning the closure of the Decatur program should this proposal fail.

“Regardless of which way this goes, we’ll still be in the community,” she said.

See next week's issue for council action on Monday.

News, Pages 16 on 05/01/2013