GRAVETTE -- Gravette City Council held its regular meeting Thursday night. All council members were present except Margo Thomas. City recorder Mike von Ree presided in the absence of the mayor.

A short public hearing was held at the beginning of the meeting. Cassie Elliott, a grant writer from Highfill, presented information concerning a grant that would benefit the Gravette Public Library building fund. Gravette meets eligibility requirements for the grant from the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program but it must be applied for through the city. The grant is for $200,000 and is a 100 percent grant with no matching funds required. The grant application is due April 1.

Following the hearing, city council members passed a resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for the grant on behalf of the city. The resolution states that the city council "recognizes the need for the project, concurs on its importance and supports Gravette in its efforts to proceed."

Council members approved the contract with Morrison-Shipley engineering firm for proposed sewer system upgrades. Projected sewer line replacement will involve all the alley between Birmingham, S.E., and Atlanta, S.E., to Second Street, El Paso, S.E., from the school to Second Street and the Highway 59/72 intersection from the alley at In Zone to Marvin's. Old clay pipes will be removed and replaced by 8-inch PVC pipes. The project is funded by the sewer improvement bond.

In other business, the council approved proposed changes to the city's employee handbook regarding fire department sick leave and vacation time and military leave. Each uniformed fire department employee will be granted an annual vacation of not less than 15 days with full pay. Each employee will accumulate 1 1/4 days vacation time for each month of service. All firefighters will accumulate sick leave of up to 15 working days a year, beginning one year after the date of employment. The city will pay for up to 15 days of military leave per calendar year for annual training, active-duty training or inactive-duty training. If the employee takes military leave for service during an emergency (state-defined), the city will pay for up to 30 days leave.

Both the 2014 city council meeting schedule and the 2014 holiday calendar, as set forth in the employee handbook, were approved.

At the conclusion of the meeting, council member Richard Carver said some of the expected funding for signs in the Hiwasse area had fallen through. He asked the council to consider possible funding for one sign. This will be placed on the agenda for the February committee of the whole meeting.

Council member Amy Rambadt asked for a discussion of the city website to be placed on the February committee of the whole agenda. She said several citizens were asking about the website and she would like to be able to answer their questions.