Gravette works to become 'great city'

City Council of the Whole meets...

GRAVETTE -- The Gravette City Council Committee of the Whole meeting was held March 13 with all council members present except Amy Rambadt. Written reports were submitted by all department heads.

The meeting was preceded by a short special council meeting to vote on two lot splits, one on Stidham Lane in Hiwasse and the other on Limekiln Road just south of Saunders Lane. Both were approved by unanimous vote.

Mayor Byron Warren announced a class at the Arkansas Municipal League March 21 which councilwoman Margo Thomas will be attending and showed a short video from the Municipal League, "Great Cities Make a Great State."

A short discussion was held on the possibility of moving some of the flashing lights near the school zone. Councilman Richard Carver also noted there was a need for sidewalks from the bus barn to the high school and continuing on down Main Street. Councilman Bob Robinson said he felt building a fire station at Hiwasse was a priority and suggested some of the city's available grant funds might be used for that project. Mayor Warren felt inmate labor could be used to pour concrete which would help save money.

Fire Chief David Smith announced the fire department had initiated a new reporting system and said that rumors of community service workers washing private vehicles were apparently unfounded.

Police Chief Andrew Bower reported some police radios had gone out but there was a possibility Cencom might provide some help to replace them. He was wearing one of the new Gravette PD uniforms for the first time that day. An ordinance setting the number of subordinate police officers will be on the agenda for the March 27 council meeting. Bower explained it would simply maintain current manpower. His research shows that manpower coverage is about right in relation to population size, but the department is badly understaffed as far as land area covered. He presented a sketch showing plans to complete the sally port at the police station and reported he has talked with the library's architect about how to do this most economically. He has written a grant proposal which also includes some remodeling of the ceilings in the women's restroom and some outside landscaping.

Corey Reardon, water and sewer department manager, submitted reports on time delays experienced by Seven Valleys Concrete during the recent sewer plant upgrade project. He said Seven Valleys did good work and he recommended not penalizing them too much. Council members agreed to charge them only $14,000, the city's actual expense to the construction firm.

Signs for the Hiwasse community were discussed and Mayor Warren presented two bids that had been submitted, one from Electric Resources and one from D-Sign. A third bid is expected soon and Warren said he would prepare bid sheets when that is received.

An update of the employee handbook was discussed in new business. Changes in the handbook will be on the agenda for the March 27 council meeting. One revision will involve changing probationary health care coverage from 90 days to 60 days.

Ken Foxx, representing the planning commission, spoke about the need for a city master plan. He said the planning commission wants resources to "make Gravette outstanding, not just another small town on the 59 corridor." Decisions must be made about what we want to do as a city, and then how to get there, he said. Needs include a master street plan, better infrastructure, improving zoning regulations and more interaction between groups in the city, including the planning commission and the Chamber of Commerce. He said he had talked with a northwest Arkansas development commission which has money and "just needs reasons why the city is a good candidate to invest in." Mayor Warren agreed the needs Foxx presented were all valid and particularly emphasized the need for a city project manager.

Councilman Terry King expressed a desire to see the city get the youth involved in projects. "After all, they are the future of our city," he said. Suggestions were made to work with the civics class or EAST lab to accomplish this. Mayor Warren agreed to contact the school about this possibility.

Finance director Tracy Sewell presented the February financial reports. The capital improvement and general fund income is down but she noted that general fund expenses are always high at the beginning of the year. She noted that the city had saved money because the street department already had materials on hand to deal with the recent ice storms. She said that this is probably the last year the city will be on a cash basis for accounting. An accrual accounting method will be needed if Gravette becomes a first class city. She said the city was also working toward getting annual audits. Amending and closing the 2013 budget will be on the agenda for the March 27 council meeting.

City wage scales were again discussed and Corey Reardon noted the city had recently lost a water department employee to a town that paid better. Cost of implementing the new wage scales was discussed and it was noted that 3/4 of the city's salaries are insufficient relative to neighboring cities.

Councilwoman Margo Thomas suggested removing cemetery maintenance from the city crew's duties and possibly hiring a contractor to do that job as the street/parks employees are already hard pressed to get their work done, particularly during the summer mowing season. Mayor Warren agreed the city might save some money by outsourcing the job. Tim Dewitt, who manages the cemetery crew, agreed to compile a job description for that position.

General News on 03/19/2014