GRAVETTE -- An open public forum was held preceding the Gravette city council committee of the whole meeting Aug. 11 to discuss the proposed Main Street improvement project. Diagrams of four different plans were on display and citizens commented on which they preferred.
Council members will consider the input from citizens and recommendations of Main Street residents and business owners and make the final decision. Kurt Maddox, Gravette mayor, said a decision would be made within the next 30 days.
Maddox asked for a vote on whether those present preferred one-way or two-way traffic on Main Street, and the vote was about evenly divided. Kelly Wallace, a Main Street resident, voted for two-way and commented about the heavy traffic down Main after football games.
Paulette Austin, of Austin Drug, expressed concern about access to the pharmacy during construction and was not in favor of the plants, saying they required maintenance and the streets and parks employees were overworked already.
Mayor Maddox said some of that work would be bid out and said some planters could be replaced with brick pavers, benches and trash cans. Electrical wires will all be underground.
A short special council meeting was also held preceding the COW meeting to consider a lot split. An ordinance was passed approving a lot split for Joseph Adler on S.W. Sixth Avenue.
Monthly reports were given by several department heads. Tim Dewitt, parks and street department manager, said his crews were ready for Gravette Day except for removing one dead tree at the Arkansas Highways 59 and 72 intersection.
Corey Reardon, water and sewer department manager, said that installation of the last new water meters would begin Aug. 15.
Melissa Burnett, council member, said she noticed the exhaust on the ambulance was smoking. She was told it was currently in the shop. Council member Richard Carver suggested a regular program of maintenance is needed.
Police sergeant Chuck Skaggs reported that extra patrols would be out on Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night during the Gravette Day weekend. In response to a question about recent news reports on tracking an injured canine, Skaggs replied that the city's canine officer is equipped with a GPS. He also said they were upgrading the air conditioning in the back of the canine vehicle.
Mayor Maddox reported that the county was dropping all city inspections Oct. 1 so he was looking into getting an independent contractor to do inspections and checking into working together with Highfill, Springtown, Gentry and Decatur and sharing an inspector.
Chris Speights, city finance director, said the financials were right on target. She said she was working on a contract for a company to do an audit on the past three years to determine where the city was paying unnecessary taxes. The proposed contract will be voted on at the Aug. 25 council meeting. She reported that Vibranz had saved the city $60 a month on copier contracts.
Kim Schneider, library manager, was not present but Maddox reported that the state fire marshal had inspected the library building for safety, not for repairs needed, so the city will hire a structural engineer to check the cutout in the pass-through in the center of the building. He said the uneven floor was not a structural problem and workmen could pull up the carpet, screw down the subfloor and relay the carpet to correct the problem. Damaged boards under the southwest corner of the building are from a fire about 50 years ago, Maddox said, and only about three boards are involved.
Board meeting minutes show that engineering requirements were waived on the library project but inspections were not waived, Maddox said, so the structural engineer will check it out and determine what needs to be done and an independent inspector will inspect the completed work.
In the future, the city will have a checklist of items to be completed before a certificate of occupancy is issued, he said.
"The general contractor should have known what to check," Maddox said. "It's his responsibility."
Tammie Loyd, owner of Sophie's Boutique, was present and asked if the problems with the library might affect her building since they share a wall. Maddox feels there is no cause for concern because it is the library's center wall rather than the shared wall that is in question.
General News on 08/24/2016