DECATUR -- The Decatur City Council closed 2017 on a positive note during its regular meeting Dec. 11 in the conference room at Decatur City Hall. Topping the agenda was a contract between the cities of Decatur and Gravette for emergency medical and ambulance services.
An article in the Aug. 30 issue of the Westside Eagle Observer newspaper landed Gravette Mayor Kurt Maddox in hot water over a resolution he presented to the Gravette City Council during its Aug. 24 meeting. The resolution, which was passed by the council, adopted an inter-local agreement for ambulance service between the cities of Decatur, Sulphur Springs and Gravette.
In the resolution, Decatur agreed to pay Gravette $35,000 for service in 2018 and $40,00 in 2019. But, according to Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp, no such agreement was ever made.
According to the May and June council minutes and several council members, no contract was ever approved; nor was the $30,000 payment for which Gravette asked. The city of Decatur did make a payment of $15,000 to help the Gravette Fire Department recover some of its cost, but that was as far as the matter went. According to Tharp, there was never any invoice for payment sent to Decatur for these services.
Gravette's finance manager, Carl Rabey, says otherwise. He submitted to the Eagle Observer a copy of a February invoice the city of Gravette sent to Decatur. The February 13 letter from Rabey addressed to Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp states: "This letter serves as an invoice for the Annual 2017 Gravette Ambulance Service Billing. Please remit the amount of $30,000.00 upon receipt of this invoice."
According to Rabey, there was, in the beginning of 2017, "a communication via a letter on Gravette letterhead informing the Mayor as to the amount due for the calendar year 2017 and Decatur did indeed pay one half of the annual amount due based upon this communication. It was not until just recently that the mayor requested a formal invoice be sent because the auditors requested a formal invoice for their records. Upon his request, we did comply and send the mayor a request for payment in what one would consider invoice form."
A contract for the inter-municipal emergency medical services was ultimately reached and approved by the Decatur council during the Dec. 11 meeting.
The contract states that the city of Decatur agreed to pay $30,000 for 2017, half of which was already received by Gravette. The remaining $15,000 would be paid by Dec. 15. The contract will be automatically renewed on the anniversary date, which is Dec. 31 at midnight.
Decatur residents living within the city limits will be covered for emergency services under the new contract.
In other council business, James Boston gave an update on the crosswalk and school zone sign project which the council approved in November.
A new crosswalk in downtown Decatur was needed to protect pedestrians from serious injury while crossing Main Street near the Gallery Cafe. Once completed, sometime within the next three months, signs will be posted on either side of the pedestrian crossing warning motorists of its presence.
School zone signs will be placed nearby on the roads that pass the four Decatur schools.
The Decatur City Council meets every second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the conference room at Decatur City Hall. The first 30 minutes of the meeting are open to citizen comments and concerns. For more information, call the city clerk's office at 479-752-3912.
General News on 12/20/2017