HIGHFILL — Having no old business and no new business to handle at its first meeting of 2017, held on Jan. 10 at the city hall, the largest part of the unusually brief Highfill Council meeting included updates given by Mayor Stacy Digby on the Highfill Community Building and on a large tax payment received in December.
According to Digby, two layers of vinyl siding were removed from the Community Building, revealing some siding which was split and a little bit more which had rotted or had termite damage. Digby said work teams from the county jail had come out and removed the vinyl siding for the city.
Digby said photos of the building with the vinyl siding removed were being sent to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program to obtain direction on how the city should proceed in its restoration efforts.
The Community Building was once a schoolhouse in the area, and the city is seeking to restore it and have it listed on the National Register of Historic Places and hopes to obtain additional grant funding to complete the restoration.
Digby said the building had no insulation in the walls and the city may need to strip it down and insulate it properly before replacing wooden siding on the building. He also reported that a water leak at the building had been repaired but said he intended to shut off the water and drain pipes in the building for the winter months, unless someone needs to use it, because of the possibility of pipes in the uninsulated walls freezing, even with heat on inside the building.
Digby said he was planning to meet with the restoration committee to determine the next steps to take in the registration and restoration project.
A large tax check received in December was reported by Digby. The tax check in the amount of $395,664 was about $330,000 more than the usual monthly tax payment. Digby said the state would not explain the reason for the large check.
It could be from the large projects at the airport, or it might be payment for car rentals that was originally credited to another municipality, or it may be a combination of things, Digby speculated.
He said the money was placed in the city's savings account for now to see what happens with tax payments in future months before making any changes to the 2017 budget. He explained the need to have some backup funds in the city's savings account in the event of an unexpected major expenditure to repair or replace such things as water pumps in the city's water system or to do emergency road repairs.
Digby reported a smooth transition on trash service from the old provider to the new and said no to requesting dumpsters be added to the contract since city code already requires all residents to have trash service and the service already includes bulky item pickup.
Work at the fire station was also reported to be progressing, with first and second floors completed and ready for drywall.
General News on 01/18/2017