Gravette City Council selects Carver to take over as chairman

GRAVETTE — Gravette City Council members selected Richard Carver as their new committee chair April 14 during the Committee of the Whole meeting.

Carver will take over for former chairman Ron Theis, who has moved from the city.

Reports were heard from several department heads. Police chief Chuck Skaggs praised officer Felisha Latham. He said she has completed phase one of her training and will be going to the police academy soon, so she will soon be on patrol in Gravette.

David Keck, building inspector and code enforcement officer, reported he was gearing up for added spring code enforcement duty. He said he had sent out several letters about the annual spring cleanup.

Richard Sutherland, Water Department head, said he is working with both engineers and the Department of Health on four different projects. He said he now has a full crew, and they are being trained.

Karen Benson, library manager, reported storytime is being held again at the library. She also reported Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will be bringing their CB to You mobile lab to Old Town Park from 2-4 p.m. May 14.

Fire chief David Orr reported training is going well. He said the Fire Department would begin testing hydrants next month and plan to test a quarter of the hydrants each year.

Tim Dewitt, Streets and Parks Department manager, said 16 dumpsters were filled during spring cleanup. He said 130 trees were distributed in 53 minutes at the city’s giveaway. Also, the city’s new backhoe arrived recently, he said.

A special council meeting was convened to consider two items of business. First on the agenda was a motion to approve the large-scale development plan for New Life Christian Church. The motion passed unanimously, approving the plan to construct a 20,000-square-foot facility on the church’s 15 acres near the bypass.

Also approved at the special meeting was the purchase of three vehicles at state bid prices, a Ford Interceptor SUV at $ 35,694.96, a 2022 Dodge Durango Pursuit at $ 33,814 and a 2022 Dodge Charger Pursuit all-wheel drive at $28,715.

Finance director Carl Rabey said $ 70,000 has been budgeted from the capital improvement fund for the first two vehicles and the third will be purchased with $15,000 from the capital improvement fund and the remainder from the American Rescue Plan funds.

After the special council meeting was adjourned, Chamber of Commerce president Steve Harari gave a quarterly update on chamber projects, focusing on four areas, business retention, business expansion, business recruitment and hosting and advertising community events. He reported on recent chamber meetings and announced the launch of the Gravette area app, urging everyone to promote the area by signing up their businesses and downloading the app.

Four candidates for the vacant City Council position introduced themselves and were given five minutes to present a brief profile of themselves to the council. Council members will choose one of the four applicants — James Denver, Shane Hargrave, Mary Edmondson or Mike Dennison — at the April 28 city council meeting.

In other business, council members considered Orr’s request to declare as surplus a 2008 Ford ambulance that is no longer in service. A resolution to surplus the vehicle will be on the agenda for the April 28 council meeting.

Mayor Kurt Maddox said that due to City Clerk Mike von Ree’s ill health, there is a need for an alternate signer for city checks. An alternate will be chosen at this month’s City Council meeting.

Council members discussed securing easements for water line projects on Birmingham Street, Arkansas 59 and Mount Pleasant Road. Maddox suggested focusing on Birmingham Street and delaying the other projects.

A fee schedule for updating the city zoning code from Garver Engineering was presented. A vote to approve the estimated fees of $46,317 will be on the agenda for the April 28 City Council meeting with a proposal to pay half this year and half in 2023.

A clarification of policy for private lift stations was presented. The policy specifies that lift stations on private property must be maintained by the property owner. The city will maintain only public lift stations serving more than one customer.

Rabey presented a resolution approving adjustments to the 2022 budget which will be voted on at the April 28 council meeting. He said there are several small adjustments to be made. In his monthly financial report, he showed a $38,000 surplus in the general fund, a $1,000 shortfall in the Water Department fund and a $41,000 surplus in the Street Department fund. He said he had no bond update.

Rabey said the water audit fieldwork has been completed and announced he has completed the level 1 training for City Government 101 for certified municipal officials and will complete level 2 training in Leadership 101 in May. Rabey thanked Cindy Pembleton, human resources and assistant finance director, saying she was a tremendous help to him.