City Puts Plan In Place To Prevent Fraud

PRAIRIE GROVE — The city is going to be the first in the state to use an epayables program to pay some bills and vendors with a credit card, instead of writing a city-issued physical check.

Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services, and city clerk Christine Kelly explained the program to City Council members at their Feb. 18 meeting.

The council passed a resolution approving the epayables program to pay bills with a credit card.

Kelly said the city requested permission from Legislative Audit to use a credit card in response to fraud that has hit municipalities across the nation, including Prairie Grove.

After the meeting, Kelly said Arvest Bank flagged a check written on what appeared to be the city’s account for about $600 out of another state in December. The document looked like a city check and had Kelly’s and Oelrich’s signatures on it.

What alerted the bank to possible fraud was that the check number was much higher than recent checks issued by the city. Arvest called to verify the check and found out it was fraud.

Using the epayable system, the city will use a credit card to pay bills but the account number will change each time the card is used, Kelly said.

The city will benefit from using the credit card through Arvest because the bank is offering a 1.39-percent cash back rebate for those that use the program. Oelrich said the city could earn $4,000-$6,000 in bonuses.

The city already is using a system recommended by the Arkansas Municipal League called “positive pay.” The way this works, Kelly said, is that she has to log in with the bank the check number, date and amount of every check before the bank will let a check go through.

The city will only be able to use the epayables program for those vendors and businesses that also sign up for it.

In other action last week, the council approved the preliminary plat for Belle Meade subdivision, phase 4. Council members approved a request to rezone the property last year to an R-1.75 zoning classification. The new phase will have 55 single-family lots.

The Council also approved two ordinances to rezone a strip of land along Heritage Parkway from commercial to single-family residential and rezone land next to the former Pit Stop gas station on the western edge of Prairie Grove on U.S 62 from A-1 to B-2. Owner Edith Tillman requested the rezoning. The Tillman ordinance was passed with an emergency clause because she has a sale pending on the land.

Another resolution made some changes in police policies. As explained by Chief Chris Workman, one policy limits the number of people who have access to evidence. The other puts a policy in place for the scene of a critical incident.

The city is purchasing a new sanitation truck this year and is considering a cart tipper that goes on the back of the truck. The city then would retrofit another trash truck with a cart tipper.

Residents would have to purchase their own carts and be responsible for maintaining their carts. The carts would have to be purchased from the city.

Oelrich said projects the city needs to start considering in the future include a downtown drainage study and a new water storage tank.

The city probably is about five years away from another water storage tank but he noted the cost will be significant, in the range of $1 million.

For the downtown drainage study, Oelrich recommended the city start talking to engineers in August.