DRAA meets in special session
Hears concerns from public on recent bid process over farmland
The Delta Regional Airport Authority on Thursday met in special session to discuss the bidding process of the farm lease and to hear concerns from members of the public as to whether the bid process was properly followed.
According to board secretary Mike Easley, DRAA president Shannon Hobbs recused himself from the meeting due to one of the bidders being his brothers, Wayne and Randell Hobbs.
"I believe that it is necessary, for Shannon's sake, to disclose to the public the fact that Shannon Hobbs is not a member of the farming group consisting of Randell Hobbs and Wayne Hobbs," said Easley. "He told me very early on that he opted out of farming operation and he is involved in the equipment sales business. He sent me the documentation of it and after reviewing it, there is a partnership that forms the entity that does not include Shannon."
Easley stated that the reason for the meeting was to hear concerns from the public regarding the bid process and how it was carried out and voted upon.
"We are here today to really air out this lease process to see if there is merit to the objection to the bids," said Easley. "We have an objection to the bid that was in the form of a letter that was sent to us by Mike Cone, the attorney for the Hobbs Family Farms. Mr. Cone, I would like for you to state the case as to why Mr. Edmond Barnes does not qualify to be awarded this bid."
According to Cone, there were issues with not only the Barnes bid but also the Hobbs Family Farms bid.
"I will not bore you with the details as I believe that the members of the board have been forwarded this letter, " said Cone. "It is the position of the Hobbs that there were no responsive bids submitted, including their own. Long story short is that our position is that this board is compelled under law to rebid this farm lease again."
Cone stated that Barnes did not submit a responsive bid, similar to the Hobbs family, whereas a letter of credit, according to Arkansas state law, was not presented, and that there was no proven and established farming experience seen.
"We believe there are two basis for Mr. Barnes bid to not be responsive due to the current bid. In reviewing the bid application submitted by Mr. Barnes, there is nothing in his letter that indicates that he satisfies the 10 years of proven and established farming experience," said Cone. "He states he has worked on a farm for 26 years, but we have determined that this is far different from proven and established farming experience. This includes financing, cultivating, harvesting, spraying, marketing and those things are outlined in my letter.
This is much broader than the crop services that he provides. We are not demeaning what he does in any shape or fashion. When you put 10 years of proven farming experience, we believe it must be with the bid application and I believe that his bid is not responsive and must be rejected. The bid language said that the bid must also be accompanied by a bank letter of credit confirming that the leasee will be furnished by the bank for the duration of the lease. Under the law, a bank letter of credit is a technical term. It is an instrument by which the bank agrees to honor and pay when people submit payment requests to the bank. By you choosing to use the word bank letter of credit, this in no shape or fashion is a letter of credit under Arkansas law. You may say 'why do we need to rebid it? Because the Hobbs did not submit a bank letter of credit.' When I stated in my letter that we believed the bid should be awarded to the Hobbs, we now believe that is not the case. We think the only fair thing for you to do is rebid this and clarify the various issues in the bid that should be clarified."
According to Easley, Barnes gave references and contact information to prove his farming experience following the granting of the lease at the Dec. 17 meeting of the DRAA.
"I think that we can see by the letter that Mr. Barnes submitted where he cites his farming experience," said Easley. "Since, Mr. Barnes has furnished me with further proof of his history in farming. Mark Billingsley said 'Farming is all he has ever done. We have talked about everything involving farming. I trust Mr. Barnes' decisions as much as I trust my own. It blows my mind that anyone would question his ability. The guy knows farming better than anyone I know.' I also spoke with Tommy Keeling, Kevin Stidham and Ronnie Carey and did not receive a negative comment from any of them. I specifically asked all of these references if they had anything negative to say and none of them did."
"Did any of these conversations take place prior to Dec. 17, 2020," asked Cone.
"No they did not, we stood on the letter presented to us in the bid when we made our decision," said Easley.
DRAA member Corbin Brown moved to continue with the current lease agreement with Edmond Barnes and members Chad Runsick, Mike Easley, Nancy Jarratt, Tad Scarborough and Brown voted yes. Member Shirley Harvell voted no and member TaJuan Whitby abstained.
In the Tuesday, Jan. 12 edition of the Times- Herald, it was incorrectly stated that the Wynne and Forrest City Mayors appoint two members to the board and the Judges of Cross and St. Francis Counties appoint two members of the board each. Each mayor appoints three members to the board and each judge appoints one member to the board.