Council approves budget resolutions at auditor’s request
City to begin seeking bids on sealant to help extend life of work on streets
The Forrest City City Council passed two resolutions during Tuesday’s council meeting.
Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams told the council that auditors found some things in the 2020 budget that need to be amended.
"They found a couple of things on the way we approved the 2020 amended budget," said Williams.
He told the council that with the changes to the revised amended budget, the original amended budget used the general fund sub-total revenue line in the resolution instead of the total line. Line items were also added to the revised amended budget to include confiscated drug money, crime stoppers, district judges, clerks' retirements and more.
"The main thing was the sales and use tax bond money left over from 2019 was not included in our amended budget for 2020," said Williams.
Williams also reported some changes to the December 2020 income lines for the general and solid waste funds. The payable line amount in the street fund for December 2020 was also corrected.
The resolution included two amendments, with the first for the 2020 budget being for the 2020 revenues of $17,392,267.58 to be amended to $20,300,489.78. The second amendment to the 2020 budget was for the 2020 budget expenditures of $15,693,203.68 to be amended to $17,117,051.72.
When put to vote, the council unanimously to approved the resolution, with only councilman Justin Reeves not in attendance.
The second resolution amended the city’s 2021 budget.
"We did vote to amend the street overlay portion by adding $500,000 to the street overlay budget,” said Williams. “What this resolution does is make it cleaner for the auditors as far as the desire of the council in amending that budget and adding those additional figures.”
At a previous council meeting, the group voted to increase the street department overlay line item from $250,000 to $750,000 due to damages to the streets because of the February snow storms.
"Mayor, just to be clear, we have already voted to do this. We are just voting now with a resolution to have a document to back everything up, correct?" asked councilman Chris Oswalt during the discussion phase to which Williams answered yes.
When put to vote, councilman Jason Evansingston opposed the resolution, with all other council members in attendance voting in favor of it.
In other business, the council approved the appointment of Kendall Owens as the newest Delta Regional Airport Authority board member.
Owens is replacing TaJuan Whitby, who recently resigned.
"Kendall Owens has been a former reporter for the TimesHerald and has experience covering the DRAA meetings," Williams told the council. "He is currently the public relations director with the Forrest City School District."
Councilman Danny Capps asked if there were any other applicants for the position or any other names submitted.
"Yes, but Mr. Owens was the only one who submitted a letter expressing his interest in serving on the board," answered Williams.
Evansingston asked if the council would be able to see the letter and if Owens had submitted a resumé.
Williams read Owen's letter of interest, which included work history, but said the city had not requested a resumé.
The council voted to approve Owens’ appointment, with Evansingston abstaining from the vote.
The council also agreed to allow the city to seek bids on sealants for certain roads in the city that need work.
(Continued from Page 1) Williams explained that a layer of asphalt would be used to seal areas with large amounts of cracking, but there is also a coating applied afterward to help extend the longevity of the repairs.
"This is for our roads with the mass amount of cracking," said Williams."This extends the life of the road a lot longer when we do this."
Council members approved payment from general funds in the amount of $18,103.79; solid waste funds for $9,772.48; street funds for $4,457.85 and water for $19,008.39. Evansingston voted against each bill payment amount.
Williams also told the council that the city’s Farmers Market would open on Saturday, June 5, at the Civic Center parking lot.
"I know we have at least five farmers committed to be there and a food truck committed to be there on Saturday," said Williams, while also encouraging council members to visit the market.
Williams also said a Juneteenth proclamation signing would be rescheduled at a later date due to inclement weather, which cancelled an event scheduled for Tuesday, prior to the council meeting.
"Monday was also officially the end of the public health emergency as declared by Gov. (Asa) Hutchinson for the state," said Williams, who then encouraged residents who had not yet been vaccinated to seek vaccinations to continue to help curb the spread of Covid.
Williams told the council that children 12 and older could now receive the Pfizer vaccination and that UAMS recently visited the Forrest City School District to administer doses.
"Also, June 15 is a very important meeting,” said Williams. “An ordinance will be presented with the sale of our bonds with sales and use tax. It is very important that all council members be here as the bond attorney will be here.”
Oswalt asked that future resolutions be included with the information council members receive before meetings.
Evansingston asked Williams to ask each of the city’s department directors to attend the next council meeting to present updates on their departments.