Highfill council hears reports, to move forward with rate study

HIGHFILL — Gene Holland, Highfill’s fire chief, told the council at its Oct. 8 meeting that the fire department had rescued 20 people on Arkansas Highway 264 due to flooding and had on the morning of Oct. 8 responded to a structure fire, according to draft minutes of the meeting.

Michelle Rieff, Highfill’s mayor, thanked Police Chief Blake Webb, Fire Chief Gene Holland, Director of Operations Rob Holland and City Inspector JC Breneman, along with other city staff members and volunteers for their quick response on the previous weekend due to flooding.

The city council, on Oct. 8, considered the appointment of Robert Bell to the city’s planning commission to replace Pam Harwell, who resigned. No action was taken since Bell does not currently live within the city limits, according to draft minutes of the meeting.

The council adopted a motion to allow Sam McClarty to pay a large water bill which was the result of a water leak over the period of one year, according to draft minutes.

Councilmember Jayme Thompson made mention of a Facebook post showing a tree growing in a pothole and asked if the city was going to repair roads soon. Councilmember Chris Holland said the roads had been neglected for the past eight years and it would take some time to get roads fixed.

A resolution was passed establishing the city’s millage rate so that the county can collect the taxes for the city.

A motion was also passed to move forward on a rate analysis for the city’s water and sewer systems, according to draft minutes.

During the open public hearing, Mark Taylor asked if an ordinance would be passed to ensure minutes of meetings are made available to the public in a specific period of time following the meetings. Jay Williams, the city’s attorney, said the minutes would be available on the Tuesday following each meeting.