Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

GPD To Get New Uniforms

Officers with the Gurdon Police Department will soon be getting new uniforms.

The Gurdon City Council, at its regular monthly meeting, approved using funds from the City Fines II account to buy three uniforms for each officer. Uniforms consist of a shirt and pants.

Gurdon City Marshal David Childres said the part time officers have new uniforms, while those who work full time haven't had new ones for more than a year.

He said uniform suits cost about $80 each for the shirt and pants. Officers furnish their own shoes, he added, and all have heavy winter jackets.

The uniform shirts purchased will have short sleeves, as this is what the officers prefer. During cold weather, Childres said, the jacket keeps their arms warm, and when it's warm long sleeves aren't needed.

At $80 each, and needing to buy 15 pair, Smith said it would cost about $1,500 to buy uniforms for all full time officers.

The City Fines II account has $9,346.28 in it.

However, the council approved $2,000 for the purchase of uniforms.

Councilman Johnny McGuirt suggested amending the city's hiring practices and leaning heavier toward those applicants who live in Gurdon.

Otherwise, he said, it causes problems as employees who don't live in the city will leave taking other jobs. "They need to have ties here."

Smith said this has been discussed before, but the problem with living in a small town is the labor pool available. It would limit the city on who it could hire, he added.

McGuirt said the applications need to be weighted, with the guidelines requiring those hired live in the city. "There's a lot of money involved in training people."

"You can't do this legally," Smith pointed out, "but I know where you're coming from."

Councilman Mickey Jones suggested having those hired sign a contract requiring them to stay on the job for at least a year.

Childres said the GPD doesn't really want people who don't live in Gurdon, as they aren't much help if they live too far away and something happens. "They need to be close," he added, "so they can get to Gurdon quickly."

The problem isn't one solely limited to Gurdon, Smith said, and the city does have a lower turnover rate than other cities.

Harold Hurst, manager of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Department, gave the council an update on the Greenville Water Project.

He said 90 percent of the pipe is in the ground, and the project should be finished in a couple of weeks, except for the cleanup.

At this time, bores still need to be done under the three railroad tracks involved.

When asked about the progress of the department's backhoe, Hurst said the engine is being rebuilt. It has been torn down and needs to be put back together, he told the council.

On the topic of solid waste, locks have been purchased for the recycling trailer to prevent people from throwing garbage in it.

Plans call for the trailer to be open Saturdays with donations of newsprint, aluminum and residential cardboard being accepted for recycling.

Smith said the city can't take commercial cardboard yet because there's no place to store it.

Getting the recycling program going will be slow, he said, and take time. Hopes are to get volunteers from the Senior Adult Center to help man the trailer Saturday mornings.

While there won't be a lot of money involved, he said, what does come in will be used to help pay the volunteers and cover the cost of transportation to the recycling center in Hot Springs while also paying the driver for his time.

It costs Gurdon $92.50 per ton to send its garbage to the landfill and have it buried. Smith said while little money will be brought in from recycling, the city will save this tipping fee by keeping these materials out of the waste stream. "This is where Gurdon will make money," he said.

Future plans include a possible cardboard route being ran within the three-county solid waste district to help keep boxes out of the landfill and save the district money in tipping fees as well.

Gurdon, Smith said, puts about 201 tons of cardboard into the landfill annually. The goal is to reduce this by 25 percent and save about $7,000 a year.

Money for educational materials on recycling will be sent to Gurdon from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, formerly known as the Department of Pollution Control and Ecology.

Smith told the council a lot of used furniture is starting to pile up at City Hall with the new furnishings being purchased and installed.

Area residents are asking about tables the city has, and want to borrow them for different events.

When the new tables come in, he said, they will not be loaned out for any reason.

However, he continued, the city could possibly sign out the tables it now owns to those wanting to borrow them after the new tables arrive.

But, the council will ultimately have to decide what it wants to do with the old furnishings. The two ideas discussed are to sell them to the highest bidder or have an auction to get rid of them.

This will be discussed further at future meetings.

An ordinance was read officially bringing the Gurdon Primary School into the Gurdon city limits and assigning it to a voting precinct Ward 6.

The council agreed to apply for a grant to benefit the GPD. Should the city be approved for this grant, the money, some $5,000, will be used to purchase new radios for the officers.

However, the city will have to put in matching funds for this grant, in the amount of $556. This money, the council decided, could come from the City Fines II account.

As the holiday seasons rapidly approach, the council decided to follow tradition and give city employees a Christmas bonus. Full time workers will get $100, while part time employees will have an extra $50 presented to them.

Jones, changing gears, asked if there were any laws on the books concerning loud music in residential neighborhoods.

She said there have been instances where such music has disturbed those trying to sleep and something needs to be done.

Smith said the city does have a loud noise ordinance and it is regularly enforced.

However, he said, there is no time specified concerning the noise level, as tickets have been written both day and night. It all depends on the disruptiveness of the music/noise in question.

When people are disturbed by loud music, he said, they need to call the GPD and report it. An officer will be dispatched to the scene.

Betty Torgeson, a resident who lives in the newly annexed area on Highway 67, was at the meeting with something on her mind.

Torgeson asked why the city doesn't offer a retirement plan for its employees.

She first questioned Smith as to the financial status of the city, being told it is in the black and on sound footing.

With the additional revenue coming in from the annexed area, she said, the city needs to examine a retirement plan for its workers.

She suggested the retirement fund could be given to employees in a lump sum upon retirement or leaving the city's service and be made retroactive for those who have worked for Gurdon for years.

Smith agreed saying such a thing has been a concern of his as well.

At this time, he said, the only city employees with a retirement plan are with the Gurdon Fire Department. However, he added, this is funded partially by the state and partly by a 0.4 mill tax city residents pay.

A lot of the questions involved in offering a retirement plan can't be answered because the specifics haven't been worked out.

He did agree, though, to look into it and see what could be done.