Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Given List of Priorities

Gurdon's City Council was given a list of 21 priority items needing to be completed as soon as possible at its regular meeting Monday, Nov. 13.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said the council needs to be more involved in the workings of the city's government, and suggested members of the panel get involved with the items needing to be done.

The first item on the list is to fill the vacant council positions. This must be done by Dec. 31, as the city can't operate without a governing body.

Only two members of the council had petitions ready for the Nov. 7, General Election, while four did not.

Of the four who were not reelected, three have expressed interest in remaining on the council, while one has firmly stated he will not return.

The Rev. Ronald Scott and Mickey Jones said they would definitely like to stay on the panel, with Phillip Giles asking for time to think about it. However, Giles said if no one else is interested in taking over in Ward 5, he will stay.

Only Johnny McGuirt, from ward 6, said he wouldn't be back the first of the year.

Gene Flowers and Karen Parker were the two who filed petitions and were reelected.

Next on the list was the need for the city to find a new site for the street department.

The owner of the property where the city shop currently is has said he wants to sell the lot and has given the city until Dec. 31 to find somewhere else to go, or purchase the site for $15,000.

Smith has discussed this situation with Jim Caldwell, street superintendent, with the pair finding two other possible locations for the department.

These parcels of land will be appraised and brought to the council's attention.

Smith said the city either needs to lease a sight, enter into a lease/purchase plan, or buy one as soon as possible.

Third on the list was animal control.

Smith said the city received a letter from Arkadelphia stating it will no longer be able to accept dogs from Gurdon.

The problem here is the residents of Gurdon passed a half-cent sales tax two years ago to take care of the city's animal control problem.

As it stands, Gurdon must now come up with funds to build a dog pound of its own.

Two contractors have been contacted about prices to build an animal shelter.

Seven years ago, Gurdon residents passed a half-cent sales tax for capital improvements for the street and fire departments.

Part of these funds were used to buy a new firetruck for the Gurdon Fire Department.

The original bond issue was due to be paid off in 2006, but, Smith said, the city received a letter stating enough money has been raised from the tax to retire the bonds.

Now, the council must begin taking steps to remove this sales tax. However, he said, the legal proceedings will take time and the tax won't be removed immediately.

A budget for Gurdon for 2001 must be approved in January, he said, and asked for volunteers to be on a budget committee.

Only Parker agreed to serve, with Smith adding administrative assistant Wendy Maxwell to the group, along with all department heads.

Plans and bid specifications for additions to city hall have been completed, and bids must now be solicited to get the project started.

The estimated cost of the renovations, which include two new bays in the fire department, a drive through window for the water department and paving the parking lot across from City Hall, is $225,000, with the funds provided through a bill signed by the governor.

Another important item, Smith said, is to check and make sure all of the property in the newly-annexed area is being assessed as city property, not county property. This will have to be done on a parcel-by-parcel basis.

It's also time for Gurdon to re-qualify for the Arkansas Community of Excellence program. The city has been an ACE community since 1994.

ACE certification helps the city obtain grants and be considered as a possible site for industrial location.

Smith said the city also needs to start looking for a way to purchase a new firetruck. The newest one is seven-years old, purchased with the half-cent tax which will be going off the books soon.

A new truck, he said, will cost about $175,000.Coordinating the installation of the final emergency warning siren must also be done. The siren is expected in at any time, and Entergy has donated a utility pole for it to be put on.

The siren will be installed at the sewer lift station on Highway 67 to serve the newly annexed area, along with Gurdon High School and Cabe Middle School.

Smith said an emergency procedure manual needs to be written for the city showing who's in charge, the chain of command and what is to be done in emergency situations.

He has been working with Office of Emergency Services Coordinator Jim Burns on getting the information, but the city must write its own manual.

In addition, the OES has warning sirens to be placed inside each of the public schools.

These units must be installed and programmed to be activated by the city's current radio/encoder system.

The city has the equipment, water supply and improved record keeping in lace to allow Gurdon to work toward a lower ISO rating for fire insurance premiums.

Jake McBride, Gurdon fire chief, and Smith will request an assessment from the Insurance Service Organization.

Updating the city's personnel policy is another of the top priorities Smith put before the council.

Once this is done, all new employees will need to go through an orientation process to make sure they understand what is required of them.

Smith also informed the council surplus city property currently being stored needs to be identified and disposed of either through an auction or sealed bid. He suggested holding an auction as it would raise more money for the city.

The revenue from the items sold would be returned to the budgets of the departments the property belonged to.

Gurdon has led the campaign to get its share of the county sales tax, Smith said, with other cities in Clark County passing resolutions showing support for this.

He suggested letting the voters know where the tax money would be used as it will require a special election to remove the current tax and replace it, thereby allowing all cities in the county to get their share of the funds. Gurdon's part would amount to about $250,000 a year under current the collection.

A major part of the money, he said, should be allocated for capital improvement for the street department, with a percentage also going to the fire department. This would help with the purchase of a new firetruck.

A portion of the money, Smith said, should also be used to hire a dispatcher for the Gurdon Police Department so GPD would have a dispatcher duty seven-days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day.

The remainder, he suggested, would go to the city's general fund and possibly be used to help create a retirement plan.

Other items presented, but not as pressing included the council needing to decide whether it wants to pursue a retirement program for city employees, and how it would work.

The city was recently audited by the Arkansas Department of Labor, he said, with few violations found. These problems are in the process of being corrected.

Getting the city's ordinances and resolutions codified and computerized is something else needing to be done.

His final item concerned the beautification committee.

Smith said it needs to be followed up and work begun toward removing some of the eyesore properties around town.