Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Seeking Funds To Build Animal Shelter

Gurdon is applying for a grant through the Cabe Foundation so the city will be able to build an animal control shelter.

Carroll Martin, Gurdon's animal control officer, told the Gurdon City Council at its regular monthly meeting Monday, Feb. 12, the Cabe Foundation has already donated an acre of land to put the building on.

He said it could be possible to have the building up and shelter operational by this summer.

Gurdon was placed in the position of having to operate its own shelter when Arkadelphia's came up with too many animals and city officials gave Gurdon a deadline of when it could no longer bring animals there.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said the city has signed a contract for property on Fallon Road, leasing it for the city shop's new location.

The land the Cabe Foundation donated to the city adjoins the property on Fallon Road.

Smith updated the council on the cleanup effort. The city, he said, signed a contract with TAG Grinding of Palmetto, Ga., the same company cleaning up Clark County.

However, TAG must, under the contract, have the city cleaned up by Feb. 27, even though the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) extended its deadline by 60 days to April 27.

This, he said, is a great opportunity for the city to get trees pruned.

When the debris is picked up it will be taken to the airport where it will be ground into wood chips. None of the debris will be burned, he said.

The chips will then be taken to the Clark County class IV landfill to be used as ground cover. TAG Grinding, he said, is responsible for doing all of this work, and making sure the airport is left clean once the job is done.

Anyone wanting some of the chips for mulch for their lawns or gardens, Smith said, should call city hall and ask, so a load or two can be left.

Smith laughingly said Christmas in Gurdon is finally over, as the South Central Electric Cooperative helped get the Christmas decorations down. The ice storm delayed getting the decorations down any sooner.

Smith said he's been working with a company concerning cleaning up nuisance property in Gurdon.

Demolishing the abandoned houses in Gurdon has long been something Smith and the council have wanted to do, but never had the funds to do it with.

This company, Smith said, will be applying for a grant to provide the money necessary to raze the houses and clean off the property.

From there, if the owner doesn't come forward and pay the tab, the land will be put up for auction, with the company's plans to buy it. Once the property has been purchased, Smith said, the company intends to build affordable HUD housing. At this point, he said, there are a lot of "ifs" involved in the situation.

The council had to pick between two people to fill the vacancy in Ward 6, vacated by Johnny McGuirt. The two were Danny Paull and Glenn Hughes.

Paull, a member of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Commission, had said he would resign this position if picked. Hughes held the seat before McGuirt, but stepped down because of business reasons.

Paull was selected by a 5-0 vote, and will resign from the Water and Sewer Commission.

The council also amended an ordinance to allow trucks to go down Third Street.

This was done because M&M Enterprises recently burned to the ground and the owners of the building said they weren't going to rebuild.

M&M had purchased the old Gurdon High School property last year and were using it as a storage facility.

However, after the fire, the business had to locate its production equipment there as well, and needed the city's permission to allow trucks on the road.

The original ordinance, passed in 1979, stated no truck weighing more than 18,000 pounds was allowed on the street.

Mike McKenzie, one of the owners of M&M, said they plan to tear down the old high school buildings, leaving the gym, and making a circle drive for trucks.

With the passage of the amendment, trucks are allowed to go to M&M from Third Street only, but must stay off Fifth Street, as curves on this street are too sharp for big trucks.McKenzie said they looked at other locations, but were unable to find another building in Gurdon. The options, he added, were to shut down or leave Gurdon.

He told the council the number of trucks that will be on the street will vary depending on the season. This is the busy season, he said, and there are about 10 trucks a day coming to the facility.

David Miller, the other owner, said the average number averages around three or four a day.

Gurdon City Marshal Don Childres said the speed limit on Third Street is 20 m.p.h., but speeding shouldn't be a problem as the Gurdon Police Department will make sure truckers don't speed in the area.

Smith said the overall picture is the business employs around 40 people who pay taxes locally, buy groceries and have children in school.

While trucks driving down Third will tear the street up faster, he said, this is preferable to the company closing and these people leaving town.

McKenzie said the average payload on the trucks is between 6,000 and 7,000 pounds, as they're just carrying baskets and trees.

Miller added they also plan to fence the property in so people can't just walk in and out of the plant.

The council approved changing the ordinance.

Representatives with the Cemetery Commission asked the city for $6,000 this year as a new lawnmower, Weedeater and fencing is needed at Rose Hedge Cemetery. No action was taken as the council will have to look at the budget and amend it accordingly.

Former mayor Darryl Potratz said the recycling effort in Gurdon has been picking up, but needs to pick up more and faster.

Currently people have learned to take their cardboard, aluminum cans and newsprint to the recycling trailer by City Hall on Saturdays.

Legislation being considered, though, wants cities have 40 percent of the trash generated be recyclable materials no longer in the waste stream, he said.

At this time the city is taking about 1.5 tons to the Hot Springs Recycling Center a month, but city residents generated 100 tons of garbage in January alone.

According to Potratz, if the legislation passes, by 2004 or 2005 40 percent of the recyclables need to be pulled from the waste stream. "Gurdon's going have to get on the ball," he said, "and promote recycling." Potratz has taken a video on recycling to the local schools.

He said the council is going have to consider putting recycling in its budget in the near future as the legislation will include recyclable materials, such as glass, plastic and tin, along with what's being accepted now.

Smith said the public needs to be educated about recycling and make the people understand its importance. The idea is to educate the children first so they can help educate their parents.

Gurdon, he said, can't afford to do curbside pickup of recyclable materials at this time.

The city's other reasoning behind increasing the amount of recyclables removed from the waste stream is to save money on tipping fees. It costs $92.50 per ton to haul Gurdon's garbage to the landfill.

One of the major areas Smith said needs to be concentrated on in the recycling effort is cardboard, primarily commercial cardboard.

Cardboard and newsprint, he said, make up a major portion of the trash taken to the landfill from Gurdon. Residents can bring their good newsprint to City Hall to be recycled, he added.