Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Police, fire departments are topic for Gurdon city council

The city of Gurdon may soon have to buy a new police car.

During its meeting on Monday, April 16, Mayor Clayton Franklin told the Gurdon City Council that the citys newest police car has been experiencing serious mechanical problems. The car has about 80,000 miles on it and is two years old.

Thats our best one, he said. Police cars dont last long.

The car was placed in a Hope repair shop to have the transmission repaired, and the day after returning to the streets, the transmission went out, Franklin said. A new transmission from the manufacturer has been ordered and installed. For the time being, he said the car is back on the streets.

Franklin said he is worried that none of the citys cars could hold up in the event of a high-speed chase or other event.

Franklin did not ask the council to act on the matter during the meeting, but said he only wanted them to be informed of the situation in case the need to buy a car arises at a future date.

Also during the meeting, the council discussed the cancellation of health insurance for members of the Gurdon Fire Department. Members of the department have been able to secure health insurance for themselves and their families through the Arkansas Municipal League with the city picking up part of the cost. This is the same insurance benefit afforded to other city employees.

In recent weeks, the city has received notice that the fire department will no longer be covered because the insurance company requires that 75 percent of those on the department enroll in the benefit in order for any to receive it.

Franklin said he will attend a meeting in Little Rock on May 5 to plead the citys case to keep the firefighters on the citys insurance. Until that meeting, the insurance company has agreed to keep the firefighters covered.

Franklin said there are several other small cities in the state facing the same situation.

The council was also told that the city needs an additional four firefighters to keep the current ISO rating. These ratings are used to help determine insurance rates for homeowners in the city.

Franklin said the group that provides ISO rating requires the city to have a certain number of firefighters for each unit.

In his mayors report, Franklin said he is working to finish a list of houses to be condemned which will be presented to the council at its meeting in May. This comes as the second step in demolishing old houses and cleaning up the city, he said.

In March , the council approved an ordinance which will allow the city to clean up properties even in the event the property owner is not cooperative or is unavailable.

Once the council votes to condemn the properties, the mayor can move forward towards having them removed.

The council also approved the minutes from the previous meeting, financial statements and bills to be paid during the meeting.