Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

1998 Turns Out To Be A Big News Year For Emmet

Emmet was a hotbed of news during 1998, with several issues cropping up during the year.

Early on, tempers began to flare when residents were told their water rates would have to be raised under the terms of a new water project.

The total cost of the project was expected to be $828,000, with the$382,500 the city borrowed, the rest was from a grant, to be paid back over a 40 year span of time.

Emmet Mayor Ottis P. "Chuck" Otwell said the city council had refused to raise water rates since 1991, though the state had requested the rates be increased.

However, in order to get the money for the project, the city had no choice but to raise the rates. This irritated many residents as their water bills tripled in some cases.

The purpose of the project is to deliver a proper volume and quality of water to the people of the city in a sanitary manner, and increase the size of water pipes along with installing fire hydrants to help lower insurance rates to homeowners.

Christian and Ward of Texarkana was hired as the engineering firm to design the project, which covered some nine miles with 50 hydrants.

The June meeting of the Emmet City Council lasted more than two hours, though only one item of business was on the agenda. The remainder of the time was filled with residents voicing their opinion on the water rate hike.

Residents also complained about how a new condemnation ordinance was being handled.

Former Emmet Mayor Dale Booker asked why a trailer he was using as a storehouse was being condemned when no one was living in it.

He questioned the council as to the criteria it used in determining what buildings were eyesores and which weren't.

Booker's questioning raised the ire of councilman Rene Sells who felt he was directing his comments at her. However, this was resolved without conflict when Sells said the ordinance had nothing to do with Booker's trailer.

Along with the problems of the condemnation ordinance and water rates, residents began questioning whether or not the city's recorder/treasurer could hold the post as she no longer lived in the city limits.

The recorder/treasurer, Anita Allen, and her family, moved out of the city limits into a new house. This position, though, is an elected one and the person holding it has to reside within the city limits in question.

Otwell, though, told the council he had no plans to address the issue.

According to legal counsel for the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office, the only entity that could deal with the issue was the circuit court. It was told someone would have to file suit for anything to be done about it.

And, according to a July 11, 1994, opinion from the Arkansas Attorney General's Office, legal residence was defined as the domicile of the officer evidenced by intent to make such residence a fixed and permanent home.

Otwell interpreted this to mean if Allen's intent was to be annexed back into the city limits, no wrongdoing had occurred.

The property the Allen's had moved to was part of a section being examined to be annexed into the Emmet City Limits.

At the July meeting of the Emmet Council, however, councilman Wayne Baker pointed out the city's citizenry needed to know about the issue.

Otwell pointed out the council knew about the annexation plans, saying when the Allen's began building their new home they expected to be annexed into the city limits.

He said there was another option the council could do in the matter split the position. This is what the council did, hiring Allen as the administrative assistant and seeking someone for the job of secretary/recorder.

In the midst of this, some 172 residents signed petitions against the proposed water system, presenting it to the council in July.

Otwell accepted the petitions and informed the public the city could refuse the money approved for the project and would have to pay the engineering fees.

He further said the city would continue having problems with its water system, which has mismatches pipes.

Still, though, the biggest complaint the people registered revolved around the increased rates. Again, Otwell explained the city had no choice in the matter. If Emmet were to get the money for the project, the lending agencies required the rate hike.

He also said if more customers signed on to the project, the water rates could eventually be lowered.

No challenge to the water project was made following a town meeting held in late July.

For the most part, those present for the meeting, held in the Emmet gymnasium, just wanted more detailed information about the overall project.

The people were told of plans to drill a second well as part of the project's scope, and to purchase a three-phase generator to be mounted on a trailer and used for emergencies.

Once the water issue was pretty much settled, it was back to the annexation measure.

A special called meeting of the Emmet Council got heated and loud, Sept. 2.

The meeting was called so an annexation ordinance could be passed and the issue placed on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot.

Several people at the meeting tried to shout one another down, while yelling the meeting was illegal.

In spite of the din, the council managed to get the ordinance read and passed to be placed on the ballot.

When November rolled around, the annexation issue was beaten and the city voted in a new mayor in Dale Booker.

However, the election itself brought controversy, as allegations of possible voter fraud were levied.

According to Otwell, some 18-20 votes cast in the election were questionable at best, as the voters may not have been Emmet residents.

The council researched its options, learning the city could file a suit and contest the election results, but had no guarantees of winning.

The council agreed to do nothing until Booker takes over as mayor in 1999.

In October, the Emmet Council appointed Dorothy Hamilton to the vacant post of secretary/treasurer. She took the position, and refused all salary in excess of $50 per month.

However, at the December meeting of the council, Hamilton and Allen both tendered their resignations, each being effective as of Jan. 31, 1999.