Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rosston City Hall May Move; Newer Fire Trucks Sought

By JOHN MILLER

Rosston's City Hall may soon be moved.

Members of the Rosston City Council, in their regular monthly meeting Thursday, Sept. 4, voted to move City Hall to the Rosston Community Center.

The reasoning behind the move is because the current City Hall doesn't meet the Arkansas Disabilities Act requirements.

Councilman Rob Robison pointed out there is no ramp to get a wheelchair into City Hall, and the restroom doors are too narrow for a standard size wheelchair as well. Additionally, the restrooms don't have railings for handicapped persons to grip.

The ADA requires all publicly owned buildings to be handicapped accessible.

Robison said it would be less expensive for the city to move City Hall than to renovate the current building, or construct a new City Hall.

Rosston Mayor Lewis Jackson said the community center would have to be repaired and cleaned before the city offices could be moved there. "We need to fix it up so people can use it," he said, "that's why we bought it."

Jackson will look into the possibility of getting grants to help make the necessary repairs to the community center and will check on getting price quotes on what these repairs would otherwise cost.

The first step, he said, would be to get a perc test done to see if a septic system can be installed.

In other business at the abbreviated meeting, Jim Cross said he put the city's name no a list for two different firetrucks, through the state surplus purchasing.

One of the trucks, he said, will cost the city $8,000, while the other would be $7,500. However, Rosston is third on the list for the vehicles.

Cross said the other two entities would have to turn down the trucks in order for Rosston to have a chance to buy one.

The $8,000 truck, Cross said, has a 750 gallon water tank and diesel engine. The other is a four-wheel drive Ford, built in German, with a smaller tank.

But, he told the council, Rosston must first be recertified to buy through state purchasing before it can do anything about the trucks.

He said the city must first pay for the vehicles, if it can buy one, but can be reimbursed from the Act 833 money the fire department receives.

This money must be used for fire department purposes, but, Jackson said, can be split and used as needed to buy a truck or other equipment.

The council had no problem agreeing to purchase one of the trucks if the opportunity arises.