Hope City Board Accepts Bids, Discusses Partnership With Chamber
HOPE – The Hope City Board of Directors met Tuesday night, accepted a number of bids, discussed a partnership with the Hope/Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce and heard a couple of complaints.
First on the agenda was an update on the proposed removal of the Dox Building. After having the building looked at by an engineer, the City recommended that Bobo & Bain do the demolition, with the City crews and trucks removing the debris. However, as of Tuesday night’s meeting, Bobo & Bain had not decided if they were going to accept the job. City Manager Catherine Cook said that a decision is likely this week.
Next up was discussion about a possible partnership between the City and the Chamber of Commerce. This partnership would be in the form of a contract for services worth between $15,000 – $20,000 a year, renewable, and subject to the Chamber hiring staff with expertise not only in Chamber work, but also in Main Street type activities. Considerable discussion followed and no action was taken.
A proposed ordinance to waive bids on emergency rail maintenance passed. The rail spur in question is out of tolerance and Union Pacific has told the City that if its not fixed, they will cease deliveries to the Industrial Park. The work, which will take approximately one week, will be done by TracWorks in the amount of $47,184.67. This work is scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 8th.
A bid for replacement flooring for the Public Works Building from Lone Star Flooring for $11,554.25 was accepted.
Three bids for a 2017 dump truck for the Street Department were received and the low bid of $102,768.00 from Arkansas Municipal Equipment was accepted. The truck it will replace will be used at the landfill.
A bids for asphalt, milling and concrete were accepted. A bid for a replacement landfill baler building door of $13,501.35 from Artex Overhead Door was accepted.
Next, a number of pieces of used equipment were declared surplus, and will be sold on online auction.
After the City Manager’s report, in which Ms. Cook read a letter from the Water Aerobics Group, citizens addressed the Board with concern about water quality and electric rates.