Hope City Board Meeting

By Staff, 11/21/17 9:52 PM

The Hope City Board held their second meeting of November on Tuesday the 21st. Unlike the last meeting there was a quorum.
The board received a request from Jim Hunter of the Klipsch Museum. Hunter requested the use of a building near the airport, namely the Southwest Proving Ground steam generating building. The board agreed in principle to the request. Hunter will get with City Manager Catherine Cook and City Attorney Joe Short on the terms. Initially the building will be used for storage.
The board held a public hearing on an alley closing. The area was in Block 20 and 21 of the Original Town section. This included the property the Hope Water & Light offices are on as well as the Hope Water & Light property east of those offices. After reconvening in regular session the board voted to close the alleys.
The board heard a report on redistricting the city wards from their consultant Rob Middleton. The zones need to be redistricted because they are uneven in the number of residents in each of them. Middleton offered three alternatives. No action was taken and the matter will be taken up at a future city board meeting.
The board agreed to apply for an “urban forestry & community grant”. The grant will secure 10 trees to be planted at Fair Park to replace some of the ones who have been cut or have fallen in recent years.
Under the city manager’s report, Catherine Cook noted the city’s plans on submitting the 5 year airport improvement plant to the Federal Aviation Administration. She also noted the airport has received a grant to pay for a self-serve fuel system. The city will receive $16,000 and will have to match $4,000. Cook gave a report on the recent Main Street program held November 9th and there were also updates on the Hope Downtown Network and the Beautification Committee.
Under citizen’s request, John Akin asked why the city is always seeking grants. He noted someone or some entity is paying for the grants and voiced his displeasure at the city seeking so many. Hope Star Editor Rick Kennedy asked about the Mayor’s broken chair which he recently wrote about and noted the paper had received 21 inquiries into the situation. City Manager Catherine Cook noted Assistant City Manager J.R. Wilson had fixed it. Mayor Steve Montgomery joked that maybe he needed some exercise. Sylvia Brown noted the recent programs presented in the community on diabetes and suggested the city could look into some healthy initiatives in the coming year. The meeting then adjourned.