Rosston council holds outdoor public hearing

By Staff, 04/14/20 10:18 AM

ROSSTON – A public meeting was held Monday evening at the pavilion behind the Rosston City Hall to talk about the water  project.

The meeting was held outside for two reasons, one was to maintain social distancing. The other was there was no power in the community. This meeting was mandatory as part of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the city and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Natural Resources. Part of the project is being funded by the state’s revolving loan program with a loan of $272,826. This loan has a 10-year payout. The MOA requires the city to establish and maintain a depreciation reserve  fund of $54,565 or 10 percent of the overall project cost. The remaining  part of the funding will be from a grant.

The MOA includes a timeline the city is required to follow to make sure things stay on schedule, with the final plans and specifications to be in place by July 2, the loan closing to be done by Oct. 15, and construction to begin by Dec. 8.

Rosston Mayor Dale Quarles said the council will have to approve a resolution for the project by the next meeting, but a special meeting may have to be called to get it done. He told those gathered, mostly council members as few members of the public showed up, everything is on schedule at this time.