Hope City Board

The Hope City Board met in the city hall boardroom on Tuesday (10-15). After the prayer and pledge, the minutes were approved. Bonnie Raff of the Daughters of the American Revolution spoke on the importance of literacy with it being the single most important determining factor in employment. She said with literacy, anything is possible and without it even finding unskilled labor can be difficult. Raff noted while there are other nations which have higher literacy rates, the U.S. educates everyone. Arkansas is 32 out of 50 states when it comes to literacy with higher numbers being better. Raff talked about students not being able to focus.  She highlighted the need for students to be taught not be on games or computers all the time.  Raff compared their attention span to that of a goldfish. A proclamation was read by City Attorney Randy Wright in honor of literacy and the DARs efforts in this regard.

City Manager J.R. Wilson introduced the topic of restrictions on parking in bike lanes. With limited parking on 6th Street and the traffic to HAPS during school days, opinions were mixed about how to proceed. One board member thought there was no reason to have bike lanes if parking wouldn’t be prohibited. A thought was expressed that public opinion should be solicited. The possibility was raised that parking could be allowed during the night-time. The issue was tabled.

Money was allocated for an airplane mover device for the airport. Since pilots using the airport haven’t needed one, the idea was raised of using the money allocated for the purchase of a used lift. This could be used for maintenance of windows and lights. Mayor Don Still asked if it came with a trailer and was told it did not.  The specialized trailer would cost an equal amount and could only be used on paved surfaces. The lift can be moved with a trailer the city already possesses. Lifts cost $250 a week or $600 a month to rent. $6,000 was already budgeted for the plane mover. The board passed a motion to allow the money to be used for the lift instead.

Assistant City Manager Daniel Shelman talked about JTS out of Little Rock. He said he discovered this service in setting up a benefits fair. It won’t cost Hope anything to use the service. JTS will do an annual review and will help employees stay with a provider they like if it isn’t covered by their plan.  Almost 500 cities work with JTS as does the Hope District. The issue was addressed as to why Hope wasn’t currently using it with the answer being Amber Murr went with what she was familiar with. It was noted JTS has the best plan with the best prices. The city will use the Mesa Health plan which will cover costs with Pafford allowing employees to be covered wherever they need it.  JTS doesn’t include the 457 Deferred Retirement Plan, Police Benevolent Fund, Legal Shield or United Way. These would be covered in other ways. The 457 Plan was said to be underutilized.

The next item was a motion to allow the city to continue using the guidelines established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board instead of those prescribed by the State of Arkansas. The motion passed.

City Manager J.R, Wilson said he would be going on a trip to Boston from October 18th to the 22nd. He reminded everyone of November 5th being election day and early voting taking place from October 21st to November 5th.

The main runway at the airport (1634) is open. The ramp is done and the fencing and safety grant have been completed and financed.

City Manager Wilson talked about a board tour of city faclities. The date of November the 5th was decided upon starting at 8am with lunch at 11am. The board will visit the Airport, the hospital and east water treatment plant.

Meetings in which “Hope for the Future: will be promoted were discussed. The football booster club and civic club meetings are planned.  Discussion ensued about having a meeting at the soccer fields as well as other possible sites for meetings. The recent North Side Park meeting was discussed and the consensus is the meeting went well.

The meeting adjourned.