Hope City Board

The Hope City Board met Tuesday (3-21) for their second meeting of March.   As Mayor  Don Still was absent, Vice-Mayor Kiffenea Talley called the meeting to order. Dr.Linda Clark led an invocation and Mark Ross led in the pledge of allegiance. After reading the minutes from the previous meeting Dr Trevor Coffee moved to accept them. They were seconded and approved.

    The Meeting skipped around a bit jumping to Item 9 on the agenda – the soccer field and Kelly Field concession stand bids. One person had made a bid of $500 for the Kelly Field concession stand and two people had made a bid for the soccer field concession stand – one of $500 and the other of $150 for 2023, $175 for 2024 and $200 for 2025.  Ross led a motion to table the discussion until it was sure that the potential renters understood the contract. The motion was seconded and passed.

    Item 5 – the Dumpsters by the Hub and Pavilion Park was next on the agenda. The issue was the reorientation and possibly decoration of the dumpsters. A wall being built was discussed. A quote has been received for $6,800 to accomplish this. Part of the issue was whether or not to reduce the number of total dumpsters to two. Two concerns were mentioned – the ability to still have three dumpsters if needed for special events and that the curb might need to be shortened so that 18 – wheelers can get in. The decision was made to proceed with the project

     The next item on the agenda was the surplus declaration of the 2004 Dodge Ram truck from the sanitation department.  The truck has nearly 226,000 miles and cost the city close to $17,000 to maintain.  It needs a new or used motor installed to continue which is not advisable given the age and mileage.  The motion passed.

   The seventh item on the agenda was a rezoning request  – this involved a few different motions starting with the motion to suspend by Dr Clark, which was seconded.

     The eighth item on the agenda was the appointment by Mayor Still of Juan Rivera to the Hope Tourism Commission for a four-year term. Dr Coffee moved to accept this appointment; it was seconded and approved.

    Item 10 was February’s financial report with Cindy Clark answering questions and City Manager J.R. Wilson also clarifying certain numbers. In general, the numbers were headed in the right direction. The transition of one energy carrier to another caused people to be overcharged. One figure questioned turned out to be an emergency repair to an apartment complex by Neighbors. Wilson authorized the repair.  The biggest number in the budget was capital waste water. The figure was $4.6 million dollars in grants and involved a shortfall of $3.95 million dollars in grants that were expected but didn’t come through. This is a bond payment with 2 years to pay.

Wilson gave the City Manager’s report starting with the shortfall in funding for the LED lighting project. The tourism commission agreed to cover the shortfall. The company doing the installation will have to either complete the project by the Watermelon Festival or wait till afterwards.

     The next item Wilson covered was the failing asphalt near the Northside Park Community Center. The city will be laying hot mix in that area soon. The following item was the drainage issue at Northside Pavilion. When the ground dries the plan is to bring dirt and equipment in to mitigate the issue. A drain will be installed beyond the playground.

    Wilson stated that the next big project would be waste water rates and a waste water treatment plant. This would involve a $10 million bank project maximum. The current rate structure will not support this with current revenues. The high interest rates at the moment make it hard to finance. This project is regulated by the EPA and ADEQ limiting the city’s options.

     Wilson next started that there is positive news in terms of the Hervey Square complex with interested buyers. Drainage will be looked at for that area

 Following this Wilson talked about a mistake that had been made with concerning an employoee’s status with the retirement system.  This employee is part-time but not seasonal and having worked over 80 hours a month needs to be a part of the retirement system. Rectifying this oversight will cost the city around $40,000.

     Nathaniel Holyfield spoke on visiting East Baking Company and talked with them about sanitation and their cost and a resolution that would help both them and the city.

     Wilson brought up the next topic which was Garver Engineering Services, which should be charging $126,000 instead of the $139,000 which has been charged. There is an agreement of $132,950. There was the cost of $3,500 to do the fee schedule. Wilson asked for the authority to sign for the work.

   Wilson then brought the resignation of a member of the HHA . They have until the 27th to make an appointment, which has to be confirmed by the Board of Directors. The idea was to discus the isssue at the next board meeting. Ross suggested having a separate Board meeting for this topic.

   Mrs. George came before the board with a Citizen’s Request of addressing drainage on her property with the drive being broken. Wilson asked for her number and said that he would call her tomorrow to arrange a time to take the city engineer to address the issue.

Final issues of the meeting were a retirement, a city wide cleanup and the funeral Wednesday of Judge Jerry Crane’s wife.  The meeting then adjourned.