Monticello Live

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Nita McDaniel, Executive Director of the Monticello Economic Development Commission gave an update on MEDC activities to the City Council. The MEDC and the Mayor will meet May 20th with representatives from Arkansas Midline Railroad in an effort to identify a solution for rail access to local industry.

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After hearing Collins speak, and a few comments, the council passed the ordanance.

The club is locaed 530 feet from Holmes Chapel.

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Driver’s license testing is done at the following times and locations:
Mondays, Lake Village, written test from 8:00 am – 10:30 am, driving test at 1:00 pm.
Tuesdays, Monticello, written test from 8:00 am – 10:30 am, driving test at 1:00 pm.
Wednesdays, Crossett, written test from 8:00 am – 10:30 am, driving test at 1:00 pm.
Thursdays, Warren, written test from 8:00 am – 11:30 am, driving test at 1:00 pm.

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The city council passed a  motion to select a street committee and advertise for bids. Mayor Maxwell asked for volunteers to serve on the Street Committee. Al Peer volunteered for Ward 1, Claudia Hartness for Ward 2, Josh McKiever for Ward 3, and Tim Chase, sWard 4.

Ms. Denver Day made a brief presentation to the Council about the United Way in Drew County. Some of the programs funded in Drew County by the United Way include 4-H, Family and Childrens Fund, Salvation Army, Literacy Council, Humane Society of Southeast Arkansas, Senior Citizens, Red Cross and the Special Olympics. She requested that there be a United Way campaign conducted in the City offices. The motion was made and passed.

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At Thursday’s city council meeting, a  resolution authorizing extension of a certain water line outside the City and served by the City’s water system was presented to the Council.

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Nita McDaniel, Executive Director for the Monticello Economic Development Commission, reported that their response to the RFI in February is still under consideration. MEDC has responded to an inquiry for information on available retail development sites. MEDC is working currently to identify rail transportation needs for local industry. One industry needs improvements on an existing spur, the other needs rail access.

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Sandy Savage addressed the Drew Central School Board, thursday night,  on behalf of a group of Drew Central alumni who attended school during Mr. Leeman Ngar’s tenure.

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Superintendent Wayne Fawcett presented the topic of not adopting new English textbooks. He explained that Drew Central has made a commitment to move into the electronic and digital education arena. Fawcett stated that Drew Central will continue to pour more of their budget into electronic instructional media and technology such as laptops and iPads. (more…)

The angry parent is accused of crashing a Drew Central school bus and a teacher’s car, appeared in Circuit Court Monday, before Judge Sam Pope.  Christiana White was appointed a public defender as her attorney and informed of her charges by the judge.

The charge of criminal mischief, 2nd degree, carries a possible sentence of 0 to 6 years in the Department of Correction and/or a $10,000 fine.  The unauthorized use charge carries a possible penalty of one year in the county jail.

Her next court date, May 13, will be her plea and arraignment date.

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The Quorum Court met Monday evening at the Court House, with one member absent. 

A brief review of several pending bills was presented and discussed. (more…)

The Monticello School Board met, with one member absent. The meeting opened with an award presentation to MMS Principal Jerry Martens, teachers Blake Abbott and Monica Sims, for MMS students’ high math scores. Monticello Middle School was among a select few schools in the region to make the list of high-performing schools based on math scores for the third year in a row, as well as being recognized for high literacy scores last year.

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Nita McDaniel, Executive Director of the Monticello Economic Development Commission reported that the new website design is nearly completed and will be reviewed March 18.

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An Ordinance to increase the water rate and deposit fees by 3 percent was presented. There was extensive discussion about the balance of the water account and the costs of maintenance and repair of the fire hydrants, water towers, water pipes and sewage ponds. The City will apply for a grant for matching funds from the USDA, to help defray repair costs. The motion was made and passed.

The Mayor called for a motion to adopt the emergency clause. The motion was made and passed.

The Mayor reported that he has requested ETC Engineering to give an estimate on repairing the buildings and replacing the roofs of the Police Station, City Hall and Mayor’s Office. A rough estimate of $140,000 for all three buildings has been made. Mrs. Fletcher reported that money is available to fund this work. There is an effort being made to get the buildings on the National Historic Register, which would qualify the project for grants. A motion was made and passed to seek bids for this project.

A resolution to support the promotion of the lignite industry in south Arkansas was proposed and passed.

A resolution authorizing purchase of the EDGE GIS program and data for the City was made, and after discussion, was passed.

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The meeting closed with the Mayor’s report.

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 The Drew Central School Board on Thursday evening met and discussed student make-up days. By law, students must attend school 178 days each school year. Drew Central students have missed 5 student contact days due to inclement weather.

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The Monticello City Council called a special short meeting Thursday evening to consider a resolution to impose a lien against a property at 404 Wood Avenue, Monticello owned by Gail Brannon. The lien to recover actual costs of clean-up of this property, in the amount of $3,922.51, was approved.

The Council convened their regular meeting at 6:00 pm. The Financial Report and Minutes from the January meeting were submitted and approved.

Rev. Michael Jones presented a proposal to form a Monticello Youth Advisory Board. The purpose of the Board would be to act as mediator between the youth of Monticello and city government, and to give the youth of Monticello an active voice in the affairs of city government by expressing their ideas through council members. This proposal will be given further consideration at the next meeting of the City Council.

Fire Chief Steven Faulkner addressed the Council about a request from the Barkada Volunteer Fire Department to acquire a 1983 model firetruck from Monticello. The Monticello Fire Department has ordered a new truck to replace the truck. While it is fully functional, it is no longer adequate to meet the demands of the City. The Mayor proposed that a value for the truck be determined, and that the Council discuss this at the next meeting. He suggested that they may decide to donate the truck to the Barkada Volunteer Fire Dept.

A proposal was brought before the City Council for the City of Monticello to partner with Drew County to purchase Edge GIS software. A presentation on this software was done for the Council last year. A motion was made that the City enter into a partnership with the County to provide these services. The Mayor will proceed with this project.  The proposed cost of the mapping system is $14,000 each for the city and county to begin, and $7,500 each per year afterwards.

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A proposal was submitted and passed to build an additional girls’ softball field. While there are an equal number of girls and boys playing ball, the girls have two fields, while the boys have three. The costs for this project would be approximately $130,000. The Council voted to amend the existing budget to allocate available funds and to build the field.

The Mayor concluded the meeting with a report on repairs needed to the Conrad and Burlington water tanks and the ponds at the Waste Sewer plant. Plans are in place, and a partial supply of materials already on site for some of these repairs.

Discussion of the need for a 3% water rate increase was brought before the Council by Mayor Allen Maxwell.

Because of an aging water system, maintenance, repairs and replacement costs are increasing significantly. It was pointed out that Monticello has some of the lowest water rates of any of the surrounding cities. Data for last year’s costs will be compiled and this matter will be discussed at upcoming meetings.

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Also in the meeting, the Mayor advised the Council about the circumstances surrounding the Mt. Zion Water Association. It was decided that no further action would be taken until representatives for Mt. Zion appear before the Council.

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Nita McDaniel, MEDC director, presented their report.  Among other projects, they are working on updating their website. They have reorganized their budget to make the Workforce Training Center, which is part of their existing Industry Services, self-supporting. The center should now be self-supporting, and sales tax funds will no longer be needed to fund the Center. The computer lab at the Center currently has no functional computers. Available funds will be used to place new computers in the lab.

MEDC is currently working to recruit an interested industy, providing information about our area.  The specifics are confidential, but industry recruitment is an ongoing effort.

A position has been created to hire a Property Inspection Manager.

Grants assisted by MEDC, funded for the City to date amounted to $2,906,060.11.   This does not include $217,000 + for the Jordan Park grant that is pending. That grant has been approved, but not yet funded.

The Quorum Court met Monday evening at the Courthouse, with all members present.

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Judge Lampkin presented samples of lignite to the members present, and explained that 2 barrels of crude oil can be extracted from a ton of coal, that it would increase employment opportunities for Drew County, and that the land restoration examples he has seen, have shown that land is restored to better than its original condition. Permission to mine lignite would be at the discretion of the local landowners. The Members voted to support funding of testing and enhancement of legislation to promote the lignite Industry of South Arkansas.

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