Mayor Doug Kinslow called the meeting to order at 7:10pm and asked for prayer to be led by Pastor Dewey Hickey of the Westwood Baptist Church.
In attendance were also council members Lance Terry, Tim Terry, Ralph Meeker, A.C. Brown, Daniel McDaniel, Mike Hamby (City Attorney) and Sharla Derry (City Clerk/Treasurer).
Senator Mathew Pitsch was in attendance, as well as CARDS representative Jason Fitzgerald and other city officials.
Among the business discussed:
- Highway 71 Corridor Water/Sewer Extension – lowest bid by M Phillips Construction out of Magazine has been reviewed and unanimously accepted by the council.
- Police COPS Grant Resolution – monies will flow through the City of Greenwood account but will be a wash and not affect income or expenses. This will be used to finish converting over to key cards for students to leave or enter the school. The school system will provide maintenance after the installation.
- James Fork Water – property offer
- Milltown/Washburn water supply issues – Greenwood has lines there since 1980’s, but the issues with a subdivision does not affect the city of Greenwood
- Financial reports – City tax: even though the tax revenue is 50% of the expected for the first 6 months, it will not be an issue; County tax: 2% increase over prior month, expected to be higher due to home repairs of flooded properties; Balance Sheet showing $32 million in assets with some long-term debt for the Fire Department pumper which is currently being outfitted and will be delivered in the near future; Revenue and Expenses: anticipated Revenue is more than Expenses for the first 6 months, so there is a surplus right now that will even out as the months progress. There are some future capital expenditures coming, one being the Highway 71 Corridor Water/Sewer Extension project.
- Trash collection by new company CARDS out of Little Rock. Jason Kirkpatrick was in attendance, spoke and answered questions about the “additional” trash cart for $60/yr (seen as $4.95 per month). This expense to the citizens who want the additional cart is not for the cart, but for the contents of the cart. Effective Monday, July 8, all trash must be placed inside a CARDS cart and if any resident would like them to dispose of their old trash container, paint a white X on the container and they will dispose of it. Also, the Mayor has received some complaints from citizens whose trash has been missed in pickup and he admitted, “We’ve had a few hiccups in this transition, but all in all, it’s going really good. We appreciate being informed so we can fix it. In hindsight, we could have done better by informing the citizens of Greenwood in a letter to their home of the changes to both the trash and recycling.” Anyone who would like an additional cart should contact CARDS directly. The Mayor also said there has been suggestions on social media that the old trash containers can be donated to folks living in the country.
- Cameras placed on Main Street at the stop signs in the very near future as there have been many safety concerns.
- Ridgecrest sidewalks – one of them has been fixed and the other has been repaired time and again, to no avail. For safety reasons, it is closed off and will be fixed very quickly so the children will not have to walk around the area out into the street, which the Mayor is very concerned for their safety.
- Arvest bank account was set up last year to provide the City of Greenwood with credit cards for necessary business expenses that are much easier to track, set up, cancel and verify business only purchases, even on a daily basis. For example, gas cards can only be used for gas and there is a much stricter logging for verification purposes. Along with these better services, there is a rebate for all purchases, which will assist the general budget.
For the City’s new business, continuing talks of the I49 bypass through Greenwood with the Arkansas Department of Transportation, Mayor Kinslow and Senator Pitsch. They are meeting again with ARDOT soon. Mayor Kinslow stated, “There are safety issues when the new bypass is built, and we want to make sure there are sufficient emergency services in that area.”
Mayor Kinslow announced that Danielle Smith has been named the new Director of Human Resources with no pay change. He said he is very pleased with this move. There is an $80/yr expense for insurance bonding. Danielle will be taking over the drug testing and entry-level new hires.
Finally, the Mayor asks everyone to pray for people in this area and their families going through cancer.
