Monticello Live

An ordinance was presented to amend Monticello City Code to amend the limitations of hours of operation of private clubs within the city limits, at Tuesday night’s meeting.

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Ms. Lee Ann James presented the Fall 2014 Freshman Academy Report to the Drew Central School Board at their meeting January 26.

Her report indicates that students in the program improved in three core subjects.

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The City Council held a special called meeting 6 pm, Wednesday, January 7, for a vote to authorize special legal council to pursue mediation with Siemens, Inc., in order to dissolve the City’s contract with the company and to recover from Siemens damages and the City’s $7 million dollar financial investment in the water rehabilitation project.
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Mr. Cliff Gibson, a local attorney hired by the City of Monticello to assist them in resolving problems with Siemens Industries Corporation, addressed the City Council at their meeting Thursday evening.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gibson had submitted a 13 page report on his findings thus far in his investigation of Siemens and its arrangement with the City of Monticello to refurbish the City’s antiquated water system.

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The Monticello School Board met at Tuesday, December 16 for their regular monthly meeting with 5 members present.

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The City Council Budget Committee, composed of Al Peer, Joe Meeks, Claudia Hartness and Tim Chase, met with Vicki Tiner, City Financial Director, and members of her department, to discuss the City’s 2015 budget, and to review some issues with the 2014 budget.

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Six Drew Central student FFA members who attended the FFA National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky from October 29 – November 1, addressed the Drew Central School Board at their meeting Thursday evening, November 13.

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Members of the Monticello City Council Budget Committee met Tuesday evening, to consider budget requests from the various city departments for the upcoming year, and to discuss the overall state of the City Budget going in to 2015.

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A Resolution was presented to the City Council, and approved, to condemn the property of Monticello Recycling, located at 231 East Shelton. The building, estimated to be over 100 years old, originally served as a cotton mill, but is commonly known as the “old Burlington Rug Mill.”

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The Monticello City Council met Tuesday evening, and discussed locations of the weather warnig sirens, passed a resolution authorizing the use of city property for the placement of weather warning sirens, and approved money to pay for the City’s Code Red weather warning system.

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On October 22, 2014, Cliff Gibson, the attorney hired by the City Council to represent the City of Monticello in their contract concerns with Siemens Industry, Inc. (Siemens), issued a letter to Siemens, outlining the City’s concerns.

The letter is addressed to Mr. Tony Ardillo. The following is a summary of that letter.

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The Monticello School Board met for their regular monthly meeting on Monday.

A number of reports were reviewed and approved, including the Accident Prevention and Safety Plan, the District Crisis Plan, Emergency Action Plan and Continuity of Operations Plan.The Board also approved the district’s Workmen’s Compensation Plan for 2014-2015.

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Allan Nichols, Director of Mainline Health Systems, addressed the City Council at their meeting at last week’s City Council meeting, to ask for permission to purchase property adjoining the new fIre station on North Main Street, for the purpose of building a larger clinic.

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The Monticello City Council met in a specially called session Tuesday evening, to decide whether to hire an attorney, Mr. Cliff Gibson, to represent the City in their dealings with Siemens, Inc., the corporation contracted for $10 million to revamp Monticello’s water system, with his stipulation that a private engineer be employed to assist him.

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After researching the issue of whether the mayor is allowed to vote at a city council meeting where the council members have a split voteof 4–4, city attorney Witt Barton has confirmed that Mayor Joe Rogers ……
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City Attorney Whit Barton addressed the City council, Tuesday evening, about the problem of creeks flooding in Monticello.

Mr. Barton stated he was asked last week whether the City can clean out ditches on private property. He responded that the answer is no, but under the right circumstances they can. If a creek or ditch is a significant part of the City’s drainage system, then it can be cleared by the City.

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This report was based on the situation, at Tuesday night, 8 pm, with the school board members were contemplating calling attorneys for legal action.

After reading the top report, be sure to read the final paragraph, it’s was added Thursday morning.

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At their monthly meeting, Tuesday , the Monticello School Board was presented with updates on the various campus construction projects, including significant problems that will delay progress on several building projects, and could potentially cost the District a substantial sum of money.

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The Monticello School Board met Tuesday evening, July 15 for their regularly scheduled meeting with all members present.

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Judge Robert Akin announced at Monday night’s Quorum Court meeting that Air-Evac will not pursue payment from Drew County for the helicopter transport of a wounded murder suspect from Drew Memorial Hospital to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff. The med-flight was the result of a police-involved shooting incident that took the life of Samantha  Poole on Friday evening, March 14, in the vicinity of Save-A-Lot and Trotter Street.

City council approved a resolution Tuesday evening to accept a bid from Environmental Protection Associates in the amount of $129,986 for mold removal and related work at Monticello City Hall. A GIF grant will fund $15,000 of the project.

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Tuesday evening, after considerable discussion, the Monticello City Council approved an amendment to the City’s contract with Utility Service Group to repair and reinforce the foundation of the Burlington water tower. The amount of this contract amendment is $124,200.

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At the City Council’s Tuesday evening meeting, a local business owner asked the Council to pass an ordinance setting time limits for parking on the square.

The business owner requested an ordinance be passed, and signs installed, limiting parking to an unspecified number of hours, so that parking space can be more readily available for shoppers.

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Steven Morris of Morris and Associates addressed the City Council Wednesday evening with a slide presentation of his findings of damage and needed repairs to City Hall and the Police Building.

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The meeting was called to order with three members present. Tammy Stain reported on the 2013-2014 budget. She reviewed last year’s actual vs. this year’s budget.

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MEDC reported that they have had on-going contact with a prospect, and it is still looking positive. They will be meeting with AEDC next week to negotiate incentives.

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Friday morning, the Wilmar Mayor and Aldermen met with project engineers to officially open two new bridges.

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T‘he City Council officially voted to close a portion of West Pauline Street, at their meeting.

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At the Monticello Economic Development Commission’s monthly meeting, Nita McDaniel expounded on the recent city council meeting announcement that Hood Packaging is in the process of going through another expansion, which will add an estimated 12 new jobs, with an estimated hourly wage of $16

Hood will be investing between between $2M and $4M to add an additional product line. This will create 12 new full time jobs. AEDC has committed $250,000 in forgivable loans to help offset the costs of the expansion project, and on July 25th, the City Council approved an additional $100,000 in forgivable loans from the City war chest to assist with the expansion project as well.

As the planning of this expansion is on-going, new needs continue to develop, and the commission will be meeting soon to discuss these new aspects of the expansion.

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At their last meeting, the Mayor addressed the Council about the possible construction of two roads with a grant from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. These roads would run from North Scogin Drive to Hwy. 278 and from Hwy. 278 to Barkada Road, for the purpose of reducing traffic congestion.

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On July 11 the City Council held a special meeting at which Brian Woodring with Utility Services, Inc., presented a proposal to repair the city’s water towers for a cost of approximately $500,000. Their proposal would repair the water towers and establish a service contract, which would allow the City to pay the project out over a five year period as well as keep the tanks maintained.

Here’s the full report from that meeting.

The City Attorney reviewed the contract and determined that due to the nature of the services, it would not be necessary to take bids on the work. To comply with all legal requirements, Utilities Services Inc. would be required to provide a bond. They indicated that would not be a problem. They also verified that the contract was drawn up based on the recommendation of licensed engineers. Under the contract, Utilities Services Inc. will be completely responsible for the care and maintenance of the water towers. The Council authorized the City to accept the contract, once it is updated with a bond.

Once the contract is signed, work will begin with the Burlington water tower in early Fall of this year. Burlington water tower has not been painted or refurbished since 1981.

Court reports by Sarah Spencer
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