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Russellville City Council discusses issues concerning community |  |
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LaTina Kelley |
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| The Russellville City Council discussed its
goals for the year as the first order of business at a recent meeting. The
goals included employing, recruiting and retaining the most qualified employees.
The next set of goals mentioned was opening businesses and other operations such as a hospital, 18-hole golf course and a skate park. A fishing tournament that could bring in three million people to the hotel and business sector was also discussed. New Fire Chief John Cochran was introduced at the meeting. After his introduction, Betsy McGuire, executive director of Main Street Russellville, spoke about the importance of downtown as the core and history of the city. Redevelopment and revitalization in 2006 was discussed and a projected cost of $81,176 for rehabilitation was given, with a $4,580 cash match. This match is the second grant made to Russellville for preservation. The deadline for this completion is May 31. On April 26 from 5-8 p.m., Main Street is sponsoring the 15th anniversary of Taste of the Valley, which will be held downtown at the Train Depot instead of the Hughes Center this year. The council then adopted the policies of retirement benefits and sick leave as well as a policy for the education benefit of the police. The council opened a public hearing for the Pizza Place on N. Arkansas and 'E' Street. Citizen Jack Burris said it was wrong to give away city land. The public hearing was then closed and the council adopted this policy. One order of business discussed was the airport. The council proposed a $1.2 million grant to rehabilitate the airport. The city would have to advance $60,000 and the state would refund it. The council approved the advancement of $60,000. The next order of business addressed the removal of a dilapidated structure. The council heard the owner speak and decided to let an engineer determine if the place is structurally sound. The last order of business was regarding the city treasurer position. The council decided to merge the treasurer and city clerk jobs and give the position to Cathy Collins, with a pay raise of $3,000. At the end of the meeting, Cochran spoke about a suspected bomb in the hotel across from Dixie Café. He said the joint effort of the fire and police departments and Conway’s bomb squad was successful. The package turned out to be a physical agility machine. |
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