With no mention of lawsuits, ordinances or a budget on the City of
Alexander's agenda for Monday night's meeting it would appear to be the makings
of a quick and dull meeting. But, residents may want to attend this one anyway.
The agenda does include City Attorney Carla Miller. It is assumed she
will be providing an update on the city's repossessed fire truck.
The latest in that saga is the fire truck has allegedly been sold for
about $75,000 by the owner of the
lease-purchase agreement, Paul Anthony Graver. It was sold on November
14 after he was ordered three times by two judges
to return the truck to the city.
The dispute is over a 1999 Freightliner fire truck. The truck was
repossessed in October while sitting in a restaurant parking lot. It was then
taken to a lot in Memphis, Tennessee.
The City of Alexander entered into a lease-purchase agreement with First
Government Lease Company and its owner Paul Anthony Graver in May, 2008. Graver
lives in Chicago and his business is located in Northfield, Illinois.
The amount of the lease-purchase was $50,000 for the truck and an
additional $24,325 in interest. The agreement is for seven years at $884 per
month.
Apparently, Graver bundled that loan with two other loans he had with
the city and sold them to First State
Bank in Oklahoma. Alexander Mayor Michelle Hobbs stopped making the monthly
payments in March of this year claiming the
lease-purchase agreement for the fire truck was illegal under the Arkansas
Constitution, which restricts how cities can take on interest-paying debt.
Graver bought back the
lease-purchase agreement for the fire truck from First State Bank October 10,
then filed a lawsuit that same day in Illinois court. The fire truck was then
repossessed October 11.
Also on the agenda is a report from the finance committee. Council
members have been holding special meetings to hammer out the 2014 budget.
The next city council meeting is Monday, December 16, at 6PM in city
hall.
So.. Now that they don't have a fire truck to pay for. Why not fix the roads in St. Joesph Glen Subdivision, or exempt us from paying taxes to the city of Alexander. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeletePaying off loans, or any other expense, has nothing to do with repairing streets. Municipalities and counties receive monthly payments from the state's fuel tax. The cut is based on population. That revenue must also be kept in a separate bank account and can only be spent for street related items, such as street repair, street lights, etc..
DeleteIn the case of St. Joseph Glen, however, your streets have not been turned over to the city. If you have any complaints go to your subdivision group and ask why they are not being maintained.
Alex good answer ! why should they not hold the people who put the POA into effect, and require the problems be brought to court and resolved, so the issues they have can be put in the open view, and maybe X Mayor Johnson could be brought in, and her kickback from the developer, who built it, exposed. Possible?
DeleteMERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
ReplyDelete