During his report to Alexander council members, Fire Chief Mark Ridgeway reported, “Another record year,” in the number of calls for 2021. The total number of calls for 2021 were 844, up from 2020’s 754, which was also a record number for calls. In 2019 the number of calls were 602. The report was provided to council members at the city’s January meeting.
Fire calls fall into 20 categories. In 2021 there were 10 Vehicle Fires, 2 Electrical Fires, 2 Kitchen Fires, zero Chimney Fires, 56 Structure Fires, 17 Wildland Fires, 20 Illegal Burns, 324 Medical, 43 Motor Vehicle Accidents, zero Overdoses, 4 Water Rescues, 1 Search and Rescue, 82 Public Assist, 5 Standby, 231 Canceled, 37 False Alarms, 6 Hazmats, 1 Natural Disaster, 3 Power Lines down, and zero Missed Calls.
Under the category of Mutual or Automatic Aid Given there were a total of 351 calls in 2021 to various area departments. They are Arch Street 75, Bauxite 2, Bryant 7, Collegville 6, Crystal 21, East End 3, Little Rock 8, Northeast 127, Sardis 47, Salem zero, Shannon Hills 53, West Pulaski 1, Other 1.
Also, at the January 24 meeting,
Police Department needs radios replaced
The Alexander Police Department needs radios replaced in order to keep up with an increasing number of additional frequencies. Police Chief Robert Burnett told council members that Saline County and other area departments are having to increase the number of available radio frequencies due to an increase number of calls. Burnett said sometimes there isn’t a channel available. In the year 2021 Burnett said the department responded to 4,520 calls.
Burnett noted the department has been taking advantage of all available grant programs to secure needed equipment. The department was also able to acquire $28,000 of free equipment.
He said department staff are working on grants to replace the radios that are too old to be upgraded. All of the handheld radios worn by police officers can’t be upgraded, according to Burnett. Because all of the new police cars have new radios they can be upgraded, but the “one or two” cars used by the auxiliary officers must be replaced.
Mayor reports on Street Aid, Meadow’s Edge and other issues
Mayor Paul Mitchell reported to council members he is gathering the necessary information to apply for another Street Aid grant from the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDoT). Mitchell said he has been driving the streets that haven’t been repaved to determine which ones are in most need of repair and the length of each street.
Mitchell reminded council members the program runs on a three-year cycle. The last time Alexander was approved for funding was January, 2019, which makes 2022 the city’s next opportunity to apply. He said he will be submitting a funding request.
Mitchell said past projects have concentrated on the longer streets used by everyone. Now the streets remaining are those that feed into the streets that have already been repaved.
In the past the dollar amount for each city was $250,000.00 per grant. Since then ArDot had discussed increasing the amount to $300,000.00.
The State Aid City Streets program was funded by a temporary gasoline tax extension passed by voters in November, 2011. Since then voters made the tax permanent. Revenue from the tax is being used to upgrade interstate and state highways along with city and county streets and roads.
Also in his report, Mitchell said he is still working on getting the names N. Alexander Rd. and Alexander Rd. (Hwy. 111) from Highway 5 to 3rd St. changed to North Main St. and 3rd St. (Hwy. 111) and South Alexander Rd. changed to South Main. The primary issue with the name change request is that N. Alexander and Alexander Rd. north of Cornerstone Rd. isn’t in Alexander.
He said, “It’s going to happen, I just don’t know when.”
Mitchell said he is still working on getting the remaining street lights installed in South Alexander. Hanging a light on the existing pole across from the entrance to St. Joseph’s Glen has been on the waiting list for over a year.
“I think Entergy has started to come around and is contracting some stuff out because they can’t keep up,” Mitchell said. “We have (lights) turned in for South Alexander three years ago.”
Speaking of lights, Mitchell said he is still working on getting the required street lights installed in Phase-3 of Meadow’s Edge along with street signs for phases three and four. He also said he expects the city will be adopting the Meadow’s Edge streets into the city sometime this year.
The engineer for the Meadow’s Edge development said the lights would be installed by November 30, 2021. With that self-imposed deadline not met Mitchell is having difficulty contacting the engineer to determine who was suppose to install the lights.
Redistricting ordinance gets second reading
An ordinance to redraw the lines of Alexander’s four wards received its second public reading. The first reading was at the December council meeting.
Due to the lack of six council members at both meetings the second and third readings could not be suspended. State law requires the presence of two-thirds of the council to fast-track an ordinance. There were only four council members present in December with the mayor making the fifth needed for a quorum. There were five council members at the January 24 meeting.
The wards had to be redrawn after the results of the 2020 Census were reported. By law, the population of wards must be within five-percent, plus or minus, of each other. Under the current ward boundaries wards one and two are too high and wards three and four are too low.
Council approves organization document
Alexander council members approved The Organization of City Council 2022. The document is a set of rules, which controls how council meetings will be conducted. The document is approved every January and covers the current calendar year.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, February 28 at 6:00 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.
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