Bids opened for Kent Drive property

Sealed bids to purchase the property located at 14805 Kent Drive, in Alexander, Arkansas were opened July 6 at 1:00 PM at Alexander City Hall. The property is owned by the city and was relinquished to Alexander in lieu of paying fines for property maintenance violations.

There were three bids and they were unsealed by Mayor Crystal Herrmann in the following order.

1- Manuel Beza - $18,500.00;

2-Joaquin Avarodo - $9,000.00;

3-Teresa Canchola - $25,100.00.

The bids will be presented to city council members at the July 20 council meeting for review and approval.

Double accidents connected

A vehicle accident at Main St. and Highway 111 (3^rd St.), in Alexander, resulted in another accident at Cornerstone Dr. and Highway 111. The accidents occurred on July 1.

According to a statement by Police Chief Timothy Preator, a city street department vehicle was rear-ended by another vehicle at the Main St./Highway 111 location. A police officer, responding to the first accident, was struck by a semi-tractor trailer at the Cornerstone Dr./Highway 111 intersection.

The police car came to rest in the ditch along Highway 111. According to a radio dispatch, at the time of the accident, the officer was able to extract himself from the vehicle.

Arkansas State Police responded and worked the accident involving the police unit.

Alexander council member surrenders to authorities

 After a nearly two-year investigation by Arkansas State Police, Troop-A in Little Rock, Alexander Council Member Lou (Juanita) Wilson was charged with forgery in the second degree. The charge, a felony, is related to Wilson obtaining a city credit card for the use of then Police Chief Robert Burnett.

Lou (Juanita) Wilson

Wilson turned herself in to the Saline County Sheriff’s Department July 1, 2026. She was released the same day on a signature bond.

Council members first learned about the credit card issue at the August, 2023 council meeting. The existence of two unauthorized city credit cards was reported by Administrative Assistant Jennifer Hill. The second card was held by then Treasurer JoAn Churchill. This was reported in the 2023 State Audit released in 2024.

Burnett returned the card to the mayor. Churchill destroyed her card.

Wilson said in 2023, "I have not spent one dime on it for the city. I gave it to someone to use in the city because they didn't have access to the other credit card that was supposed to be already here."

At the September, 2023 council meeting, council members were read a letter from the bank admitting they didn’t follow their own policy of requiring a resolution approving who can receive one of the three cards allowed for city use. A 2022 resolution, establishing who can sign checks for the city, was mistakenly identified as the method Churchill and Wilson used to obtain the credit cards. (Read article here.)

Trying to untangle the confusion Mayor Crystal Herrmann said, at the September, 2023 meeting, "That's a different situation. That was for them to actually be (check) signers."

Wilson’s hearing is scheduled for August.

Editor's Note: The fourth and fifth paragraphs have been edited based on new information.