Alexander detective ends reign of burglary gang; solves cases for multiple jurisdictions

Between June 7 and June 10 the City of Alexander Police Department received reports on a, “string of burglaries and vehicle break-ins.” With very few leads, “Detective Hill immediately embarked on an exhaustive canvas of the area and worked with victims and five other Law Enforcement agencies to quickly develop multiple suspects and uncover a criminal enterprise.”

Those are quotes from an Honorable Service Medal award presented to Criminal Investigative Detective Jessica Hill at the June city council meeting. Her efforts resulted in solving multiple crimes committed in Alexander, Bryant, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Cabot, and surrounding rural communities.

The award was presented to her by Assistant Police Chief Richard Harper. Reading the award Harper begins by saying, “For outstanding performance as a member of the Alexander Police Department between June 7th 2019 and June 10th 2019.”

From L to R; Det. Jessica Hill, Asst. Police
Chief Richard Harper and Police Chief
Robert Burnett.

Going into more detail concerning the investigation the award states, “Then as part of a two-person team, Detective Hill obtained through interrogation multiple confessions. Her team’s impressive interview/interrogation acumen garnered praise from senior investigators of multiple Law Enforcement agencies including the Arkansas State Police. Her efforts directly resulted in the recovery of three stolen vehicles, three stolen firearms, and more than $200,000.00 of other personal property taken from the citizens of Alexander, Bryant, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Cabot, and surrounding rural communities. Detective Hill in three days, closed sixteen Felony and seven Misdemeanor Alexander Police Department criminal cases and assisted in closing seven cases for other Law Enforcement agencies.”

“Your consistency of demonstrating concern for the people of this city and your caring attitude, high level of initiative, and the relentless pursuit of those who would harm our citizens are a major contributing factor in your accomplishments,” Harper still reading the award. “It is Police Officers such as yourself that set the example for others to emulate and impress upon the citizens of Alexander that their Police Department is professional, concerned, caring, and dedicated to providing a better environment in which to live.”

While presenting the Honorable Service Medal to Detective Hill there was a round of applause.

After the presentation Harper said, “She worked these cases methodically and ruthlessly until she put someone in jail.”

Prior to the presentation Police Chief Robert Burnett commented on the praise being received by the department.

“Pats on the back from bigger agencies, State Police, Little Rock, … it kinda makes you take notice,” Burnett said. “And, especially when you have those divisions trying to snatch our detective away to go work for them, that’s a good thing.”

As for crime Burnett said for a small city, “We are not crime free.”

Both Burnett and Harper explained while it may appear that, “Sexual assaults are on the rise,” it’s more due to the reporting of sexual assaults is up.

“The community trusts us more and they know we’re going to do something about it,” Harper said.

Alexander council completes May business at June meeting

When Alexander city council members ended their May meeting the process of approving legal items on the agenda was started, but not completed. Since there were only four council members present, with the mayor counting as the fifth for a quorum, by law the best they could do is have the first public reading on three ordinances and go home.

Near the top of the agenda for the June 17 meeting was the appointment of Lonny Chapman to fill the vacancy in the Ward-4 Seat-1 position. With five other members in attendance, that gave the council the six votes needed to read by title and suspend the third reading of the three ordinances, allowing them to go into effect that night. For more on the appointment of Lonny Chapman see article at this link.

The first ordinance approved by the council was the City of Alexander Subdivision Rules and Regulations. The ordinance establishes standards and procedures developers must follow to develop property and build within the city.

The ordinance is based on the Saline County Subdivision Rules and Regulations. The city adopted Saline County’s ordinance in February 2015 as a temporary solution to a problem. Developer’s of Meadow’s Edge, along Highway 111, wanted to begin designing the subdivision but Alexander didn’t have its own subdivision rules and regulations to follow.

The expectation was to later convert the county language in the ordinance to city. When the current planning commission was formed, and had enough members to begin holding meetings, that project was put at the top of the to-do list.

Next on that list was updating the city’s zoning ordinance. Passed in 1982 the previous ordinance had one major shortfall. It had only two residential zones. R-1 allowed all single-family residential housing, whether it was site-built or a manufactured home; called mobile homes or trailers back then. R-2 included R-1 plus apartments.

The new zoning regulations provides for five residential zones. All housing in the R-1 category must be built on-site. They are R-1.(SF) [Single-Family], R-1.(SFD) [Single-Family or Duplex], R-1.(MF) [Multi-Family only], and R-1.(AC) [Apartment Complex]. The difference between multi-family and an apartment complex is street access. An apartment building built in a multi-family zone is built along a city street. An apartment complex does not contain city streets and does not allow traffic thru access.

The fifth type of residential zoning is R-2.(MU) [Mixed-Use]. This zone permits only single-family units but they can be either site-built or factory-built homes.

During his report to the city council Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck noted one aspect of the new zoning regulations that may slowly change the look of Alexander housing. Any factory-built home either moved from location to location within the city, or moved into the city from outside can not be older than 20 years when moved. As an example he said in 2019 anything built before 1999 won’t be allowed.

The third ordinance on the agenda authorizes the city to use electronic transfers between banking accounts rather than needing to write a check. Mayor Paul Mitchell noted this was one of the items state auditors found when conducting the audit of the city’s financial procedures for 2017. The city was using electronic transfers without the necessary ordinance allowing the procedure.

All three ordinances were approved by a six to two vote of the council. Present at the meeting and voting “Yes” were Joe Pollard, Joy Gray, Juanita Wilson, Harold Timmerman, Dan Church, and Lonny Chapman. Absent, which counts as a “No” vote, were Elizabeth Bland and Jeff Watson.

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is July 15 at 6 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.

Alexander Farmers Market Saturday

Alexander City Park

Saturdays, through September; 8 AM to 1 PM.

No charge to vendors. Produce or craft based items under pavilion only. Other vendors may set-up outside pavilion.

Call 501-837-0885 for questions or set-up information.

Directions to park: Take N. Alexander Rd (Hwy. 111), to Robert Evans Street between bridge and Dollar General. Watch for signs. See map below.

Tree crashes through home in Alexander during Thursday’s storm

(Updated 06/25/2019: Last sentence.)

The storm that rolled through Saline and Pulaski counties Thursday, June 20 caused area-wide damage and a power outage. In Alexander one home was cut in two when a large tree in the front yard was uprooted and fell.

According to an E-mail sent to The Alexandrian by JoAn Churchill the home is owned by Iona Melton. Churchill said Melton was at home with her granddaughter at the time. Neither were injured. The home is located at 14700 Hwy 111, across from the former Human Development Center.

“As a community, it would be good to try to help her,” Churchill said in her E-mail. “I can't do much alone.”

Churchill suggested making a donation in Melton’s name to the Alexander First Baptist Church; write on the memo line "for Iona Melton." Churchill says she was told by the Alexander fire chief the Red Cross is helping, and suggested a donation to them in Melton's name.

Lonny Chapman appointed to fill council vacancy

Former council member Lonny Chapman is the newest member to occupy the Ward-4 Seat-1 position on the Alexander City Council. He was approved in a four to one vote after some questioning by Ward-2 Council Member Joy Gray. Gray was the lone “No” vote.

The usual five "Yes" votes were not necessary. Under state law, when voting to fill a vacancy on a city council, the majority is based on the number of positions, not including the vacant seat. In Alexander’s case that is a majority of seven.

Mayor Paul Mitchell (Left) reads oath 
to Lonny Chapman.

Gray questioned a vote Chapman made during his previous stint on the council. At the time Gray was not a council member but had an interest in the vote since it involved the subdivision where she lives, St. Joseph Glen.

The vote in August 2015 involved a resolution accepting a state grant to pave several streets in Alexander. Two of those streets are Autumn Cove and the southeast end of Magnolia Glen where it intersects with Autumn Cove. Although part of Phase-7, the last to be built in the St. Joseph Glen development, these two streets have always had problems and were worse than the other streets in St. Joseph Glen.

The issue involved future maintenance of Autumn Cove and that section of Magnolia Glen. The resolution, provided by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department (now known as the Arkansas Transportation Department), requires the city to maintain all streets paved under the state grant program. The problem is the two ordinances, which allowed for the construction of phases one through six and Phase-7, do not turn over responsibility of street maintenance to the city. At the developers request all utility maintenance, including streets, were left to the developers.

After much debate over the issue of the city’s future responsibility for two streets that are not part of the street system, council members Stephanie Beck, Dan Church, Louis Hobbs, and Melissa Ratliff voted “Yes” on the resolution. Voting “No” were Andrea Bearden, Lonny Chapman and Andy Mullins. Jeff Watson was absent which counted as a “No” vote. With the vote tied four to four City Recorder Sharon Bankhead, who was filling in as acting mayor because Mayor Paul Mitchell was in the hospital, voted yes to break the tie.

Gray asked Chapman why he voted against the 2015 resolution. Chapman said his vote was based on the issue concerning the two streets not being part of the street system.

In September 2015 the council passed an ordinance amending the original ordinance, passed in 2008, that established the "Alexander Municipal Property Owner's Multipurpose Improvement District 86." The amended version gave control of the two streets to the city. A new resolution accepting the grant was then passed to correct an error. In both instances Chapman voted “Yes.”

The original ordinance was a legal requirement by the state in order to form an improvement district around the proposed Phase-7 of St. Joseph’s Glen prior to construction. A single improvement district was established by ordinance in 2003 around phases one through six. Unfortunately, the law does not allow for the expansion of an improvement district.

The Ward-4 Seat-1 position became vacant when council member Melissa Ratliff resigned in February to work full-time in city hall. Chapman formerly held the Ward-4, Seat-2 position but lost re-election in 2016 to Jeffery Watson, who still holds that position.

The July 15 city council meeting will be held at 6 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.

Alexander Farmers Market Saturday

Alexander City Park

Saturdays, through September; 8 AM to 1 PM.

No charge to vendors. Produce or craft based items under pavilion only. Other vendors may set-up outside pavilion.

Directions to park: Take N. Alexander Rd (Hwy. 111), to Robert Evans Street between bridge and Dollar General. Watch for signs. See map below.

Alexander council approves fireworks ordinance in time for July 4

An ordinance covering fireworks has been a topic that’s been the subject of many council meetings. Whether the request came from a citizen attending a meeting, or a council member the topic seems to pop up almost annually either too close to July 4 to write and pass an ordinance, or immediately after with various complaints related to fireworks’ mishaps.

Apparently, police department officials have had enough. Police Chief Robert Burnett and others in the department crafted a fireworks ordinance that was presented to council members at the monthly June 17 meeting.

The ordinance entitled, “An ordinance to limit the sale and discharge of fireworks within the City of Alexander, Arkansas and for other purposes” sets standards for who can sell fireworks and where and when they can be “Discharged.” In short, fireworks cannot be sold within the city limits without the purchase of a, “Privilege license” and, “No parent, guardian, or custodian of any child under the age of majority shall knowingly permit or consent to the possession or discharge of fireworks by any child under the age of majority without proper supervision.” The ordinance also allows for the, “possession or discharge of fireworks” as, “prima facie evidence of the knowing permission or consent of such parent, guardian, or custodian.” In other words you’re responsible for the actions of the child whether you know what they’re doing or not. In Arkansas the age of majority is 18 years old.

The ordinance provides a definition of fireworks. Besides the legal, technical definition examples of what constitutes fireworks is provided. The list includes, “sky rockets, roman candles, daygo bombs, blank cartridges, toy cannons, toy canes, or toy guns in which explosives other than toy paper caps are used, the type of balloons which require fire underneath to propel them, firecracker, torpedoes, sparklers, or other fireworks of like construction, any fireworks containing any explosive or flammable compound, or any tablet or other device containing an explosive substance.”

The ordinance limits the discharging of fireworks, “on private property of the owner, by the owner and immediate family, when discharge is in a safe and sane manner.” “Safe and sane manner,” is defined as, “actions which do not endanger life, limb, or property of those in the area of the discharge.”

However, fireworks may not, “be discharged within the boundaries of or within three hundred feet (300 ft.) of any public park owned or maintained by the city.” Also, fireworks may not be, “discharged upon any public street, alley, road, or right-of-way,” … “under or upon a motor vehicle, whether moving or not, or within three hundred feet (300 ft.) of any gas station, gas, oil, or propane storage facility, or other area which is highly flammable in nature.” Fireworks also may not be discharged if the Fire Chief has issued a burn ban due to drought or other conditions.

The ordinance allows for the discharging of fireworks on July 3 and July 4 from 12:00 PM (Noon) until 10:00 PM. Fireworks are also allowed to be discharged from 12:00 PM (Noon) on December 31 and between 12:00 AM (Midnight) until 1:00 AM on January 1.

The revelers are also required to clean-up the mess. The ordinance states, “Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, or association discharging fireworks under this ordinance shall, upon such discharge, be responsible for clean-up of the discharge site, including disposal of all discharged fireworks, all non-discharged or ‘dud’ fireworks, and the associated debris from the area in a safe manner.”

Police, fire and code enforcement officers are given the authority to enforce this ordinance. They also have the authority to, “seize, impound, remove, or cause to be removed, at the expense of the owner, all stocks of fireworks offered for sale, sold, or in the possession of any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, or association in violation of this chapter.” Penalties start at, “a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than five hundred dollars ($500) for a first time offense, a fine of not less than two hundred dollars ($200) or more than five hundred dollars ($500) for a second offense, and a fine of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) or more than five hundred dollars ($500) for a third or subsequent offense. Each day of a violation constitutes a separate offense.”

The ordinance also covers payment for damages and the cost of any services provided. “Any damages caused or injuries sustained as a result of any violation of this chapter shall be ordered paid as restitution as part of any conviction for any violation,” it states. Also, “The court may order the reimbursement of costs of enforcement, investigation, fire suppression services, and overtime related to a violation upon conviction.”

In order for this ordinance to become effective before July 4 two-thirds (six) of the council members had to vote for suspending the second and third required public readings and to pass the Emergency Clause. Present at the start of the meeting were council members Joe Pollard (Ward-1), Joy Gray (Ward-2), Juanita Wilson (Ward-2), Harold Timmerman (Ward-3), and Dan Church (Ward-3). Absent were Elizabeth Bland (Ward-1) and Jeff Watson (Ward-4 Seat-2).

Before getting down to business former council member Lonny Chapman was appointed to fill the vacancy in the Ward-4 Seat-1 position. That seat became vacant when council member Melissa Ratliff resigned in February to work full-time at city hall. Chapman became the sixth council member. More on his appointment in a subsequent article.

The next meeting of the Alexander city council is Monday, July 15. The meeting is at 6 PM and is held in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.

Long list of agenda items for Alexander council

Alexander City Council members have a long list of agenda items to go through Monday evening. Many of them are left over from the May meeting.

The first item listed is the appointment of former council member Lonny Chapman to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Ward-4 council member Melissa Ratliff. Ratliff resigned in February to work full-time in city hall.

Mayor Paul Mitchell will ask council members to approve Chapman’s appointment to fill the Ward-4, Seat-1 vacancy. Chapman lost re-election when he held the Ward-4, Seat-2 position in 2016 to Jeffery Watson, who still currently holds that position.

At the May meeting only four council members were available. While the mayor can be used to provide the fifth member needed for a quorum, mayor’s cannot vote for their nominee to a city position. Since five “Yes” votes are needed to approve the appointment it was postponed until the June meeting.

Other agenda items left over from the May meeting include two ordinances being proposed by the Alexander Planning Commission. One ordinance, the City of Alexander Subdivision Rules and Regulation, establishes rules for developing land within the city. The second is a new set of zoning regulations to replace the current regulations established in 1982. A third ordinance given its first public reading authorizes the electronic transfer of funds.

Each ordinance was able to receive its first public reading. Under normal circumstances, after a first reading, the required second and third readings are suspended making way for voting on the ordinance, all at the same meeting. Unfortunately, suspending the second and third readings requires a two-thirds vote of the council. In this case six members must vote for suspension of the additional readings. With only four members present the remaining process was left for the June meeting.

New items on the June 17 meeting agenda are a review of the “Legislative Audit Findings” for the year 2017, “Replacing Jackie with Amanda for Court Check Signing” and an ordinance concerning fireworks. If approved this will be the first known ordinance dealing with fireworks.

The June 17 city council meeting will be held at 6 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.