No Deed, No Fountain!

Anyone planning to have wedding photos taken in front of the water fountain in Alexander City Park any time this year may want to make alternate plans. Mayor Crystal Herrmann, and some members of the city council, aren't willing to have the fountain repaired until they have a deed in-hand for that end of the park where the fountain is located. This despite being told, by both the attorney hired to file the claim of eminent domain and the judge who issued an early ruling, Alexander has the authority to make necessary repairs on the property that makes up the eastern end of the city park.

"I haven't heard from Ms. Lana Fraser," Herrmann said. "I am still under the impression that that is still going through the court process."

Herrmann then asked Council Member Juanita Wilson if she had any information on the proceedings.

Wilson reported that the two required legal notices announcing Alexander's filing of a, "Complaint in eminent domain" against the property and its owner was published in the Saline Courier. According to a receipt from the Saline Courier, posted on the website Arkansas Judiciary, the legal notice was published on May 27 and June 3.

The publication of a "Warning Order" is a legal requirement to publicly notify, "Any persons or entities claiming an interest in, or ownership of certain lands as described and located in Saline County, Arkansas, are hereby warned to appear in the Circuit Court of Saline County, Arkansas, within thirty (30) days of the date of first publication of this Warning Order and answer the Complaint of Plaintiff, City of Alexander, which has condemned the following described land." The legal notice provides the parcel number, address and legal description of the property. It also names, "David Jacks (AND ALL OTHER HEIRS AND INTERESTED PARTIES)" as potential individuals who may want to make a claim. June 26 was the end of the 30-day limit.

One of the concerns was repairing the fountain and then Jacks would sell the property before the judge would make a final ruling.

"It's hard to stop them from selling anything (because of the published notice), so the property is legally ours," Wilson said.

Herrmann asked, "Is it in our name?"

"It's not in our name," Wilson responded. "It may take six months to get in our name, but we can go ahead and do what we're supposed to do."

"I would prefer to table this until it's legally in our name," Herrmann said.

"I would prefer for us not to," Wilson replied. "I'll make a motion that we go ahead and accept the McElroy bid and do the fountain in the park."

Council Member Harold Timmerman seconded the motion.

"I have two other bids for us to review," Herrmann said. "I just haven't brought it to council yet."

"Too bad," Wilson said. "The one you gave us was a 14 day bid and it didn't give a guarantee."

The discussion of who will repair the fountain goes back to the April 17 council meeting. Apparently, finding someone in Arkansas who works with marble, can make it waterproof, is able to work on a fountain, and will come to this part of Arkansas is not easy. The fountain must be disassembled, the plumbing repairs made and then reassembled making it watertight.

At the April 17 meeting Wilson said she and council members Harold Timmerman and Tony Staton contacted several marble installers and only one is equipped to repair a marble water fountain.

"And basically, there are a lot of people that install marble and tiles but not a lot of people that repair something like that (fountain)," Wilson said.

McElroy Tops and Floors from Benton submitted a bid of $47,000.00. Wilson said that does not include the cost of materials. The city will buy that separately and pocket the contractor's discount. The bid does include outsourcing the heavy lifting to the Alexander Street and Parks Department, which cuts down on some of the labors costs. Herrmann said she wanted to find two more bids that will provide the three bids necessary for a project like this.

"So we have a motion and a second on the table," Wilson said.

"We do have two other contractors that both had...," Herrmann began.

"We've been dealing with this long enough," Timmerman said. "We get a lot of complaints because that fountain is not running."

"We're getting complaints from people who live here," Wilson chimed in. "So we have made a motion and a second. We need to vote on it."

"So the city of Alexander has already been dinged on one audit that the city had spent money on the property without it being in our name," Herrmann reminded everyone. "I would ask that y'all take a moment and actually think about it. It's not that much longer. Let's let the city get it legally in our name before we spend money on it. Because I am opposed to it until it is in our name. The city of Alexander has been dinged already for spending money on that property without it being in its name."

"I have a question," said Council Member Joy Gray. "Is there any way to expedite the process?"

"I have not really been involved in this part," said newly hired City Attorney Caleb Conrad. "I will check on the deed and the process of getting the name over."

"It needs to get done, it needs to happen," Gray said. "We all in good faith believed, I'll make a record of saying that, when we made those changes to the park, despite what was said during the election and what we all got from it and the buzz forums on social media, we believed that we owned that park and we had three or four different documents legally stating that."

"It just was when some other survey happened then it came out, oh we didn't actually own it," Gray continued. "So we weren't illegally, after willy-nilly just doing stuff, we genuinely thought we owned it."

"But I don't want to rinse and repeat a scenario now and do it again," Gray said. "I want to get this done, I want to get this over with, but if we could expedite this process, that would be a question I would have before I vote."

Conrad said he will research how much longer the process will take and if there is a way to expedite the issuance of a deed.

The "other survey" Gray refers to involved property that runs along side the western end of the park. According to former Mayor Paul Mitchell, a resident was claiming his property extended 30-feet inside the park. Mitchell had a survey done showing the resident's property line was not 30-feet inside the park. It also showed the eastern end of the park was not owned by the city.

According to The Alexandrian archives, at the November 20, 2017 council meeting the Alexander City Council approved the purchase and installation of the gazebo not to exceed $60,000. At a March 5, 2018 special council meeting, council members approved $55,000 for the park fountain. During an April 16, 2018 meeting the council accepted a quote to light pathway’s in the city park from Alliance Electrical Services for $50,977.29.

The city had been mowing the grass on the eastern parcel for many years. As far as anyone knew it was city property.

When the ownership of the eastern end of the park came into question, some time in 2019 or early 2020, Mitchell halted all additional planned improvements and large maintenance projects to the park, except for mowing the grass. The Parks and Recreation Fund derives its revenue from a quarter-cent of one of the city's three one-cent sales taxes. Not knowing what settling this legal issue will cost Mitchell did not want to draw down the fund until this is settled.

Mitchell had two appraisals done on the property. The appraisals were based on the value of the property prior to the improvements, plus the added disadvantage of being located in a flood area. Before leaving office at the end of 2022, Mitchell offered Jacks $68,000 based on the two appraisals.

Those council members in favor of repairing the fountain as soon as possible have held this position since the judge's ruling made after the city filed for eminent domain in March. According to the filing posted on Arkansas Judicial, Judge Brent D. Houston, 22nd Circuit, Division 3, ruling states, "After the City deposits $68,000 into the registry of the Court, the City and its agents or contractors may take immediate possession of the property described in the City of Alexander’s Complaint filed on March 22, 2023, and may enter upon the lands in controversy and proceed with its operation, construction, maintenance, and ensure safety for the public park. Ark. Code Ann. §18-15-303(b)(2)."

Jacks did file a response to the legal notice with the court June 12, 2023. This is the first response from Jacks since a court summons was issued on March 22 informing him the eminent domain suit was filed. Jacks was given 30 to 60 days to respond. May 22 was the 60-day mark.

His June 12 response is essentially the same demands reported to council members at their March 20 council meeting by Attorney Lana Fraser. Fraser is with the James Law Firm in Little Rock and was the city attorney before joining the law firm.

Jacks is asking, "[T]o be reimbursed rent in the amount of forty thousand ($40,000.00) for the period of time of unlawful entry and use of land. The Defendant furthermore request that court awards him the value of described land in the amount of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars ($120,000.00). Plus the value of improvements in the amount of one hundred ten thousand two hundred and forty-seven dollars ($110,247.00) [sic] With the sum total of two hundred seventy thousand two hundred and forty-seven dollars ($270,247.00) be awarded to The Defendant for compensation of rent and the value of property."

During the March 20 meeting Fraser said Jacks is claiming the "Lease Agreement" was for $2,000 a month and is attempting to claim a breach of contract.

"That lease would have to be in writing," Fraser continued. "I don't think that any court would find that there is a valid contract ever between the City of Alexander and Mr. Jacks ..., because that agreement was not in writing."

Fraser also said there's no evidence of a verbal lease agreement.

The motion to repair the fountain failed five to three. Voting "No" were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith, and Gina Thomas-Littlejohn. Voting "Yes" were Tony Staton, Harold Timmerman and Juanita Wilson.

Also at the June 19 council meeting:

Three Old Business spending items cleared out

Now that financial statements are once again available, the council was able to approve some overdue spending issues. The council unanimously approved installing a fire alarm system in city hall, install a new metal roof on the building at the former Human Development Center (which will house the police department once repairs are completed) and repair the street department generator.

Change to retirement system approved

The Alexander City Council passed an ordinance that adjusts the Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System (LOPFI) payments to "not carry over" into Social Security. This change allows LOPFI members to retire under LOPFI rules instead of Social Security rules.

Read-Only for the Mayor

In a seven to one vote, the council gave Mayor Crystal Herrmann permission to be setup with read-only access to the city's bank accounts. The lone "No" vote was cast by Council Member Juanita Wilson. Voting "Yes" were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith, Gina R Thomas, Tony Staton, and Harold Timmerman. Herrmann is also not permitted to sign checks.

Police Department Report

Police Chief Robert Burnett reported the court brought in $26,548.00 in May.

"I think all the new (police) cars are here," he added.

Fire Department Report

"Fire department has been active in the community," Fire Chief Ryan McCormick said. "We've done some, several [sic] PR events."

He reported, "55 calls of service," for May, which included, "[H]ouse fires and medical calls."

"So, the guys are continuing to help do some remodeling (of) the fire station and building a couple of offices that we're finally getting your transition from upstairs to downstairs," McCormick said.

Streets and Parks Department Report

Streets and Parks Department Superintendent David Durham reported that construction signs have been posted at streets to be paved. The overlay project is funded by the Arkansas Department of Transportation's grant program to improve city and county streets and roads. Durham said work should begin after July 4.

Financial Report

"What you'll find in your box today is the general fund, the police fund, the fire fund, reports, the, street, parks, payroll, and the police reserve fund," City Treasurer JoAn Churchill said to begin her monthly report. "And, there's a great deal of clean up that has to be done on them."

Churchill handed out a financial report on the city's Sales and Use Taxes (SUT). Alexander has three one-cent sales taxes. Churchill noted because each tax was approved in a separate election the state deposits them into the city general fund and reports on them separately.

"There's a great deal of clean up that has to be done on the financial reports for the different departments," she continued. "And, I hope to have the (budget) amendment done for this year by August at the latest."

Mayor's Report

"I went to a workshop for the Brownfields Grant, which is a grant that would give us an opportunity to tear down the old Human Development Center Hospital," Mayor Crystal Herrmann began. "We do qualify. We'll have to go through a testing process and hopefully in the next month, I'll have an update on that."

The grant program is funded by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the EPA website, "A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant."

In the case of the hospital, at the former Human Development Center along Highway 111, the contaminant is asbestos. The property was deeded to Alexander by the state, which now wants to develop it into a retail/commercial center.

"We have the Saline County Library coming over," she continued. "They didn't get to make it to the June for the book walk, but we should have that installed for July."

Herrmann is trying to schedule clinics for local residents. One with Medicaid the other for hearing test.

The Medicaid system provides an, "[E]ducation clinic that I'm hoping to get possibly to set up [at] the community center, give people an opportunity to be educated on the changes that are coming and the resources they can look at," Herrmann said.

"And, we also met with a hearing clinic, a mobile hearing clinic, she continued. "So hopefully in the near future we can make arrangements for that while the kids are out of school."

"We have our grant package that we're working on as far as the FUN Park," Herrmann said.

At the May 15 council meeting council members approved a resolution allowing Mayor Herrmann to apply for a FUN Park grant. The FUN Park grant is provided by the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. It funds 100-percent of a project with no matching funds needed by the city. The grant will be used to replace the playground equipment in the City Park.

Herrmann said she wants to schedule a "city volunteer cleanup day." Further details to come later.

She also reported the state auditors have arrived and have begun the annual city audit.

Planning Commission Report

Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck says a new church is coming to Alexander. The Bryant Church of Christ has purchased the property at 100 Cornerstone Road. It's at the corner of Cornerstone and Highway 111 across from the Circle K (formerly Big Red). The church is currently located at 9500 Highway 5.

Huck said church officials are in the process of drawing up construction plans. They have to be brought to the planning commission for review.

Next Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, July 17, 6:00PM in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.