Arkansas Ethics Commissioners "Dismiss" complaint against Alexander Mayor

After a hearing held March 15 by the Arkansas Ethics Commission, three of the five commissioners present dismissed a three-part complaint submitted in September 2023 against Alexander Mayor Crystal Herrmann. The complaint was submitted by JoAn Churchill, who was city treasurer at the time, and Council Member Juanita Wilson. Attending the hearing were Wilson, Herrmann and City Attorney Chris Madison. Churchill attended the meeting by phone.

The complaint covered three issues. They were; 1) Overpaying herself beyond the amount budgeted, 2) Hiring an elected official from another municipality to work at city hall allowing "confidential access" to city documents and 3) Paying some department heads beyond the amount budgeted.

Herrmann received a letter from the Ethics Commission shortly after the hearing. A copy of the letter was provided to council members at their March 18 meeting.

"Please be advised that the results of staff's investigation were presented to the Commission at the meeting held on today’s date (March 15)," the letter stated. "At that time, the Commission decided, by a vote of 3-0, with Commissioners Irby and Tolbert not present, to DISMISS the complaint."

In making their decisions on each allegation the commissioners relied on one narrow section of Arkansas Code Annotated § 21-8-304(a). That section states, "No public servant shall use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure special privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or his or her spouse, child, parents, or other persons standing in the first degree of relationship, or for those with whom he or she has a substantial financial relationship that are not available to others except as may be otherwise provided by law."

In the letter the first allegation states, "You have overpaid yourself by thousands of dollars ($7,030.00 so far)." According to the ruling the budget wasn't specific enough.

"With respect to allegation number 1, the Commission determined that your acceptance of the prior Alexander Mayor’s salary did not represent a special privilege," the letter to Herrmann stated. "While the complainant and Alexander City Council member Juanita Wilson gave evidence and sworn statements indicating that the City Council intended to reduce your salary to $21,320 at its December 19, 2022 meeting, there was no specific action mentioned in the minutes for that meeting. The City Council did pass a budget for 2023 that may have reduced the overall budget by the intended amount but there was nothing in the budget that directly tied the reduction to your salary."

The second allegation states, "You hired a Treasurer from Haskell who JoAn Allen-Churchill [the complainant herein] believes is compromised (confidential access)."

"With respect to allegation number 2, there was no evidence available indicating that you are related to Ms. Jennifer Hill," the letter said. Likewise, there was no evidence available reflecting that you have a substantial financial relationship with Ms. Hill. Accordingly, even if Ms. Hill’s hire was determined to be a special privilege, she does not fall within the class of people prohibited from receiving a special privilege or exemption by Ark. Code Ann. § 21-8-304(a)."

While the allegation makes no reference to Herrmann having a "financial relationship with Ms. Hill" nor does it mention any potential "special privilege," it does question whether Hill is "compromised" by having "(confidential access)" to records in two municipalities. The Commissioners did not opine as to whether subsection (b) falls under this allegation.

Subsection (b) states, "No public servant shall accept employment or engage in any public or professional activity while serving as a public official which he or she might reasonably expect would require or induce him or her to disclose any information acquired by him or her by reason of his or her official position that is declared by law or rule to be confidential."

Allegation three states, "You have paid many supervisory employees more than the budget allows." Again, when it comes to following a budget, apparently that's not a violation of ethics.

"Moving to allegation number 3, there was no evidence available indicating that you are related to any of the department heads," the letter says. "There was no evidence available reflecting that you had a substantial financial relationship with any of the department heads either. Accordingly, even if a department head was being paid more than the budgeted amount was determined to be a special privilege, none of the department heads fall within the class of people prohibited from receiving a special privilege or exemption by Ark. Code Ann. § 21-8-304(a)."

Receipt of this letter was not discussed during the March 18 council meeting.

Alexander Mayor gives State of the City Address

At the end of her monthly report Alexander Mayor Crystal Herrmann gave a State of the City Address. The Address provided council members with an up-to-date financial status report of all accounts to the end of February, 2024.

"In February, at the end of February, everything reconciled, general funds had a total of $827,845.14," Herrmann began. "The PD (Police Department) has at the end of February, $62,137.26 in this account. Parks was holding at $155,942.45; streets, $59,383.57. The payroll account was sitting with $123,687.01. And the ARPA account (American Recovery Plan Account) was still holding at $298,298.14."

"I feel like the city is in good standing," Herrmann continued. "I'm really encouraged. I do believe we are on the right path. I think all the department heads will agree when we can say we can actually sit down and look at a budget and go, okay, I need this, what do we have, where we headed. I'm just, it's a good start."

"I'm happy with the office staff," Herrmann said. "I appreciate everybody's efforts."

"We're in a good place," she concluded. "Of course, there's never enough money for all of these, but we're doing a lot better than others."

Also at the March 18 council meeting;

Trees planted to slow erosion of Crooked Creek in park

Mayor Crystal Herrmann provided council members with an update on the plan to plant trees along the Crooked Creek bank inside the City Park to help reduce erosion. Herrmann has been working with Aaron Norden, the Region III Stream Habitat Coordinator with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

"We had over 100 trees planted on the banks," she said "We had some volunteers that actually come [sic] out and see some really good folks."

Bass Pro said "No"

Last December Herrmann applied for a grant from Bass Pro Shops. The grant was to be used to renovate the bathroom and the pavilion at the pond on the southern end of the former Human Development Center.

"Unfortunately, we were not chosen for that grant," Herrmann said. "So we'll get creative and see what we can come up with for some more funding for that."

Saline County Animal Control, "Not going to happen"

Mayor Herrmann told council members Saline County's smaller municipalities are on their own when it comes to animal control. Currently Benton and Bryant have animal control departments.

"I met with multiple small cities and Tricia over at the Bryant Animal Shelter," Herrmann said. "She (Tricia) was trying to take us under her wing and give suggestions. We also had Anne Sanders from the Humane Society, who was there."

The discussion transitioned into the need for both a code enforcement officer and an animal control officer. Herrmann noted one person can do both because, "animal control is code enforcement."

"So we posted for a code enforcer slash animal control officer position for the city of Alexander," Herrmann said. "Tricia over at Bryant, (said) we can put somebody through school to manage. I mean, the animal control is code enforcement. So I've been told that a lot of small cities do both code and animal control under the same employee. And as small as our city is, I think once there's a good handle on it, I think it's more than doable."

Herrmann isn't waiting for the establishment of an animal control department. She is working with the Saline County Humane Society to hold a vaccination clinic next month.

"And, then we're hoping in April we can host a vaccination day where people drive through and vaccinate for a low fee," she said. "

Saline County Library box won't be activated until after eclipse

The Saline County Library System is installing a kiosk outside the Alexander Municipal Complex that will be used to order, pick up and return library books. Currently only the outer shell has been installed.

"It's going to be after April 8th when it will be up and running," Herrmann said. "I think it's going to get moved in here shortly. And then we have to have the electrician. And then the tech guy has to come and plug it in. And then they've got some graphics and stuff coming into display the box. So, you can actually know what it is. So, I'm excited about that."

City Hall to be closed April 8

Mayor Herrmann announced the Alexander Municipal Complex will be closed April 8, the day of the eclipse.

Reports from other department heads

Fire and Rescue;
Emergency calls with a mix of training

"We're running a little over 60 calls for the month so far," reported Fire Chief Ryan McCormick. "They've run from structured fires, to medical calls, to vehicle accidents, control or uncontrolled burns, people burning in the yard that are not supposed to be burning; those type of incidents."

Then there's training. According to McCormick the department has been training for shootings, hazardous material response and disaster related search and rescue.

"We've been really busy training-wise," McCormick continued. "We're still working on some different types of training that we are involved with and have been asked to be a part of such as the (Saline) county-wide rescue task force."

"That's a pretty big deal to be apart of," he told council members. "It deals with active shooters, incidents for schools and churches. So we'll be starting to get involved with Benton, Bryant in the same county task force to be trained and equipped with that and be prepared for those type of instances for the county."

"Three of our members finished up their hazmat tech class, which is pretty big," McCormick explained. "It's an 80-hour class."

"We have four members, five members on the USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team," McCormick said. "That's a room, search and rescue team that gets deployed on natural disasters, tornadoes, those kind of things."

Alexander Fire and Rescue took part in a training session recently in Hot Springs Village.

"We sent two guys that were deployed with the USAR team," McCormick said. "That's the first time in the fire department's history that we've had team members be deployed for the city. They were in Hot Springs Village for several hours checking on homes and trying to take care of people that are injured or just trying to get to places."

Preparations for the upcoming eclipse are underway. McCormick says he's been working with Alexander Police Chief Robert Burnett plus county and state agencies.

"We've been in meetings for the last two years of different eclipse situations and problems in the county and state organizations and I don't think anybody really realizes what's going to happen," McCormick said. "We just got to prepare for the worst and that's kind of what we're looking for right now. Just pre-planning and having some extra staff on hand through a three-day period."

In response to a query on Facebook about the working status of the tornado siren at the Central Firehouse, McCormick said it's still not working. And, it's not the only siren not working in Saline County. It's on the list to be repaired."

"That is a county project," McCormick said. "They (Saline County) have several tornado sirens throughout the county that are not working. Ours is one of them. They are very much aware of that. I have been in contact with the OEM (Office of Emergency Management) director, Mr. Cohn, and they are working on a solution to get that fixed."

Police Department;
Police taking a different type of training

Alexander police officers are getting additional training as a preventative measure. This type of training, however, is an effort to keep the city out of court.

"As you know, a lot of big lawsuits coming down police departments and cities," Police Chief Robert Burnett said. "One of our neighborhood cities just got sued for 32 million.

"So like I said, the police department will double up on training," Burnett continued. "I did 19 classes this past month."

"Everybody has to be a lot more trained," Burnett said. "Just not because we're lacking any of it. We're just trying to get more of it."

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is April 15, 6:00 PM at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.

Alexander Council Member Joy Gray accused of "Harassment"

After failing to remove Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck in December, 2023; Alexander Council Member Joy Gray has had three re-dos. All of which have failed. This time though she was called-out for it by fellow Council Member Harold Timmerman.

This latest attempt at a do-over started out as the previous two, with Gray admitting she's fighting a lost cause. But it's not harassment.

"So this is just my monthly reassessing y 'all on whether or not you'd like to remove the head of the planning commission," Gray began. "I know the answer will probably be, it's probably a waste of time, but I'm going to keep doing it every month until either something happens or elections happen."

"So I would move that we remove Michael Huck, the head of the planning commission," Gray said.

"Now, would you call this one, fourth month you brought this up," Timmerman asked? "Now, wouldn't that be an act of harassment against Mr. Huck?"

"No," Gray responded.

"Yes, it would," Timmerman replied.

Gray claimed it's not harassment because, "I'm not asking to remove him from the city, I'm asking to remove him from this position."

After receiving a second on her motion Gray continued on her latest reasoning to have Huck removed.

"I've gotten yet another email this month from someone who works in the city asking me to bring it up again because of his harassment via email of people," Gray began. "He harassed some people literally claiming that there was hacking going on with the city now."

Background:

At the December, 2023 council meeting Gray made a motion to remove Huck from the planning commission based on a complaint concerning comments he made towards another planning commission member after the October, 2023 planning meeting. That complaint was investigated by City Attorney Chris Madison with the aid of Assistant Police Chief Jessica Burnett.

At the January, 2024 council meeting Gray produced a second complaint to add to the failed attempt in December at removal. Gray said this one was in the form of a request from an employee with the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority (LRWRA). According to Gray, "The person that represents them has specifically asked if she can speak with anyone besides Michael Huck, because of his way of conducting himself with her and his just sort of general rudeness."

Alexander has been waiting since April, 2023 for LRWRA to approve the city's new master development plan. The LRWRA provides sewer service to the northern end of Alexander, hence the interest in Alexander's future plans. Next month will be one year since sending the proposed plan to it's first stop for approval, the Little Rock Planning Department.

At the February 20 council meeting Gray tried to use an E-mail sent by Huck to a member of Metroplan using the city E-mail system. It's Metroplan that has been aiding Alexander in writing its new master development plan.

In January Huck asked the mayor and city hall office manager to produce a report on the previous year's building/construction permits. This is an annual request by Metroplan as part of the ongoing updating of the city's master development plan. After not receiving any acknowledgment or response, Huck asked his Metroplan contact to make the request and explain its importance. The files were already started by a previous employee.

It was Gray who was now the insulted one.

"So no, that was not sent by a morose teenage girl," Gray said. "That was sent by a grown man who represents the city. So, that's embarrassing."

Since Gray never explained how she acquired an E-mail sent by Huck, using the city E-mail system, he questioned a city employee familiar with the system.

"This is now considered 'Harassment' and the word 'Hack' was never used," Huck said later.

As stated in the original article published March 5 in The Alexandrian, the city employee said, "No one has (administrative) privilege at city hall."

After the publication of the first article, Alexander Mayor Crystal Herrmann admitted in an E-mail that she has access to everyone's E-mails. In an update article published March 12 she was quoted as writing, "The city email which you conduct the Alexander Planning commission business on belongs to the City of Alexander. As Mayor (chief executive officer), I hold the administrator role on the city's email system. If there is a personnel change and/or a large number of complaints I can and will have the emails forward to my email. Council member Joy Gray received your inappropriate email from my office. The Council is over your position and Joy Gray is the Council member that handles the agenda. As Mayor, if I receive complaints and it falls under Alexander City Councils [sic] respectability it will be sent to Joy Gray by my office staff or myself."

Prior to the council's vote on the motion, the discussion began with Council Member Wayne Smith telling Gray this "sounds personal."

"No, it's not personal Wayne," Gray said.

"It sounds personal to me," Smith replied.

Gray then began the monthly listing of grievances starting with October, 2023.

"But he's done things in meetings where I'm not even there, but he's admitted to doing it and it's in documentation," Gray said. "The person has come and told what he's done. He's done things in these (council) meetings. He's sent emails that are wildly inappropriate, but again we might as well just go ahead and vote because everyone's going to be like oh you're harassing a private citizen and that's rich coming from some people in the council."

Council Member Joe Pollard asked, "Why do you (not) forgive this?"

"This is not, this is not church, this is city council," she replied. "So that's between him or you and whoever you deal with outside of here at church setting."

Voting "No" were Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith, Harold Timmerman, and Juanita Wilson. Council member Tony Staton was absent, which counts as a "No" vote. Voting "Yes" on the motion were council members Joy Gray, Angela Griffin and Gina R. Thomas-Littlejohn, resulting in Five "No" and three "Yes."

Planning Commission reappointment process questioned

There was one other agenda item involving the planning commission. That was the reappointment of Planning Commission Member Rodney Chapman.

Chapman was the final appointment that completed the five-member commission. That seat was vacant for five years. He was appointed in mid-term by the city council in August, 2022. Chapman is a former city employee working for the street and parks departments. His term expires April 6, 2024.

In an interesting turn of events, the normal simple reappointment process became a discussion of whether planning commission seats should be considered open when the term is expiring; even if the current planning member is willing to serve another three-year term.

Gray asked, "I don't have any recollection of, do people on the planning commission just decide they stay? Does the planning commission not advertise that position being opened? So do we just automatically rubber stamp people?"

"We automatically put them back in there because they're learning what needs to be done," said Council Member Juanita Wilson. Wilson is also a member of the planning commission.

Huck pointed out it was just last year planning commission members Tonya Prowes and Stephanie Beck were reappointed. Their new terms expire April 6, 2026.

A history of Planning Commission appointments

and re-appointments

The current Alexander Planning Commission is a reincarnated version of a previous commission. The original planning commission was disbanded by the council in 2017 after two members resigned and the council felt there was a lack of interest, by at least two of the remaining members, to cooperate with city hall.

City Council Member Juanita Wilson and former Council Member Michael Huck were appointed by Mayor Paul Mitchell June 19, 2017. They were appointed to terms open from the original planning commission, which expired April 6, 2019. Because a quorum of five is three Huck and Wilson couldn't hold a meeting until they found a third person.

Former Council Member Stephanie Beck was appointed by Mitchell in March, 2018. Beck's first term expired April 6, 2020.

With three out of five members available they were able to hold their first meeting Tuesday, March 20, 2018. The terms of the two remaining vacancies would expire April 6, 2020 and April 6, 2021.

Tonya Prowse was appointed September, 2018. Her first term expired April 6, 2020. That still left the fifth position vacant and a term to expire April 6, 2021.

The council reappointed Wilson and Huck at the April, 2019 council meeting to their first full three-year terms. Those terms would expire April 6, 2022.

Beck and Prowse were reappointed by the council April, 2020. Their new terms would expire April 6, 2023.

In April, 2022 the city council reappointed Huck and Wilson for a second time. Their current terms will expire April 6, 2025.

The vacant planning commission seat's term expired April 6, 2021 beginning a new term to expire April 6, 2024. In August, 2022 former city employee Rodney Chapman was appointed by the council.

As stated above, Beck and Prowse were reappointed for a second time by the council March, 2023. Their current terms will expire April 6, 2026.

The vote

In a roll call vote Council members Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith, Harold Timmerman, and Juanita Wilson voted "Yes." Voting "No" were council members Joy Gray and Gina R. Thomas-Littlejohn. Council Member , Angela Griffin abstained. Council Member Tony Staton was absent, which counts as a "No" vote. The total count was four "Yes," Two "No," one abstain and one absent.

With what amounts to a four, four tie the motion to reappoint failed. Mayor Herrmann declined to exercise her option to break the tie by voting "Yes" as permitted under state law. The council took no decision on advertising the opening.

Under state law anyone whose term has expired is still able to keep that position unless they resign or are replaced.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is April 15, 6:00 PM at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.

Pafford EMS now serves north Alexander

The Alexander City Council approved an ordinance that allows Pafford Medical Services, Inc. to serve both the Saline County and Pulaski County portions of the city. In July, 2021 the Saline County EMS Board selected Pafford Medical Services to provide ambulance and emergency medical services in both the rural areas and its municipalities. The contract went into effect January 1, 2022.

This new ordinance was introduced and had its first public reading at the February 20 council meeting. The second and third readings were held at the March 18 meeting with the required two-thirds vote of the council.

Before the vote, Fire Chief Ryan McCormick relayed an incident that occurred since the February 20 council meeting. According to McCormick a mother and father went to city hall to get medical assistance for their baby. Office Manager Jennifer Hill attempted to get MEMS out of Little Rock but was told it would be a 15-minute wait.

"We had a baby that showed up here having a seizure or not breathing before the call," McCormick said. "We had an ambulance sitting at our fire station that could not respond here. That's unacceptable, to my opinion, because we want to wait and read over and over, and we're dealing with life safety."

At the February 20 meeting Council Member Juanita Wilson had questions about how the franchise agreement would affect Alexander and if there was a financial component. To allow for time to have her questions researched by City Attorney Chris Madison the first reading was held at the February meeting. Wilson's concerns were discussed with her between the February and March meetings.

"There's franchises where we have franchise tax, utility bills, things like that," Madison explained at the February meeting. "And then there's a franchise where we allow someone to be within our city. That's what this is. I'm not aware of the monetary requirement."

Pafford has an ambulance stationed in the Alexander Central Firehouse on South Alexander Road. After the February meeting, McCormick explained how not much will change behind the scenes. Aside from MEMS taking on the mutual aid role instead of being the primary responder in north Alexander, everything else remains essentially the same. McCormick said the Pulaski County area of Alexander is already part of the Saline County 911 system. The only change will be that Pafford will be dispatched to north Alexander first.

Also at the March 18 council meeting:

Property For Sale

The Alexander City Council approved an ordinance giving Mayor Crystal Herrmann the authority to sell the parcel at 14805 Kent Drive. The property was voluntarily turned over to the city in 2018 when its owner no longer wanted to deal with the continual issuance of code violations by the city.

The ordinance specifies, "[T]he revenues generated from selling such property shall be used for the purchase of equipment, a vehicle, and other personal property type items necessary for a Code Enforcement and Animal Control Officer."

Mayor can apply for Community Development Block Grants

The Alexander City Council approved a resolution that gives Mayor Crystal Herrmann the authority to apply for grants through the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program. Each grant has a maximum amount of $500,000.00.

The resolution does not specify what project will be used in the grant request. The two projects discussed were flood control and the Saline County Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Public Utilities Board's request to acquire a grant through the city to upgrade the sewer lines along Lyndsey Drive. For now the mayor will begin the application process.

Still no applicants for treasurer position

After three months the mayor still has not received any applications for the vacant treasurer's position. Former Treasurer JoAn Churchill submitted her resignation in December effective December 31.

City Attorney Chris Madison gave council members three options.

"One is continue looking to fulfill the vacant position," Madison said. "Two, and I haven't discussed this with Ms. (Sharon) Bankhead, but you can combine the recorder treasurer positions by council. And three is you can actually, by ordinance, have the city treasurer appointed."

This would be an appointed position ending the election process. Since the council won't be filling a vacancy in an elected position they won't be limited to residents of Alexander. And, this being an election year for the positions of recorder and treasurer the ordinance must be passed before election petitions are circulated this summer. Herrmann was given permission to advertise a Request For Qualifications to be submitted by interested individuals.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is April 15, 6:00 PM at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.

E-mail mystery solved

A recent article posted on The Alexandrian questioned how Alexander Council Member Joy Gray gained access to an E-mail sent by Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck. As it turns out Mayor Chrystal Herrmann has the keys to the E-mail system.

In a response to the article, sent in an E-mail, Herrmann said,

"Mr. Huck,

The city email which you conduct the Alexander Planning commission business on belongs to the City of Alexander. As Mayor (chief executive officer), I hold the administrator role on the city's email system. If there is a personnel change and/or a large number of complaints I can and will have the emails forward to my email. Council member Joy Gray received your inappropriate email from my office. The Council is over your position and Joy Gray is the Council member that handles the agenda. As Mayor, if I receive complaints and it falls under Alexander City Councils [sic] respectability it will be sent to Joy Gray by my office staff or myself.

Respectfully,

Crystal Herrmann, Mayor"

Mystery solved.

Pafford ambulance to cover all of Alexander

An ordinance has been introduced that will allow the City of Alexander to enter into, "[A]n exclusive franchise agreement with Pafford Medical Services, Inc." to provide ambulance services in both the Saline and Pulaski county areas of Alexander. The ordinance received only its first reading, instead of being passed in one meeting, when Council Member Juanita Wilson wanted to know, "What is the value" (of the franchise)?

Pafford has an ambulance stationed in the Alexander Central Firehouse on South Alexander Road. Fire Chief Ryan McCormick told council members, at the February 20 council meeting, that Alexander residents in Pulaski County can also benefit from the situation, "[S]ince we have an ambulance already in our city at our fire station." Currently, Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) out of Little Rock is the primary ambulance and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provider for the Pulaski County area of Alexander.

In July, 2021 the recently established Saline County EMS Board selected Pafford Medical Services to provide ambulance and emergency medical services in both the rural areas and its municipalities. The contract went into effect January 1, 2022. The proposed ordinance will establish a separate contract to provide EMS and ambulance services in both the Saline County and Pulaski County portions of the city.

"There's franchises where we have franchise tax, utility bills, things like that," City Attorney Chris Madison explained. "And then there's a franchise where we allow someone to be within our city. That's what this is. I'm not aware of the monetary requirement, but I'm happy to look into that."

Questioned after the meeting, McCormick explained how not much will change behind the scenes. Aside from MEMS taking on the mutual aid role instead of being the primary responder in North Alexander, everything else remains essentially the same. McCormick said the Pulaski County area of Alexander is already part of the Saline County 911 system. Once the ordinance is approved Pafford will be dispatched to North Alexander first, if available.

Also at the February 20 council meeting:

Amended version of 2023 budget approved

The Alexander Council approved a resolution amending and closing out the 2023 budget. The resolution included both a summary and detailed list of 395 changes in both revenue and expenditures in the six funds. Below is the list of changes in the totals for budgeted and actual dollar amounts of revenue and expenses for each fund.

Summary - 2023 Budget Versus Actual Comparisons

GENERAL FUND REVENUE

ACTUAL - $3,431,735.23

BUDGETED -  $2,899,644.00

Overage -  $532,091.23

GENERAL FUND EXPENSE

ACTUAL - $2,580,066.10

BUDGETED - $2,480,792.00

Overage - $99,274.10

STREET FUND REVENUE

ACTUAL - $398,954.20

BUDGETED - $327,855.00

Overage - $71,099.20

STREET FUND EXPENSE

ACTUAL - $385,787.82

BUDGETED - $319,198.00

Overage - $66,589.82

PARKS FUND REVENUE

ACTUAL - $248,578.77

BUDGETED - $193,891.00

Overage - $54,687.77

PARKS FUND EXPENSE

ACTUAL - $335,501.29

BUDGETED - $158,574.00

Overage - $176,927.29

POLICE FUND REVENUE

ACTUAL - $913,618.64

BUDGETED - $1,037,554.00

Under - $123,935.36

POLICE FUND EXPENSE

ACTUAL - $845,123.41

BUDGETED - $795,442.00

Overage - $49,681.14

FIRE FUND REVENUE

ACTUAL - $1,126,689.40

BUDGETED - $968,909.90

Overage - $157,779.50

FIRE FUND EXPENSE

ACTUAL - $1,023,480.27

BUDGETED - $960,834.00

Overage - $62,646.27

PAYROLL FUND REVENUE

ACTUAL - $1,849,136.66

BUDGETED - $1,703,952.00

Overage - $145,184.66

PAYROLL FUND EXPENSE

ACTUAL - $1,673,648.39

BUDGETED - $1,350,843.00

Overage - $322,805.39

Department Reports:

Same-O, Same-O

Street Department Superintendent David Durham reported to council members there's nothing unusual going on in the street department. Just the usual filling potholes and cleaning up after recent storms.

Durham did give council members a heads-up on a future expenditure. The tractor is in need of a new engine.

"But that's something we're going to have to address pretty soon," Durham said. "We're going to have to probably get you the figures on that. We're looking at about 13 to 14 thousand dollars for the new motor for it."

As Durham is also the superintendent for the Parks and Recreation Department, Mayor Crystal Herrmann interjected a report on the FUN Park grant application. According to Herrmann there were too many applicants.

"We just received the letter that we did miss that opportunity," Herrmann said. "Not that we didn't qualify. They opened it up to cities with 7,000 in population, which made more people applying. We actually scored 37 out of 37. We just wasn't picked."

"Now we're basically scrounging and looking for the stuff to do it ourselves," Durham said. "But we'll get it done."

The FUN Park grant is provided by the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. The grant funds 100-percent of a project with no matching funds provided by the city. The grant was to fund replacing the playground equipment in the City Park.

They're not our fire hydrants

Fire Chief Ryan McCormick provided an update in an ongoing difference of opinion between the city and the Saline County Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Public Utilities Board (SCWWSS). According to McCormick SCWWSS board members claim maintenance of the fire hydrants connected to their water lines is not the responsibility of the water district.

"We did for the first time in several years fire hydrant testing," McCormick reminded council members. "We came up with at least a dozen fire hydrants that do not work."

"I met with the water department, Saline County Water Works this past Saturday (February 17)," McCormick said. "And so I spent the Saturday and went to visit with them. They had a board meeting. And I brought it to their attention and it was met with resistance and quite a bit of resistance of saying that it's a city responsibility not their responsibility to take care of the hydrants."

"As far as we can come and find out any information and documentation, there is no type of documentation that says the city owns or operates or is responsible for the fire hydrants."

A legal battle could be the next step.

"I'm going to get with the city attorney, Mr. (Chris) Madison," McCormick said. "He's aware of it, and we're going to start bringing in some documentation. And something's going to have to change in order to get those things fixed."

Belated Happy Birthday, Summer Reading Program, grants and more

Mayor Chrystal Herrmann began her report by noting Alexander's recent birthday.

"So, I hate I missed Alexander's birthday," Herrmann said. "Apparently it's January 13th. The city's 145 years old. So, hopefully maybe next year we can catch it and have a birthday cake at City Hall or something fun."

The Saline County Public Library will have a sign-up event at the City Park in May.

"May 18th, Saline County Library is going to host a sign up event for their summer reading program," Herrmann said. "They're going to have a bounce house, a petting zoo, snacks, music, yard games, and a cross field. And we'll host that over at the city park. So, that's exciting."

While Herrmann had already mentioned the city's loss of the FUN Park grant earlier in the meeting, she did take this opportunity to provide a little more detail.

"Only five cities received the FUN Park (grant)," Herrmann said. "So, now we will try to come up with an aggressive plan as far as the playground equipment and see what we can do for our playground."

Mayor Herrmann has been speaking to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about grants to abate flooding problems in Alexander. While she's spoken about flooding in the Evergreen area in the past, this study appears to be concentrating on North Alexander.

"We are in the process of applying for a FEMA drainage study for this portion in town over here," she said. "That comes along how I want (Hwy.) 111 and then some spots in Kelly (Place). We've been all over this portion of town. With that drainage study, it will give us a good, educated, hey, this is the issues we have."

Another grant Herrmann is looking at would fund a graphic design showing what the former Human Development Center (HDC) could look like when fully developed.

"This would be working with the University of Arkansas for the Community and Design Center," Herrmann said. "There are assistance to give us a visual design of the 63 acres (HDC) and what can be done ... and see how that would be developed with public input."

Herrmann says an engineering study will be done, at the former HDC property, concerning the condition of the various buildings and their demolition. The biggest concern is the removal of the former tuberculosis hospital, the largest building on the property.

"We have Kansas State University actually coming in, Herrmann said. "They do an engineer portion or that as far as the structures and the property and tearing things down."

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is March 18, 6:00 PM at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.

Alexander resident will be new Saline County Justice of the Peace

Stephanie Johnson (R) will be the new Justice of the Peace for Saline County District 12. She is unopposed in the November 5 General Election.

In Tuesday's Republican Primary Johnson received 483 votes (63.97%). Her opponents Ronald Nichols received 206 votes (27.28%) and Devon Waite received 66 votes (8.74%).

Johnson lives in the St. Joseph's Glen area of Alexander. Nichols lives in Bauxite and Waite lives south of Alexander.

For 26 years, former Saline County Justice of the Peace J.R. Walters served on the Saline County Quorum Court. Walters announced his retirement at the September Quorum Court Meeting.

On February 15, George Wyrick was appointed interim Justice of the Peace for District 12 by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Wyrick lives in the Shannon Hills area of Saline County.

Johnson will be sworn-in January 1, 2025 along with other winners of the November 5 election. District 12 includes parts of Bryant, Alexander, Bauxite, and the Sardis Community.

Another attempt to remove Alexander planning commission chairman fails

It has been two months since the Alexander City Council voted to keep Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck on the planning commission after a complaint was submitted following the October, 2023 commission meeting. Two more attempts have been made. One at the January council meeting and another during the February meeting, with the same results.

At the December council meeting Council Member Joy Gray made a motion to remove Huck from the planning commission based on a complaint concerning comments he made towards another planning commission member after the October planning meeting. That complaint was investigated by City Attorney Chris Madison with the aid of Assistant Police Chief Jessica Burnett.

The January and February attempts to remove Huck were based on raw information provided by Gray at each meeting. Huck was not allowed to comment.

The second "complaint" was in the form of a request from an employee with the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority (LRWRA). According to Gray, "The person that represents them has specifically asked if she can speak with anyone besides Michael Huck, because of his way of conducting himself with her and his just sort of general rudeness."

Alexander has been waiting since April for LRWRA to approve the city's new master development plan. The LRWRA provides sewer service to the northern end of Alexander.

At the February 20 council meeting Gray tried to use an E-mail sent by Huck to a member of Metroplan using the city E-mail system. It's Metroplan that has been aiding Alexander in writing its new master development plan.

"I'm sure we're all tired of hearing about this, but I brought it up yet again," Gray began. "And I said I'm just going to keep bringing it up, I guess, until I'm either not on this council or don't run or whatever choice I decide to make."

"And then this was an email he sent to Metroplan," Gray continued. "I'll just read an excerpt here that, 'I sent an email to the mayor and office manager (who by the way is Haskell's city treasurer) explaining what I needed and why. I even checked with Cheryl and she told me the started files are on her computer, which I've passed on to city hall. So far there has been no recognition of my request. Not to mention there hasn't been a traffic count in two years. Duh-duh-duh-duh. And talks about East Azalea.'

"Which I mean, this mayor and these other new people have been here one year," Gray noted. "So it hasn't been done in two years. There's been two administrations are at fault. But then his next line goes on to say;"

'I'm now the evil man who knows nothing. I'm pulling all of this out of my dot-dot-dot.' "Instead of putting a word there," Gray explaining the dot-dot-dot. Finishing the sentence Gray says, 'just to be annoying. No one is willing to listen to those of us who have been doing this the longest.'

"So no, that was not sent by a morose teenage girl," Gray said. "That was sent by a grown man who represents the city.

"So that's embarrassing," Gray continued. "So I get it that we're not going to vote to remove him because those of us that are embarrassed will vote yes and the rest of y'all for whatever reason have it in your mind that you would have to do that job or whatever. He now has a co-person (co-chair) with him so she could just take over till we filled that position later on."

This year's co-chair is Planning Commission Member and City Council Member Juanita Wilson. In the past planning commission members Stephanie Beck and Tonya Prowse have rotated serving in that position.

"I will move that we remove Michael Huck as the head of the planning commission once again," Gray said. "So that is my motion and here's yet another piece of evidence from his own (E-mail) account. So there."

The portion of the E-mail Gray skipped was the first paragraph which reads, "Well it's that time of year again when I'm suppose to send you the list of building, construction and manufactured home permits. However, as you know we are under new management. Even worse, there is no one left in city hall hall from the previous administration. They've all been driven out. With Cheryl gone there is no one there who knows how this works."

As part of the master plan strategy Metroplan wants Alexander, every January, to send a list of the building, construction and manufactured home permits sold in the previous year. Along with an annual traffic count, done in specified locations, Metroplan can monitor the city's growth and use that information for potential grants. Also, this type of information is important to developers.

The E-mail ended with, "Perhaps you can contact them asking for the information and explain it's purpose. Not to mention, I need to see it to determine if any permits were sold outside of Alexander."

No one on the city council asked how Gray acquired the E-mail, which was sent through the city E-mail system. In researching how a member of the city council would acquire an E-mail sent by someone else The Alexandrian contacted an individual familiar with the system who said, "No one has (administrative) privilege at city hall." The person at Metroplan says she didn't "Forward" the E-mail to anyone and Metroplan has not received a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Alexandrian has contacted Gray by E-mail asking how she acquired the E-mail. As of this writing she has not responded.

Voting "Yes" on the motion were council members Joy Gray, Angela Griffin and Gina R. Thomas-Littlejohn. Voting "No" were Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith, Harold Timmerman, and Juanita Wilson. Council member Tony Staton was absent, which counts as a "No" vote, resulting in Five "No" and three "Yes.".

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is March 18, 6:00 PM at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.

Potential uses for Federal grants discussed at Public Hearing

During a public hearing in February a small contingent of Alexander officials, including Mayor Crystal Herrmann, heard from Leanne Poole. Poole is a representative from the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program (ACEDP).

The purpose of the February 20 public hearing was to identify Alexander's needs and match them to grants available from the ACEDP. City residents were also present to discuss their issues.

Poole was already familiar with some of the city's needs. The wish list includes the purchase of emergency "Extraction" equipment for the fire department, the construction of a metal building next to the former Pathfinder, Inc. office to establish a new firehouse, and a grant to fund a city-run daycare center.

What was the Pathfinder, Inc. complex is located in the southeast corner of the former Alexander Human Development Center (AHDC) along Hwy. 111. The plan is to connect the metal building to the office with a breezeway and convert the office building into fire department offices and sleeping quarters. At least one fire truck and other emergency equipment will be kept in the added-on metal building.

When it comes to the daycare grant the one requirement that is usually the hang-up is, "The city has to own the building," Poole said. "They (city) can contract out the (daycare) services."

Alexander actually owns two community centers. The first was the location of the post office, which then became city hall; on Main St. between E. 1st and E. 2nd in the Pulaski County portion of Alexander. The most recent is the large metal building located on the property of the former (AHDC), labeled Alexander Community Center No. 2.

Herrmann also brought up Alexander's ever-present flooding.

"We have the storm water issue because we don't own any of our utilities," she said. "So we don't generate any funds for storm water."

The utility in question is water and sewer. The Pulaski County portion of Alexander and portions of the city in Saline County are served by Central Arkansas Water (CAW) and the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority. Most of the remainder of the city in Saline County is served by Saline County Water and Sanitary Sewer. St. Joseph's Glen receives water from CAW but the sewage is processed through an onsite package sewer plant.

The street department can provide some flood relief as long as the repairs are street related. The department has been concentrating on cleaning ditches and cleaning or replacing culverts under the streets. A plan has been implemented to replace smaller culverts with larger ones.

Herrmann has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning grants for flood control. FEMA grants are available to fund flooding studies, flood control projects and to the buyout of property that has a history of damage from floods. The ACEDP can provide another source for storm mitigation grants.

A resident asked about adding sidewalks along one of the more dangerous areas on Highway 111 near St. Joseph's Glen.

Noting that it is Highway 111 Mayor Herrmann asked, "So you think ArDOT (Arkansas Department of Transportation) has anything with their safe street program as well?"

Poole said, "I was just thinking, can we go that route?"

One issue, which would involve an entity not connected to Alexander government, would be to help the Saline County Water and Sanitary Sewer Public Utilities Board acquire a grant to repair the sewer lines in the Lindsey Dr. area.

"They have some pretty major repairs they need to do off of Lindsey," Fire Chief Ryan McCormick said. "They're requesting that they work through the city's ability to get the grant to repair a bunch of sewer lines in the Lindsey, on the Lindsey road area."

"[W]e're going to be working on updating (our) hazard mitigation plan," Poole said. "I'll be sending an invitation to the mayor. Anybody that wants to have their two cents put on some of the challenges that you guys face, please attend those planning meetings."

The public hearing was held before the Alexander Council held its February council meeting.