During Thursday night’s Mountain Home City Council meeting, the council approved to appoint newly elected City Clerk, Scott Liles, to fill the role early to replace Brian Plumlee who resigned, effective October 31. During the December 1 City Council meeting, Liles will be sworn in and assume the duties starting December 5.
In other business, the council approved a contract transfer from Methvin Sanitation to Waste Connections. According to City Attorney Roger Morgan, there is a clause in the contract that prohibits the assignment to a new company without the approval of the council, but any refusal must be reasonable. Methvin Sanitation is in the process of selling their business to Waste Connections, but assures nothing will change. The same trucks and crews will be used, but will be managed by another entity. No services will change. The contract is up for renewal in 2024 and negotiations are expected to start in Spring 2023.
A proposal was presented to reclassify two positions, the Director of Street Services and the Director of Water Services to a Director of Planning and Engineering and a Director of Public Works. With the exit of Alma Clark from the Water Department, there has been a vacancy in that role which Mayor Hillrey Adams has overseen in the interim. These new roles have been reclassified and no additional city funds will be needed to support them.
Mayor Adams stated the current Director of Street Services, Arnold Knox would fill the role of Director of Planning and Engineering and the search for a new Director of Public Works could start as early as next week. He stated it may be the first of the year before the role is filled, and they would not rush into it to make sure the right person for the role is selected.
These changes will restructure the departments to work more efficiently with each other. Planning and Engineering will be tasked with putting together the plans for all the work that needs to be done throughout the city, while Public Works would oversee the operations of the street and water departments.
In addition, the council approved a resolution to utilize state and street department funds in partnership with the Arkansas Highway Department for asphalt to overlay city streets. The city has already been approved for $250,000 to go towards overlaying Dyer Street, Hickory Street, West 1st Street, West 2nd Street, and a number of other streets that service the downtown area.
Also approved was the creation of a petty cash drawer for the Mountain Home Police Department. Currently, anyone who needs to pay fees must come in with exact change. This will allow the department to accept payments and provide change on site.
The council also approved budget adjustments to reallocate funds to line items for expenses for the rest of the year.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for December 1 at 6 in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.
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