The Warren City Council met last Monday to discuss various business items.
The city council members discussed what to do with the Warren Cultural Center. Repairs for the building would cost over $1 million. The contractor told the city to add 20 percent to the 2019 bid and that would be the cost of repairs. The previous architect wasn’t able to guarantee if the foundation could be fixed. The bathrooms, HVAC, and roof also needed major repairs. Alderwoman Memory Frazer made a motion to get an engineer to look at the foundation and see if it could get fixed before continuing with any repairs.
The city council approved to reappoint Hugh Quimby to the Warren Housing Authority Board for five years. Brook Harris was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission for five years. She replaced Rob Reep due to him being appointed to the Aviation Commission.
Mayor Denisa Pennington announced the Pink Tomato Parade route would be the same as last year. The following streets will be closed for the parade: Myrtle Street from Alabama to Cedar, Cedar Street from Main to Myrtle Street, East Cypress from the corner of Molly’s to Chestnut Street, Chestnut at the corner of the AT&T building, and West Cypress from Main to Howard Street.
A motion was made for the city council to review the redistricting of city wards. The motion was accepted.
A resolution was passed to allow the Warren Water and Sewer Department to purchase a plot of land from Kenneth Trucks for the amount of $13,500.
Ronnie Sprouse, from Arkansas Municipal Equipment, brought up the possible lease agreement with the city of Warren for two sanitation trucks. One truck would be for commercial purposes and the other truck would be used for residential use. He said the trucks were new and would be under warranty. The city council approved to the lease program. After some discussion, the city council decided to check with the local banks to see if they could get better interest rates.
Warren Police Chief Shaun Hildreth presented his report to the city council. He said they had three vehicles in the shop. He reported the police department was fully staffed and all the officers were certified. He also told the city council he received an offer to purchase a Ford truck for the police department, but he had to get immediate approval. The offer was from the Malvern Police Department. Alderwoman Frazer made a motion to purchase the truck from the Malvern Police Department for $30,000. The city council approved the motion.
Warren Fire Chief Chuck Moore reported the fire department responded to 16 calls in March. The fire hydrants in the city were tested. He reported they had received the new fire truck on April 7. Alderwoman Angela Marshall thanked the fire department for their quick response to the Warren High School fire. Mayor Pennington also thanked the Warren Fire Department and the other fire departments that responded to the scene. Former acting fire chief Larry Hayes thanked the city for letting him serve as fire chief.
The sanitation committee voted in their meeting to approve the purchase of a new compactor. They would put it up for a bid.
Building Official Rob Johnson reported they were working on the properties to be condemned. He said it costs the city about $5,000 to tear down each condemned property.
Street Foreman Monty Hearnsberger said the street department was cleaning out ditches and working on fixing potholes. The council approved the purchase of a used Mini-X excavator for $79,935. They also approved to purchase a trailer for $7,199.63 from the Lumberjack Farm and Ranch.
Mayor Pennington announced National Arbor Day would be on Friday, April 29. Bradley County Spring Clean-up would be Saturday, May 7.
The next city council meeting will be on Monday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Warren Municipal Building courtroom.
