By Ray King
With no dissent, the Pine Bluff City Council on Monday adopted an ordinance to waive competitive bidding on purchases made from a $250,000 grant the city received from Lowe’s.
One of the conditions of the grant was that purchases made with money from the grant must be made with Lowe’s or a Lowe’s approved commercial vendor.
Council Member Lloyd Holcomb Jr. sponsored the ordinance, which was read three times and will now be sponsored by all 7 members of the council. The eighth member, Steven Mays, is still out sick. After the meeting, Holcomb talked about the grant with Deltaplex News.
Pine Bluff was the only city in Arkansas to receive a Lowe’s 100 Hometown Grant and has received the first installment of $125,000.
The money will be used to renovate the Old First Ward School at 6th Avenue and Ohio Street into a homeless shelter for men.
Also Monday, proposed ordinances dealing with public nuisances like vacant buildings and abandoned, wrecked or inoperable vehicles, trailers and boats were read, the ordinance on buildings a second time and the ordinance on vehicles, boats and trailers for the first time.
Council Member Glen Brown Jr. suggested more work needs to be done on the ordinance dealing with vehicles, particularly a section requiring items which fit into the category to be moved within 72 hours after a notice is given.
“You need to give people more time,” Brown Jr. said.
Both those ordinances are sponsored by Council Member Bruce Lockett who agreed to bring the vehicle ordinance up at a meeting of the Development and Planning Committee.
