By Ray King
With eight days to go before voters go to the polls to decide the fate of extending the Go Forward sales tax for another seven years and a separate tax devoted to public safety, the Pine Bluff City Council heard a number of speakers supporting both taxes at the conclusion of an otherwise uneventful meeting Monday.
Nine speakers ranging from retired Council member Irene Holcomb to Rev. Matt Mosler of New Life Church and Brian Thomas, CEO of Jefferson Regional Hospital talked about the taxes and the good things that had been accomplished or are in the process of being completed.
The actual agenda for the meeting consisted of only three items, all resolutions which passed by votes of 8-0.
One of those was the approval of an increase in the rate paid to waste management for garbage collection in the city.
The city’s contract calls for an annual cost of living increase based on the consumer price index and council member Bruce Lockett talked about that increase after the meeting.
Also approved was a resolution authorizing Mayor Shirley Washington to execute a contract with Shields and Associates for construction work on Phase Two of the Streetscape project, which will run from 4th Avenue to 8th Avenue and is expected to take 12 months.
The company will be paid $2.386 million for the work.
A resolution reappointing Lloyd Fraklin Sr., to the Urban Renewal Agency Board to serve a term that will expire Sept. 30, 2028 was also approved.
Mayor Washington also introduced Thomas Raymick who is the new director of the Street Department. He replaces Thomas Bennett who has retired.
