The Pine Bluff City Council held its second meeting of January, Tuesday approving a resolution appropriating funds for the renovation of the opportunity house, appointing, and reappointing board members to the Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas.
During the committee reports, Ways and Means approved a budget adjustment of $160,000 from the legal defense fund to the City Attorney/building and maintenance.
Council member Steven Shaner is over the public works committee and gave this update during his report.
The first resolution on the agenda for proposed ordinances and resolutions was appropriating funds from the American Rescue Plan to help cover the costs of construction of the Opportunity House.
The total budget for that project is $1,200,000 as per the bid submitted by Carson and Associates and part of the funds to defray the costs of the project may be sourced from the American Rescue Plan Funds in the amount of $700,000.
This resolution was approved and Deltaplex News spoke to Shaner who explained what the building funds will go towards.
For the other resolution items on the agenda due to the appointments and reappointments, the second, third, and fourth items were read together and the fifth through the seventh were also read simultaneously.
The council approved the appointment of Tracy Sutherland, Portia Jones, and Laura Beth Shaner to the board to fill existing vacancies. Those three will serve until Dec. 31, 2025. Existing board members Jodie Jolly, Tom Bennett, and James Andrew Mincy, whose terms have expired but have continued to perform, were reappointed. Bennet’s term will expire Sept. 30, 2025, while the terms of Jolly and Mincy will expire Dec. 31, 2025.
