City to take ownership of old Martin’s lot on Main, plus full City Council report

The city of Warren is now the official owner of the two lots where the former Martin’s Department Store was located, according to action taken by Warren City Council Monday night.

The building, which was built in 1905, was totally destroyed in a fire on Dec. 1, 2015. Ownership of the lot became a big question that was not resolved. The city was forced to pay for asbestos abatement and demolition of the building’s remains, causing the city to enact a lien against the property.

An Arkansas State Land Commissioner’s auction was held in July which drew no bidders. Mayor Denisa Pennington said the city had to fill out a form detailing how it had used the lot since the fire. She explained that the city would get the property consisting of two lots at no cost unless ownership was claimed and the lien and back property taxes were paid.

A motion was unanimously approved for the city to assume ownership of the property.

In other action:

• City Clerk Helen Boswell reported the city received $90,895 in city sales tax in August, with $708,294 received year to date, a 9 percent increase from the same period last year. The county sales tax totaled $63,884 for the month and $484,794 year to date, a 7 percent increase.
• A request from Bradley County Chamber of Commerce to close streets on Oct. 29 for Fall Festival activities and Dec. 10 for the Christmas Parade was approved.
• Gary Lucas of Jolly Lighting of Hensley, Arkansas explained his proposal to replace, install, take down and store new Christmas light garlands for the downtown area. The cost would be $15,470.19 for the first year and $5,606.54 for subsequent years. Council members Emily Moseley, Memory Frazer and Zachary Burks voted for the proposal; council members Joel Tolefree, Angela Marshall and Dorothy Henderson voted against it. Mayor Pennington broke the tie, voting in favor.
• As the next regular council meeting would have fallen on Columbus Day, the next meeting was moved to Oct. 11.
• A resolution was approved for the city to request that the Bradley County Quorum Court levy city property taxes for the next year in the amount of 5 mills. That is no change from the present year.
• Tolefree detailed a incident in which a person said he was robbed on Housing Authority property. Pennington said the incident was investigated and was determined to be unfounded.
• Police Chief Shaun Hildreth said the Police Department is currently short by five patrolmen and two dispatchers. He said three officers will complete training at Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in mid-December and one candidate is completing a background check. He said the starting salary for patrol officers is $17.32 per hour.
• Fire Chief Chuck Moore said his department had 18 calls in August, including two house fires and one county assist at a chip mill fire. A total of 26 firefighters participated in a training session.
• Sanitation Manager Rob Johnson said new trucks had been ordered but there was no timeframe available on when they would arrive.

As building official, Johnson said the city has had several requests for building permits involving solar panels. He said they add significantly to the amount of building activity, with the least expensive project costing about $59,000. He said he would be certified to inspect such projects within the next few weeks. He also said weekly inspections have been done on the new elementary school.

• Street Foreman Monty Hearnsberger said bushhogging was underway on the Town Branch. Two new workers, Scott Steadman and James Cantrell, have been added to the department. Street work will be done on Pennington and Childs streets.

A motion was approved to finance a 2022 Massey-Ferguson tractor to be purchased from Lumberjack Yamaha for $41,063. First State Bank had the low bid to finance it at 3.49 percent. A motion was also approved to sell a 40-year-old tractor.

• Moseley said the Street Committee was still measuring streets to be included in paving projects. Pennington noted that paving costs had gone up from $130 per ton last year to $180 per ton this year and there is $125,000 available in the budget.
• Marshall said the Community and Economic Development Committee would meet within the next two weeks.
• Pennington said the shooting range had 86 customers within the past month. Range Manager Bubba York is planning to retire at the end of the year.
• Virginia Phillips approached the council about needs for more lighting and street work on the west side of town. She also said that residents would prefer to have police officers working on that side of town who knew the residents.