The Warren City Council met Monday evening, November 14, 2022 to conduct the City’s regular monthly business.
All but one City Council member was in attendance, that being Council Member Zack Burks not present.
A few minutes after the meeting was opened, Patrick Smith addressed the Council during the public statement section of the agenda. Smith addressed the Council in regard to a situation involving his employment within the City’s sanitation department. Speaking for about 15 minutes, Smith alleged harassment from another City employee and stated he felt betrayed by the City.
Saline River Chronicle is not familiar with the details of Smith’s allegations, which he did not go into while addressing the Council. However, the Council then voted to go into executive session to discuss a personnel matter, presumably Smith’s situation. By law, only the Mayor and the City Council are allowed in an executive session. No votes are allowed within the executive session either.
Readers can watch the early segments of our City Council video for Smith’s entire speech. It begins at the 3:45 mark of the video.
Upon returning to the public portion of the meeting the Council took no action.
A regular monthly report was provided by Warren Police Chief Shaun Hildreth. He stated that while the open vacancies looked bleak, the Police Department was actively reviewing applications. Chief Hildreth also addressed when new police vehicles are scheduled to arrive as well as repairs to current cars.
Warren Fire Chief Chuck Moore was ill and not able to attend, but he did submit a written report to the Council.
Sanitation Manager and Building Official Rob Johnson presented his monthly report. Sanitation is currently holding some cardboard in hopes that the price for recycling it will go back up soon before they ship their stored waste to the buyer. Kim Burkhardt has been hired to fill the position that Janice Nelson is vacating after being elected City Clerk.
Street Forman Monty Hearnsberger next spoke, noting that his crew had been working to clean ditches as of late. He also reported that since October the Street Department has replaced about 50 stop signs throughout town, as well as some Street name signs.
In other business, the Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairperson and Council Member Dorothy Henderson, gave a relatively detailed breakdown of the 2023 budget that is in process. Some items discussed for funding included a significant investment in Warren’s streets, as well as needed repairs at the Westside City Pool. Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Wagnon informed the Council that the City Pool repairs were going to be required by the Health Department prior to its reopening next summer.
The Council also heard a report that the Airport had received Arkansas Aeronautics approval for a grant to repair damage to the asphalt caused by a jet fuel spill at the Warren Municipal Airport. Saline River Chronicle had previously reported on the discussions within the Aviation Commission in regard to the damage.
Several announcements were made before the meeting closed.
- The Municipal Building will be closed November 24 and 25 for Thanksgiving.
- The Christmas Parade is scheduled for December 11 at 5:30 p.m.
- The Municipal Building will be closed December 23 and 26 for Christmas.
- Municipal League 2023 Winter Conference is scheduled for January 11-13, 2023.