TUESDAY OCTOBER 7, 2008
9:30 AM

Today is a big day for the Delta Regional Airport. There will be a ground breaking ceremony today a 1:00PM. The ceremony will be held just south of the Colt post office. That property will be the entrance to the airport when the airport is complete. Site preparation has begun on the airport property. The target date for opening of the completed airport is 2010. I hope everything stays on track. This has been a long process. But that is typical for projects when several government entities are involved.

The governor of Arkansas will be the principal speaker for the ground breaking. David Dunn, the representative from Forrest City has arranged a luncheon before the ceremony at 11:30AM for some VIP guest with the governor. I have been invited and of course I will attend.

The street crew has continued work on the demolition of Jessie Wynne Park. They did not get to work the full day yesterday. We had some employees out in the sanitation department and the street crews and Jerry had to fill in. We also had to take our chipper to Searcy to be repaired. Several small problems occurred when we started using it every day. We should have it back in full operation in a few days.

It is raining in Wynne now. It started some time in the night. The prediction is for rain most of the day. This will not make for a good day to be holding a ground breaking, but we really need some rain. This will also stop the demolition of Jessie Wynne Park until it dries up. This should not be a problem, because the actual notice to proceed has not been issued to the contractor.

The new methods of picking up commercial garbage seems to be going OK. We have encountered a few problems, but we are working through them daily.

Because of the changes that we have made, and will make the first of the year, I am not proposing a change in the garbage rates. I hope that the citizens continue to use the class three removal service at a rate that will make that service pay for the services provided. This is going to be a big change, but I think that in the long run that it will work very well.

Theda and I have started working on the budget for 2009. There are three big issues that we have to address in the new budget. We have to budget more money for fuel for all department, a three percent salary increase, and next year we will have 27 payrolls rather than the typical 26. This will cost us about an extra $50,000.00 to $60,000.00 more money in the 2009 budget. This situation occurs every so often because the city employees are paid ever two weeks and because of this we will have an extra payroll next year.

We have scheduled a reception for Mike this Thursday afternoon. We plan to hold it over a two hour period. The reception will be a drop in. This will give his friends a chance to come by and visit for a few minutes and enjoy some snack food and a drink. Friday will be his last day of work for the city. He is getting married on Sunday. I happy for him, he seems to be excited about his retirement and his new life with Donna. She is such a sweet lady. I have known her for several years. The last few years of my work at Wynne High School she was a secretary.

This Saturday Pat, Amy, and I will meet the Dexter family at West Memphis for lunch. I look forward to visiting with them again. We have done this before and we all had a very good time.

I have a wedding to perform on the 18th of this month. I do not know the people getting married, but I taught the man's father several years ago. He called and asked me to do the ceremony. He asked what I charged, I told him that it was free. We agreed that the couple could not complain about the charges.