TUESDAY MARCH 31, 2009
10:52 AM
I have spent most of the last three days in the bed. I have been running a fever and felt really bad. I have been taking some medicine and today I feel much better.
The situation with the garbage trucks has not improved. Friday the commercial truck had to be towed to the shop. Yesterday after making the route, the mechanic had to come from Jonesboro to work on it again. The mechanic told me that he would keep coming to Wynne until they get it working correct.
I also talked with the salesman and he said that he was ready to deliver the new truck early. I told him to get me the numbers and I would make a decision. I have not heard from him. It the terms a OK I will probably take delivery of the new truck.
I talked with a representative from the Arkansas Municipal League this morning. They plan to write a story about me for an upcoming issue of the magazine. They plan to highlight my appearance on the local radio station after each city council meeting. They also plan to discuss my blog. They will be in Wynne on Thursday to complete the interview. They will also go to the local radio station and make some pictures for the article.
Theda told me this morning the the Jessie Wynne Park project was complete and we had received the final bill. I hope the the community enjoys and uses this park. I think that it really looks good.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
FRIDAY MARCH 27, 2009
1:13 PM
I have not felt very good today. I have been running a fever and generally feel bad.
Yesterday morning I went to the EAPDD in Jonesboro for a board meeting. These meetings are usually short, but yesterday it took about two hours. The main reason for the board meeting was to go over the budget for next year and adopt the budget. We accomplished those task. We also had a funeral service at Cogbill yesterday afternoon. I had planned to meet the funeral director and pick up the check for the opening and closing and other cost associated with the burial. I was unable to return to Wynne in time to meet the funeral director, so I called Lynn and asked him to pick up the check. When he arrived and met the funeral director there was no check. He told me that he was not going to allow them to complete the burial without the money. The funeral director was from a funeral home in Memphis. He called Theda and she told him to allow them to complete the service and she would call the funeral home and have them mail the check. There had been some miscommunication with the funeral home staff related to the check.
When I returned to Wynne I went by the public works building to check on the garbage truck. To my surprise both garbage trucks were at the shop to be repaired. Tri State had sent a mechanic to Wynne to complete the work. They were successful and got both trucks running late yesterday afternoon. I have not checked with Jerry today, but I assume that they are running OK today. I sure hope so.
I attended a meeting of the CCEDC board yesterday afternoon. Most of the board was there and there was a large group of interested citizens and other elected officials at the meeting. The meeting was called to get input about how to proceed with funding for economic development. There was a very good discussion and in the end, about two hours later, the consensus seemed to be to have another election and go county wide again. There had been some discussion about only asking the City of Wynne to hold an election. The people who were present agreed that it would be a difficult task, but most agreed that economic development must be funded and the best way is to try to unite the county and have another election county wide. I think that if the election was held only in the city that it would split the county and be bad for both the city and county.
1:13 PM
I have not felt very good today. I have been running a fever and generally feel bad.
Yesterday morning I went to the EAPDD in Jonesboro for a board meeting. These meetings are usually short, but yesterday it took about two hours. The main reason for the board meeting was to go over the budget for next year and adopt the budget. We accomplished those task. We also had a funeral service at Cogbill yesterday afternoon. I had planned to meet the funeral director and pick up the check for the opening and closing and other cost associated with the burial. I was unable to return to Wynne in time to meet the funeral director, so I called Lynn and asked him to pick up the check. When he arrived and met the funeral director there was no check. He told me that he was not going to allow them to complete the burial without the money. The funeral director was from a funeral home in Memphis. He called Theda and she told him to allow them to complete the service and she would call the funeral home and have them mail the check. There had been some miscommunication with the funeral home staff related to the check.
When I returned to Wynne I went by the public works building to check on the garbage truck. To my surprise both garbage trucks were at the shop to be repaired. Tri State had sent a mechanic to Wynne to complete the work. They were successful and got both trucks running late yesterday afternoon. I have not checked with Jerry today, but I assume that they are running OK today. I sure hope so.
I attended a meeting of the CCEDC board yesterday afternoon. Most of the board was there and there was a large group of interested citizens and other elected officials at the meeting. The meeting was called to get input about how to proceed with funding for economic development. There was a very good discussion and in the end, about two hours later, the consensus seemed to be to have another election and go county wide again. There had been some discussion about only asking the City of Wynne to hold an election. The people who were present agreed that it would be a difficult task, but most agreed that economic development must be funded and the best way is to try to unite the county and have another election county wide. I think that if the election was held only in the city that it would split the county and be bad for both the city and county.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
WEDNESDAY MARCH 25, 2009
12:55 PM
Jerry has just called and told me that he was on his way to Jonesboro to pickup the commercial garbage truck. I hope that the truck is repaired. It has been a very busy three days for the sanitation department. They have been trying to pick up the commercial trash. They have a a system worked out to pick up the trash, but it is very very slow and takes a lot more time. Time will tell.
I have a meeting tomorrow about the future of economic development for Cross County. The meeting has been called and a number of citizens invited to discuss the next step. A number of options have been discussed, but no decision has been made about how to proceed and if they do ask for another vote when the election would be held and where to have the election. I mean by that whether city only or county wide again. A decision also has to be made about when to proceed with another election if that is the decision. The meeting tomorrow should be very interesting.
12:55 PM
Jerry has just called and told me that he was on his way to Jonesboro to pickup the commercial garbage truck. I hope that the truck is repaired. It has been a very busy three days for the sanitation department. They have been trying to pick up the commercial trash. They have a a system worked out to pick up the trash, but it is very very slow and takes a lot more time. Time will tell.
I have a meeting tomorrow about the future of economic development for Cross County. The meeting has been called and a number of citizens invited to discuss the next step. A number of options have been discussed, but no decision has been made about how to proceed and if they do ask for another vote when the election would be held and where to have the election. I mean by that whether city only or county wide again. A decision also has to be made about when to proceed with another election if that is the decision. The meeting tomorrow should be very interesting.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
TUESDAY MARCH 24, 2009
12:05 PM
I have not written in several days and I have had several request to update my blog.
I have just returned from a meeting in Forrest City. We had an interesting meeting, discussing among other things stimulus money. The group is hopeful that eastern Arkansas will get some of the money. I certainly hope so. The City of Wynne has submitted one proposal for some of this money. It is a drainage project that has been worked on for about 10 to 15 years. There may be some light at the end of the tunnel.
I spent yesterday in Jonesboro at the Tri State Mack truck dealership. They have been working on one of our garbage truck since Friday. When Jerry and I left the dealership yesterday about 4:30 pm they were still not much closer to solving the problem. The dealership promised us that they would either have our truck fixed by noon today or they would secure a replacement truck for us.
While we were in Jonesboro Jerry received a call about a power outage in Wynne that affected several of our traffic lights. The power was off about four hours. When service was restored one of the lights would not work. Jerry called our contractor that does traffic signal work for the city. He came last night and the light was working this morning when I came to work.
I am waiting on a couple to come to my office to be married. The bride called this morning and asked me to perform the ceremony. I told her that I had to attend a meeting in Forrest City, but I would be in my office during the lunch hour. She said they would be here. They have not shown up yet. They may have decided that they could not wait and have gotten someone else. I gave her my cell phone number and asked her to call when they got to Wynne. I have not heard from her as of now.
I bought Amy a new lawnmower last week. The one she had needed to be replace, so Dad came through and took care of the purchase. I took it to her last Friday during my extended lunch hour. I got to visit with her for a few minutes. She was off for a three day break last weekend, but she was going in to meet with a family to make arrangements. They called about the time I arrived at her home and she had to leave to take care of the family. She called me about three o'clock to inform me that she had been involved in a wreck. It was her fault. She was not hurt but did damage her car. When she left the funeral home, she was stopping at the drugstore to get a refill for one of her drugs filled and ran into the back of a car in front of her. She was disappointed that she had gone in on her day off and it did not turn out very well for her.
I attended a meeting last week about how the stimulus money will be spent by the state of Arkansas. It does not look like the city will be able to see any direct benefit from this money. I hope that I am wrong, but listening to the presentation, I am not optimistic. I should be more optimistic, but I do not feel very positive about our chances after hearing the presentation.
During the time I have not written, Pat had her other eye surgery. After a few bumps, everything is going well.
The city council also met during this time. They spent a good deal of time discussing class three trash. In the final action taken they decided to begin the service for all citizens and to increase the sanitation fee from $15.00 per month to $18.00 per month. They will officially take that action with a passage of an ordinance during the April meeting. During the discussion they agreed that if the increase does not cover the cost they are prepared to increase them enough to cover the cost. When I completed my study last year the cost to continue the service would have been a five dollar per month increase. We have not completed a study since last June.
I have started the mowing of the cemetery. This is a little earlier than last year but the grass needs to be cut.
The sales tax election for economic development failed at the polls on the 14th. The group is working now about a plan to continue the local funding of this effort.
12:05 PM
I have not written in several days and I have had several request to update my blog.
I have just returned from a meeting in Forrest City. We had an interesting meeting, discussing among other things stimulus money. The group is hopeful that eastern Arkansas will get some of the money. I certainly hope so. The City of Wynne has submitted one proposal for some of this money. It is a drainage project that has been worked on for about 10 to 15 years. There may be some light at the end of the tunnel.
I spent yesterday in Jonesboro at the Tri State Mack truck dealership. They have been working on one of our garbage truck since Friday. When Jerry and I left the dealership yesterday about 4:30 pm they were still not much closer to solving the problem. The dealership promised us that they would either have our truck fixed by noon today or they would secure a replacement truck for us.
While we were in Jonesboro Jerry received a call about a power outage in Wynne that affected several of our traffic lights. The power was off about four hours. When service was restored one of the lights would not work. Jerry called our contractor that does traffic signal work for the city. He came last night and the light was working this morning when I came to work.
I am waiting on a couple to come to my office to be married. The bride called this morning and asked me to perform the ceremony. I told her that I had to attend a meeting in Forrest City, but I would be in my office during the lunch hour. She said they would be here. They have not shown up yet. They may have decided that they could not wait and have gotten someone else. I gave her my cell phone number and asked her to call when they got to Wynne. I have not heard from her as of now.
I bought Amy a new lawnmower last week. The one she had needed to be replace, so Dad came through and took care of the purchase. I took it to her last Friday during my extended lunch hour. I got to visit with her for a few minutes. She was off for a three day break last weekend, but she was going in to meet with a family to make arrangements. They called about the time I arrived at her home and she had to leave to take care of the family. She called me about three o'clock to inform me that she had been involved in a wreck. It was her fault. She was not hurt but did damage her car. When she left the funeral home, she was stopping at the drugstore to get a refill for one of her drugs filled and ran into the back of a car in front of her. She was disappointed that she had gone in on her day off and it did not turn out very well for her.
I attended a meeting last week about how the stimulus money will be spent by the state of Arkansas. It does not look like the city will be able to see any direct benefit from this money. I hope that I am wrong, but listening to the presentation, I am not optimistic. I should be more optimistic, but I do not feel very positive about our chances after hearing the presentation.
During the time I have not written, Pat had her other eye surgery. After a few bumps, everything is going well.
The city council also met during this time. They spent a good deal of time discussing class three trash. In the final action taken they decided to begin the service for all citizens and to increase the sanitation fee from $15.00 per month to $18.00 per month. They will officially take that action with a passage of an ordinance during the April meeting. During the discussion they agreed that if the increase does not cover the cost they are prepared to increase them enough to cover the cost. When I completed my study last year the cost to continue the service would have been a five dollar per month increase. We have not completed a study since last June.
I have started the mowing of the cemetery. This is a little earlier than last year but the grass needs to be cut.
The sales tax election for economic development failed at the polls on the 14th. The group is working now about a plan to continue the local funding of this effort.
Friday, March 6, 2009
FRIDAY MARCH 6, 2009
1:10 PM
I have been busy for the last couple of weeks and I have not taken the time to write on my blog.
Today is Pat's birthday. She is celebrating her 39th again. Happy birthday honey.
The city council will meet next week for the March meeting. There will probably be some interesting discussions. Three council members have asked to be on the agenda and discuss class three trash again. We have talked about class three trash several time over the last 9 months and have voted on the issue on two occasions. I have no idea about what will happen on Tuesday night. I had thought that the issue had been settled.
We also have three citizens who have asked to appear before the council. They want to discuss a problem they have with the dogs of one of their neighbors.
I have made a plea for some of the stimulus money for a drainage project in Wynne. The project is shovel ready. I will attend a meeting in Forrest City on Monday to compile the final draft of our proposal. We are making the application through the East Arkansas Enterprise Community. I certainly hope we will see positive results. The city and the EAEC have been working to get this project funded for about 15 years. The EAEC met last week with the governor and I have written him a letter requesting this project be included.
Pat will have surgery on her other eye next Wednesday. She has had very positive results from the surgery on her other eye. I hope and pray that this one will also be successful.
I talked with Amy on Monday morning. She was on duty Sunday. She went to work at 8:00 AM on Sunday morning and got to leave the funeral home about 7:00 AM on Monday. She went home and had coffee and freshened up and returned to work. Her supervisor told her about 10:00 to take the day off. She gladly did and went home and went to bed. With hours like that and other stresses of her job she told me that she really enjoyed her profession. I am so glad that she has a profession that she loves. I used to preach to my students that they need to have a job that they enjoyed. I think that it would be terrible situation to have to go to a job that you did not enjoy. I have enjoyed both of my jobs during my adult life. I had an excellent career as a teacher and I have enjoyed serving as mayor of Wynne.
1:10 PM
I have been busy for the last couple of weeks and I have not taken the time to write on my blog.
Today is Pat's birthday. She is celebrating her 39th again. Happy birthday honey.
The city council will meet next week for the March meeting. There will probably be some interesting discussions. Three council members have asked to be on the agenda and discuss class three trash again. We have talked about class three trash several time over the last 9 months and have voted on the issue on two occasions. I have no idea about what will happen on Tuesday night. I had thought that the issue had been settled.
We also have three citizens who have asked to appear before the council. They want to discuss a problem they have with the dogs of one of their neighbors.
I have made a plea for some of the stimulus money for a drainage project in Wynne. The project is shovel ready. I will attend a meeting in Forrest City on Monday to compile the final draft of our proposal. We are making the application through the East Arkansas Enterprise Community. I certainly hope we will see positive results. The city and the EAEC have been working to get this project funded for about 15 years. The EAEC met last week with the governor and I have written him a letter requesting this project be included.
Pat will have surgery on her other eye next Wednesday. She has had very positive results from the surgery on her other eye. I hope and pray that this one will also be successful.
I talked with Amy on Monday morning. She was on duty Sunday. She went to work at 8:00 AM on Sunday morning and got to leave the funeral home about 7:00 AM on Monday. She went home and had coffee and freshened up and returned to work. Her supervisor told her about 10:00 to take the day off. She gladly did and went home and went to bed. With hours like that and other stresses of her job she told me that she really enjoyed her profession. I am so glad that she has a profession that she loves. I used to preach to my students that they need to have a job that they enjoyed. I think that it would be terrible situation to have to go to a job that you did not enjoy. I have enjoyed both of my jobs during my adult life. I had an excellent career as a teacher and I have enjoyed serving as mayor of Wynne.
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