The members of the Hope City Board of Directors admitted that they felt a bit lost Tuesday night as Hope City Manager Catherine Cook was sidelined at home with an illness.
“We'll muddle through,” Hope Mayor Dennis Ramsey quipped, as he expressed a concern for Cook's quick recovery.
Turning to the agenda at hand, however, the board tabled Cook's report regarding a response to the Federal Aviation Administration's requirement that the City revise its leasing structure at the Hope Municipal Airport. Two key elements of that response will include finding a new home for the Hope Police Department firing range, and rewriting flight business operator leases at the airport.
The City's lease of space at the airport to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for storage of mobile homes and travel trailers, while noted by the FAA, is resolving itself as FEMA's inventory is being culled in anticipation of the close of its lease at the end of the year.
The board acted on several grant application requests, including a renewal and expansion of a program to combat underage drinking. The $7,000 grant in 2009 is expected to be expanded to $36,000 this year to improve programs for youngsters and teens at Northside Community Park and in cooperation with the Hope Public Schools, according to program coordinator Teresa Pribilski.
Pribilski said several “peer to peer” programs and recreational activities were well received by local youth, and two town hall meetings conducted for parents were well-attended.
“It went really smoothly this year, especially for the first year,” she said.
The program, operated in conjunction with the Hope Police Department, which is the grant application agency, will be administered through HPD with the approval of the City and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, HPD Lieutenant Jim Bush said.
“A law enforcement presence really solidifies it as a partnership,” Pribilski said.
Director Willie Walker commended the program, noting that a May 8 “fun day” at Northside Park drew between 40 and 60 youth.
“We're planning another one, maybe, a back to school day,” Walker said. “This is really good because they're at the age to prevent it.”
He said a planned Juneteenth celebration June 18-19 would also be held in cooperation with the underage drinking prevention program.
The board also approved a resolution in support of a grant application through the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District for some $200,000 in Arkansas Economic Development Commission funds to complete roofing work on the former Martindale Clinic building.
