Welcome to another edition of the Jonesboro City Council Explication Project, Committee Edition, a project by a political nerd for political nerds or anyone who wants to learn more about their city government. Remember that municipal (city council), county (quorum court), and state government (state legislature) bodies have a bigger impact on your day to day life than the president. You can watch the meetings live on the city’s Facebook page at City of Jonesboro, AR – Government.
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Finance & Administration Members: Joe Hafner (chair), LJ Bryant, Dr. Charles Coleman, Brian Emison, David McClain, John Street, and Ann Williams.
Agenda: https://jonesboro.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=855689&GUID=E53114BD-2E56-4E21-8EA2-B879DB2B6D1A
1. Call to Order 4:00PM
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes
MIN-21:039: Minutes for the Finance Committee meeting on May 11, 2021.
4. New Business
ORD-21:024: An ordinance to waive competitive bidding and authorize purchase of a blower fan for the city incinerator for the Sanitation Department.
Commentary: “Waive competitive bidding” generally seems to mean they have a preferred buyer (perhaps a company/service they’ve used before and like) or the need is very great and time-sensitive.
RES-21:079: A resolution of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas to contract with Centennial Bank for sponsorship of one athletic field at the Joe Mack Campbell Sports Complex and one outfield sign at Southside Softball Complex.
Commentary: Centennial Bank is buying advertising.
RES-21:081: A resolution authorizing the City of Jonesboro Grants and Community Development Department to submit an application with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the FY18 Competitive Funding Grant for Buses and Bus Facility Program.
Commentary: From the resolution: the city is applying for $140,663 with a local match of $28,132.60. Public transit is good!
RES-21:082: A resolution authorizing the City of Jonesboro Grants and Community Development Department to apply to the Department of Justice–Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for the FY21 Bullet Proof Vest Partnership Grant.
Commentary: Continually wonder what life would be like for all of us if we would just pass common sense gun legislation instead of flooding our country with deadly weapons! That universe sounds nice. Since this is a grant, the city still has to put forward 34,622.15 to get the 34,622.15 match. I’m all for grants, but I’m also very suspicious of how often police in Jonesboro are being shot at to need investments like these.
RES-21:083: A resolution by the City Council of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, for the City of Jonesboro to enter into an agreement with the Northeast Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (NEAIDC) for funding of economic development services.
Commentary: A committee was formed (NEAIDC) to oversee how public money was spent in relation to industrial and economic development. Jonesboro gets to appoint four members to this body. I assume the mayor nominates these members and the council approves them. The city budget includes $394,750 for the endeavor, and this resolution basically releases that funding.
RES-21:084: A resolution of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas to accept the low bid and enter into a contract with Richard Baughn Construction, Inc. for the Craighead Technology Park Industrial Lead Rail Expansion Project – Section I subgrade work.
Commentary:The low bid here means, I’m guessing (no really, I find these invoices very confusing to read due to the amount of numbers) $944,659.75. Sort of curious why the highest bid ($1,680,533.49) was so high.
RES-21:085: A resolution of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas to accept the low bid and enter into a contract with Trac-Work, Inc. for the Craighead Technology Park Industrial Lead Rail Expansion Project – Section II Track Construction.
Commentary: The high/low bids here are also hilarious. Why is the low bid $1,505,330.75 and the high bid $2,180,017.00. That’s so much more.
5. Pending Items
6. Other Business
7. Public Comments
There were no public comments at the meeting before this, but the minutes of the last meeting have commentary from committee members on their work.