75¢
Heavy snow falls upon the Grand Prairie. (See p. 6.)
Volume 120 Number 8 - USPS 225-680
Serving all of Prairie County and the Grand Prairie
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Grand Prairie covered in polar vortex snow Community Calendar of Events
Tuesday February 23 DeValls Bluff City Council meeting 6:00 p.m. Thursday February 25 City of Hazen City Council meeting Hazen Community Center 6:00 p.m. Hazen School Board meeting 6:00 p.m. High School Library
The Prairie County Courthouse in Des Arc was surrounded by drifts of snow that were over a foot tall last week during one of the largest snows in recent Arkansas history. The wintery weather and below-freezing temperatures shut down businesses and froze water pipes for days. Luckily the electricity kept going for the most part, unlike in nearby Texas which is still out of power and water in some places. Even the Herald had to publish online only last week due to the shut down of the Arkansas Leader, our paper’s printer in Jacksonville, because of the weather and the inability of their employees to get in to work. For those of you who missed your Grand Prairie Herald last week, this week’s paper has many of the same articles that we ran last week, so we apologize in advance to our online users. Thanks to all of you who took pictures of the snow. To see more scenes of the winter wonderland, go to page 6 in this week’s paper. The picture of the courthouse above was taken by a Des Arc policeman.
Hazen Council votes to allow police to get off-duty employment The Hazen City Council met in a special meeting on Monday, February 8, to pass an ordinance establishing guidelines for members of the Hazen Police Department to be employed in work outside of their duties as officers. The police department asked the city to consider allowing officers to provide security services for the work being done on the Interstate 40 bridge. That work must have law enforcement officers
present to protect the workers on the project, and the Arkansas State Police cannot supply the officers necessary. Without police present on the site, the work cannot continue. The Parsons-Mahan Joint Venture, which is doing the work, requested the city’s help. Police Chief Bradley Taylor told the council that his officers had taken a work-zone safety class in preparation for the work. The officers would not be
allowed to work for the highway company during their city work hours. They would only warn of the upcoming road work from a quarter mile away, and the officers would be off of the road. After consulting the Arkansas Municipal League, the city put together Ordinance 499 that establishes guidelines for members of the police department to perform “occupational duties outside the employment.” The ordi-
nance (which can be seen in this week’s paper) states that any officer considering additional or outside employment must first request, in writing to the Chief of Police, to do so, and those requests must then be submitted to the mayor for final approval. Those officers must abide by all city and police department policies and the laws of the state and federal government even while off-duty and also must follow all rules, regula-
tions, policies, and procedures of the employing company. The work may not interfere with the officers’ duties as city policemen. The outside employment by officers must be contracted through the city, and officers will be paid $30 an hour. The company will be charged $20 an hour for the use of the city’s police vehicle. The council voted to approve both the ordinance and the new city policy unanimously, and the meeting adjourned.
Grant (ARCG) on behalf of the Oak Prairie Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) to purchase equipment was the main order of business on the Prairie County Quorum Court’s agenda at their February 9 meeting. All of the justices were present at the meeting. The Oak Prairie VFD has raised $15,000 through “community cash and/or in-kind donations to be applied to the project as a local match,” according to the resolution. No funds from the county toward the project will be used. The majority of the remainder of the meeting was taken up with questions about court procedures and the management of the Prairie County Food Bank brought up by Republican members of the court. Justice Rick Stallings asked for corrections to the minutes be made before approving them, asking that it be noted that he opposed a vote to approve the previous month’s minutes and that he would like to see the names of
asked that wording in the past minutes be changed from “He was concerned about bonuses” to “He wanted clarification about bonuses.” Stallings also expressed concern that the county might be audited by the legislature for the Prairie County Food Bank account. “If you have the money, we have no oversight,” Stallings said. Judge Mike Skarda told Stallings that the food bank was now a nonprofit organization and funds to it no longer go through the county. “There are no funds coming into the county,” Justice Bobby Willeford said. County Attorney Abram Skarda told the court that he had not gotten a report about it, but that he would look into it. Stallings closed by saying,” I want to make sure it is being done correctly,” Stallings said. There was also some question about the gravel hauling services purchased by the county. Judge Skarda said that hauling gravel is exempt from bidding by
specific person to provide services to the county, but the justices were told that was only done because the county had been told by Sandra Patterson of the Office of Emergency Management that there might be a perceived conflict of interest in that instance. Justice Lynn Hatcher asked if the gravel haulers had insurance. “They must have it,” Skarda said.
Skarda said that the county under a previous county judge, Butch Calhoun, had purchased one, and that the county had bought one for the Oak Prairie VFD since he has been the judge. The ownership of the Tollville tanker is still in question. In the judge’s report, Skarda said that the county road department had been grading roads when possible, and he
two county courthouses. Bids will be taken for the work on the Des Arc courtroom on February 17. The bids will be opened by the architects for the project, and Historic Preservation rules must apply on all work. A roll call vote was taken to end the meeting at Judge Skarda’s request.
Commodities distribution Drive-through Hazen United Methodist Church 10:00 a.m.- Quorum Court passes resolution to apply for Oak Prairie grant The passage of a reso- the members who are state statute. “We do get The county ownership gave a COVID report on noon. lution that would allow for and against any bids, though,” he said. A of tanker trucks used by the county. He also said Please wear the county judge to measure voted upon by resolution had been local volunteer fire that 12 contractors had apply for an Arkansas voice vote be listed in passed by the court in departments was also attended a pre-bid meetmasks. Rural Community the minutes. He also 2018-2019 to allow a brought up. Judge ing for repairs to the Tuesday March 9 Quorum Court meeting 6:00 p.m. Des Arc Courthouse Annex
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