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Ronnie Baker
TUESDAY, February 16, 2016 / Vol. 2 Issue 7 / 75 cents
Water chief
City gets new boss forTheZoning mayor of
Clinton announced Thursday that he has hired a new director for Zoning and Planning. Tim Clark, owner of Clark Cleaners, has been hired for the position, according to Mayor Richard McCormac. The job pays $14.50 per hour. McCormac read off Clark's past work history, which included a position with Acxiom and former ownership of Western Sizzlin restaurant before opening his dry-cleaning business several years ago. Addressing the City Council at its meeting Thursday, Clark said he lives in Bee Branch and that he has one son who graduated from Clinton High School and another son who is a senior at Clinton this year. Asked Friday about hiring someone from outside of Clinton for the position, McCormac said that was not a factor. He said he felt Clark was the best person for the job out of the 12 applicants. Clark, said McCormac, will begin taking classes and working immediately to gain certification to perform inspections. Clark also was recently named the city's floodplain manager. Clark will replace Dwight Wilson who has held the position for 11 years and worked for three mayors. Wilson is planning to stay on the job through February.
tightens rules, asks for funds
Orange in the morning
This was the sunrise Thursday morning over Clinton. The forecast calls for near-record high temperatures later in the week. (Photo by Robert Snyder)
7 teens cited in vandalism Seven teenagers from Greenbrier have been cited for criminal mischief after acknowledging vandalism in Clinton City Park. A Clinton Police report said a man leaving a martial arts class downtown with his son observed damage at the park and called police around 7:45 p.m. Feb. 4. The caller described a van the
boys were driving. Clinton Police Officer Jay Murdock found the van and the teens a few minutes later at the Walmart parking lot. The damage included trash cans, picnic tables and a rest room door that was kicked in, according to the report and statements Thursday night by Parks director Charles Wilson.
Wilson said repairs would cost several hundred dollars. Police Chief Toney Parish said at the meeting that the parents of the teenager had indicated they would make restitution. Five of the teens were cited as juveniles; two 18-yearolds were cited with criminal mischief as adults.
The new Clinton Water Department manager has wasted no time in making some changes. Todd Burgess told the City Council he had made some decisions that have not made him very popular among employees. He has ended the practice of taking department-owned vehicles home, even for himself. Only the worker on call takes home a department truck, he said. And he has changed the way overtime is calculated. Burgess said if an employee has taken comp time or a sick day during the pay period that does not count toward overtime. Burgess also asked the council for an ordinance that would end the practice of putting 15 percent of money from water bills into the department's infrastructure account and put it in the department's general fund. He said the department has a stack of bills due or past-due to be paid, and noted that he was able to meet payroll the week before with only $400 left in the account. The ordinance that set aside the money was enacted in 2009, the last time water rates were increased. City counselors unanimously approved the ordinance Thursday night. It was given three readings
and an emergency clause was passed allowing the change to be implemented in 30 days. Councilman Tim Barnes was not at the meeting. A second ordinance proposal to move about $150,000 into the department's general fund from the infrastructure fund was tabled until the next meeting. Asked if the one ordinance would be enough to help, Burgess replied, "It gives us a fighting chance." Burgess also told the council that he believed water bills needed to be increased by $2 per minimum bill immediately; no further discussion was held on that suggestion. Also at the meeting, Clinton Municipal Airport manager Will Dawson shared what's new at the airport. He said new hangars are completed and about half of what has been built already have been rented on a monthly basis. The airport, Dawson said, is "self-sustaining," meaning that after initial federal and state grants it is able to generate enough income to pay for itself. Also, committee assignments for counselors have been finalized as follows: A&P: Gayla Bradley, Nina Baker, Sammy Ward See Water on Page 16
C.G. Bolden Day is Friday
Feb. 19 is C.G. Bolden Day in Clinton. The celebration will kick off at 8 a.m. at City Park with a flag-lowering ceremony and a song from the Clinton schools choir, according to Clinton Mayor Richard McCormac who issued the Bolden Day proclamation last year.
Events then move up the hill to Clinton schools with speakers and a demonstration on how to properly fold a flag. There will be a meet and greet with the Bolden family with light refreshments served from 3-4:30 p.m. at the Petit Jean Community Room.
A year ago many eyes were on Clinton as the remains of the young man who died in a POW camp in Korea were ceremoniously returned after 63 years. In September 1950, Bolden went to Korea. Four months later his wife, Geraldean, received a let-
ter telling her that her husband was missing in action. He had been captured and marched from South Korea to North Korea where he died of malnutrition. The couple had one son, Larry, and after Bolden's death, the family moved to Conway. Larry Bolden now owns a used car lot in
Clinton. C.G. Bolden’s remains were part of a group recovered by North Korea more than 25 years ago and returned to the U.S. The military has been working to identify hundreds of remains since. Bolden's were identified in December 2014.
Cpl. C.G. Bolden
List sees Fairfield Bay as state's 4th most boring city
New engine
There will be a ceremony for putting the new Fairfield Bay fire truck into service at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the DPS building. It is open to the public.
To its list of city-ofnote honors Fairfield Bay has added a new one: Arkansas' fourth most boring city. Roadsnacks.net, which bestowed the title, says it uses "a complex algorithm that factors in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those
exciting people." Some of those factors are percentage of population over 35, the higher the more boring (Fairfield Bay's average age is 67.7 years old); married households (higher equals more boring); and population density (higher is better). Fairfield Bay Mayor Paul Wellenberger didn't put much stock
in the rating, and noted a couple of other rankings the city has recently received. "Maybe being in the Safest City in Arkansas makes it boring. Or maybe being in the Happiest City in Arkansas makes it boring. Or maybe the rating was based on average age without considering what there actually is to do in a city. Bel-
la Vista was ranked the second most boring. They obviously haven't been there or here." Happiest City and Safest City titles were listed by onlyinyourstate.com, and named Fairfield Bay No. 1 in both categories. Roadsnacks most See Boring on Page 2