The Board Report, capturing major elements of the latest regular meeting of the Hot Springs Board of Directors, is part of the City of Hot Springs’ efforts to broaden its communications with the public. City Board meetings are open to the public, and agendas, minutes, and more information can be found at www.cityhs.net/Board or by contacting [email protected]. March 19, 2024 HSPD to apply for Mental Health and Awareness Grant The Board passed Resolution 24-47 authorizing the filing and acceptance of the 2024 Law Enforcement Mental Health And Wellness Act Implementation Projects Grant administered by the Department of Justice, Office Of Community Oriented Policing Services. These program funds are used to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement officers and their families through the implementation of peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention, and other promising practices for wellness programs. The Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) program supports efforts to protect law enforcement officers’ mental health and well-being. Unfortunately, the stress of officers’ work and the stigma often associated with seeking assistance for emotional and mental health issues have led to negative consequences such as divorce, alcoholism, injury, and even an increase in suicides for officers across the country. In 2022 HSPD began a wellness outreach initiative and created a Wellness Unit made up of staff members who receive specialized training and provide assistance to fellow staff members who may need assistance with counseling services, education about job-related stress, suicide awareness and prevention training, critical incident debriefs, and assistance with personal matters that might affect their job performance. If HSPD receives the funding from this grant the funding will be used to support annual wellness check-ups with mental health professionals, support services for staff and family members, future training for Wellness Unit members, suicide prevention, and awareness training for supervisory staff. • The Board passed Resolution 24-46 acknowledging receipt of the City of Hot Springs financial statements for January 2024. • The Board passed Resolution 24-48 and 24-49 approving the purchase of two (2) Residential Rear-load Collection Vehicles and a Commercial Front Load Collection Vehicle from River City Hydraulics, Inc. These vehicles are used to collect residential trash as well as provide weekly service on commercial dumpsters. The approved vehicles will be replacing older models. • The Board passed Resolution 24-50 approving the purchase of a Bobcat Skid Steer Loader from Hugg and Hall Equipment Company. This equipment is used at the Transfer Station, to sort and load debris. The Solid Waste Department has a sweeper attachment that will work on this equipment. This will replace a 2009 model Bobcat. • The Board passed Resolution 24-51 approving a master agreement for professional services between the City Of Hot Springs and Garver, LLC. for reconstruction and the design for Taxiways located at the Hot Spring Memorial Field Airport. Taxiways D, K, and L are not compliant with FAA taxiway design specifications regarding direct access to the runway from the ramp. This redesign causes the pilot to make 90 degree turns to arrive at the runway which has been an FAA requirement for a number of years. Taxiways A, B, and C are in need of resurfacing due to their current condition. The three taxiways have developed cracks and seam deterioration in the pavement and currently require reoccurring temporary repairs. This project will also reconstruct Taxiway B to properly align it with the runway, and with this required reconstruction, a portion of Taxiway A will be relocated to the South of its current position, closer to the runway. This will allow additional ground space to the North of the taxiway which will be used in the future to build more aircraft hangars for our growing aviation community. • The Board passed Resolution 24-52 adopting the 2023 Garland County Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City Of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Certain areas of Garland County and the City of Hot Springs are subject to periodic flooding and other natural and man-caused hazards with the potential to cause damages to people’s properties within these areas. Under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires that local jurisdictions have in place a FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Action Plan as a condition of receipt of certain future Federal mitigation funding after November 1, 2004. • The Board passed Resolution 24-53 approving the contract with Jacor Construction for the installation of the perimeter fence at the Community Resource Center at 109 Hobson Avenue. • The Board passed Resolution 24-54 approving the purchase of traffic signal equipment from Temple, Inc. This will be upgrading three signalized intersections, Reserve and Central, Cornerstone and Central Ave., and Malvern and Convention at Bridge Street which includes complete cabinets, camera detection system and cellular modems. • The Board passed Resolution 24-55 declaring a certain structure located at 353 Mound Street a nuisance and to be condemned. • The Board passed Ordinance 24-56 approving an agreement with IPS Group, Inc. to provide certain integrated smart parking technology, equipment and services. The parking improvements will modernize the operations and management of the downtown business district parking system. Recently, the city with assistance from Walker Consultants completed a comprehensive assessment of the downtown public parking system. A result of this work is a series of recommendations to implement an integrated smart parking system. The procuring an integrated parking system using the latest technologies is one of the recommendations. • The Board passed Ordinance 24-57 awarding a Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) contract to Max Foote Construction Company, LLC for the construction of the Davidson Drive Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements and UV disinfection upgrade project. Coming Events • The City of Hot Spring’s State of the City presentation was given at tonigh’s Board of Director’s Meeting. A copy of the presentation will be avalible on 3/20/24 on the City of Hot Springs website, https://www. cityhs.net/139/CityManager • • • • Hyper Fiber Information MeetingMar. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at the Chittum Event Center at Forest Lakes 305 Forest Lakes Blvd. • Food for Thought - 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Mar. 23 - Parking lot at the corner of Church St. and Malvern Ave. (Dir. Karen Garcia, Dist. 5) Other Board actions
Board of Directors City of Hot Springs Pat McCabe Mayor Erin Holliday District 1 Phyllis Beard District 2 Marcia Dobbs-Smith District 3 Dudley Webb, III District 4 Karen Garcia District 5 Steve Trusty District 6 To contact a board member, view a meeting agenda or check the date of the next board meeting, visit the “Board of Directors” webpage under the “Your Government” tab at www.cityhs.net. City Government at Your Service [email protected] • City of Hot Springs Public Information Department • 501-321-6806 www.cityhs.net