Benton County mayors gather for annual meeting
Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2008
BENTONVILLE — Mayors from Benton County came together Wednesday for the annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council with County Judge Gary Black.
The meeting was an opportunity for the mayors in attendance to voice their concerns for their cities and to hear about services being offered to their respective cities by the county.
The following mayors attended:
• Frank Anderson of Bella Vista;
• Bob McCaslin of Bentonville;
• Fred Jack of Bethel Heights;
• Mark Reeves of Cave Springs;
• Bill Howard of Gravette;
• R. H. Shoettle of Little Flock;
• Jackie Crabtree of Pea Ridge; and
• M. L. Van Poucke of Siloam Springs.
Wednesday’s meeting was Black’s final meeting with the council, and he expressed his concern at the low turnout for the meeting, stating that important things could be done by the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council and stressing the importance of the mayors’ attendance of the annual meetings.
Marshall Watson, director of the Benton County Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, presented the council with some of the services his department has to offer the cities, including a business and industry emergency-planning guidebook.
“ For every $ 1 spent on emergency planning prior to a disaster, $ 3 will be saved in responding to the disaster, ” Watson said. The guidebook offered by the Department of Emergency Management is an attempt to help cities prepare for the worst.
Watson announced plans for Benton County to have a drive-through flu-shot clinic in November for residents. The clinic will be an opportunity to “ drivers to come through, stick their arms out the window, get their flu shot and let them go, ” Watson said. The official dates and times for the clinic have not been decided.
The Department of Emergency Management also offers training for Benton County citizens to become part of the Community Emergency Response Team.
“ The six-week class trains a citizen how to handle minor emergencies. The intent of the program is to lessen the burden on a governmentsponsored response agency, ” Watson said.
The county has trained 600 residents in the CERT program.
Benton County is preparing to purchase and launch a reverse 911 system, Watson said. The reverse 911 system will place automated phone calls to people who live in a specified area, giving information on such things as weather alerts, hazardous-materials warnings and missing children, Watson said.
“ Tornado sirens are great. They have positives and negatives, but the reverse 911 system is very versatile, and we can use if for a multitude of things, whereas tornado sirens are dedicated to that one thing, ” Watson said.
Watson did not have a date for the launch of the reverse 911 system, saying only that the county is getting ready to purchase the system.
A concern raised by Van Pouke, of Siloam Springs, was when his city would be able to obtain a new fire truck to handle emergencies outside the city limits but in the department’s service area.
“ We are currently utilizing the three vehicles the county was able to get us. One is 20 years old, one is 15 years old, and the other is about four years old. At the present time, out of the number of calls we have, 25 percent go out into the county, ” Van Pouke said, noting that Siloam Springs serves those areas of the county while getting very little reimbursement.
“ My questions are, are we being short-changed on this deal, and when can we get some new vehicles ? ” Van Pouke said.
Benton County currently purchases one new fire truck each year, taking requests from each fire department in the county for the new truck. After the requests have been made, the Department of Emergency Management evaluates the requests and decides which fire department will receive the truck based on need, Watson said.
“ We send the new truck to the city that needs it the most. Unfortunately, in Siloam Springs, the trucks are still viable. The maintenance in Siloam Springs has been impeccable, and the trucks are still in good working order, ” Watson said.
Benton County will likely purchase 14 to 16 new trucks in two years after the county has paid off the loan it took out five years ago to purchase new fire equipment, Watson said.
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