Farmington City Council offers help for veterans memorial
Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008
FARMINGTON — City Council members and Mayor Ernie Penn Monday night voiced their support of a committee working to place a memorial in front of the town’s senior center.
Denver Kokensparger, chairman of the Farmington Veterans Memorial Committee, told the council during its regular meeting, that organizers have been working for well over a year on the veterans memorial.
The memorial will honor all branches of service and all men and women, living or dead, who served their country and were or have been a part of the Farmington community and area for all or part of their lives.
The plan is for the memorial to be placed on the east side of the senior center at the current location of the center’s sign, which would be moved in front of the senior center on the south side of the parking lot.
Penn offered funds to help expedite the project, which organizers plan to do in phases; the first phase would be constructing the base concrete platform and the base and monument, while the second phase would be adding a flag pole to the site. The third phase would be adding benches.
In conjunction with this plan, there will be a sale of bricks that can be purchased for $ 50 each and will be etched with the name, date of service, theater or branch of service of veterans. The plan is for these bricks to form a wall that will surround part of the memorial when finished.
The estimated cost for the memorial is $ 5, 000, with an estimate of $ 3, 500 for the stone monument, Kokensparger said.
Penn said there is money in the city budget for this type of project.
Kokensparger said he appreciates the city’s offer to help pay for the memorial but said the group had planned to carry the entire expense.
Still, he said, he had been to several businesses in Farmington and had not received donations for the project. This was attributed to economic conditions.
Penn said he does not want the project to stall for two to three years because of lack of funds.
Alderman Bobby Morgan said, “ We want to get it done. ”
City officials asked the veterans memorial committee to bid the project and share those bids with the city to determine the cost if the city helps.
Dan Ledbetter, public works director for the city, said he had concerns about the location of the memorial, particularly because of concerns over it creating a blind spot for drivers. He and other city officials agreed to work with the committee on this issue.
“ A site plan would help us a bunch, ” Ledbetter said.
In another matter, the City Council approved the 2009 budget, which will take effect Jan. 1.
The general fund is about $ 1. 7 million. This year’s general fund was budgeted at $ 1. 6 million. The street fund is going from $ 333, 100 this year to $ 339, 500 next year.
Sales tax issue Voters in Farmington are set to decide Dec. 9 whether they want to increase their sales tax for a baseball complex. Christy Watson, president of the summer youth baseball board, thanked the City Council Monday night for putting this out to a vote and spoke about the importance of the complex to the city. Watson said she understands the economic situation and people’s concern about the timing of the sales tax vote. But, she said, “ When is it going to be a good time ? I don’t know when a good time is going to be. ” She said the land may not be available or it could be more expensive in the future. “ I do think it’s important, ” she said of the complex. “ It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about the kids, ” she said. There are 32 teams using three baseball fields and 15 teams sharing a softball field in the city. Watson said about 600 children in the city play ball “ and that number rises. ” The council voted unanimously earlier this month during a special meeting to hold an election to ask residents if they want to levy two sales tax increases that amount to a three-quarterpercent sales tax and allow the city to issue bonds to pay for land and construction for the proposed complex. If this passes, the city would be at a 2. 75-percent sales tax, which is half a percentage point higher than the next highest Washington County city, Prairie Grove. One-quarter of the sales tax would be dedicated permanently to the city’s parks and recreation facility improvements, including a new baseball complex, while the city would stop collecting the remaining one-half percent as soon as it had repaid bonds used to purchase and build the complex. If the tax and bonds pass, the city would be able to buy 18 acres of land off Southwinds Road at about $ 27, 000 an acre.
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