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TUESDAY, August 21, 2018 / Vol. 4 Issue 34 / 75 cents
County under water
As The Voice was getting pages ready for the press Sunday night, we were hearing reports of some serious flooding as torrential rains drenched the county. Some downtown Clinton buildings were taking in water and several roads reportedly were under water. Reports stated that Highway 16 East in Clinton was flooded and part of the New Road had washed out. Flooding also was reported in Choctaw, on Highway 330, on Old Highway 9 and Fairfield Bay. Earlier in the evening Sunday, tornado warnings were issued for much of Van Buren County. Those warnings changed to flash flood warnings around 9 p.m. Petit Jean Electric reported many outages in the area and said crews were working to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. There also were reports of water service being out in the Highway 110 area. At this time, there are no reports of injuries.
City Park was under water Sunday night.
The parking lot in the Northside Mall was flooded Sunday night.
2018 MUNICIPAL CANDIDATES CITY OF CLINTON
MAYOR OF CLINTON MAYOR RICHARD McCORMAC CLINTON ALDERMEN GAYLA STORY BRADLEY JEFF PISTOLE MIKE CURTIS TIMOTHY BARNES SAMMY WARD SHON HASTINGS JASON D. LYNCH·
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CITY OF FAIRFIELD BAY MAYOR OF FAIRFIELD BAY MAYOR PAUL WELLENBERGER FAIRFIELD BAY ALDERMEN SHARON LUXON ROBERT OTIS DONALD M. BAILEY
CITY OF SHIRLEY MAYOR OF SHIRLEY LISA HACKETT RECORDER/TREASURER OF SHIRLEY MELISSA WORTHING SHIRLEY ALDERMEN DAVID COOK RANDALL GARDNER BRANDY KIMMONS JO CAROL HAMILTON DEBORAH KERRIGAN MARGARET EARNHART
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CITY OF DAMASCUS MAYOR OF DAMASCUS MAYOR LEON PAVATT RECORDER/TREASURER OF DAMASCUS WENDI L. PAYNE DAMASCUS ALDERMEN GILBERT LEWIS JUSTIN MOORE JACKIE WILLIAMS GENE BYRD JERRY HENSLEY
Pee Dee Baptist Church parking lot and Highway 16 East flooded.
Council urged to come up with funds for 911 center The Clinton City Council heard from the county judge and the Fairfield Bay mayor at its meeting last week in an attempt to persuade the council to pay Clinton’s “fair share” of 911 Dispatch center costs. Acknowledging that it is an “emotional issue,” Clinton Mayor Richard McCormac
said that he recognized that “we have a duty to provide this for our citizens.” He then turned the floor over to County Judge Roger Hooper who explained that the center used to get enough funds from a tax on landlines but because there are substantially fewer these
days, it no longer provides enough money. He urged the towns and county to work together to get the state Legislature to address the situation. Fairfield Bay Mayor Paul Wellenberger got straight to the point: See 911 on page 6
NRC approves grant to relocate water line The Natural Resources Commission has approved application for a grant in the amount of $315,150 to replace Shirley’s water line going across the Highway 9 bridge. The approval is contingent upon Community Water Sysem acquiring, operating and maintaining the system as part of CWS. John Metrailer of CWS handed out a map to the City Council members showing the waterline plan and profile. He stated that an easement must be obtained for the Hackett property lying within the area to be bored running the new line under the river. He stated that the documents from NRC should be ready this week. The job must be put out for bid for one month. Af-
ter the bid is let construction time was estimated to be 60 days. CWS representatives said that the water tank on the north side of town was filled up to provide the school district with water and most of the work will be done in one afternoon or over one night guaranteeing little or no service disruption. Next, Mayor Lisa Hackett reported to the council that the city is eligible to receive another Fun Park Grant. The plan will be to install bleachers at the ballfields, upgrading and repairing the walking track as well as making the area ADA accessible. The mayor also updated the council regarding the city’s propane supplier. Hackett stated that she had
checked the Community Center tank and it was still reading 45 percent so the city had at least another month to choose a supplier. She stated that Sun Gas was still quoting $1.39 a gallon and $65 a year for tank rental. She spoke with Suburban (owner of the current propane tank) and their gas prices were already higher, and they were not interested in negotiating. Councilor Deborah Kerrigan stated that she had been told by the head of the Baseball/Softball Association that the funds received from the school for use of the city’s ball fields had been given to the association. Treasurer Melissa Worthing stated See NRC on page 6