Minutes
Public Awareness Committee,
Inc.
December 2, 2004
Dick Gordon called the meeting to order. No Colors were presented due to illness. Judge Jerry Williams led the Pledge of Allegiance. Jack Arnold led the prayer. Dick Gordon presented the minutes from the September 30, 2004, meeting. The minutes were approved as written with a motion by Gene McVay and a second by Claude Legris.
The Treasurer’s Report was presented and approved. Beginning balance was $1837.60. Interest was $.30. There were no expenses. Balance on hand is $1837.90.
The next scheduled
meetings are:
The following are on
file:
Short
Reports:
Dick noted that Judge Bud Harper and Dr. Joan Harper were unable to attend today because Joan Harper is being honored with an award. The school superintendents are in Little Rock. The Forestry Service rangers are in Kansas City.
Crawford County Judge Jerry
Williams invited everyone to the
annual lighting of the Courthouse tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. The Van Buren Christmas Parade will be
Saturday night at 6:30. He also
reported that the restoration of the courthouse clock tower has been
completed. There are still problems
with the Crawford County Jail but they will begin addressing those after the
first of the year. Judge Williams
apologized for leaving early but he has other meetings at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
today.
Col. Reeves, Fort Chaffee, reported that the machine gun range and
ammunitions supply point are two new projects to begin sometime in the next
fiscal year. They will add up to about
$15 million in new construction for Fort Chaffee. He said they are expecting 2005 to be a busy year for units to
come to Fort Chaffee to train, including 3,500 soldiers from New York in April,
the return of the Navy Seals, field artillery brigade annual training, and the
majority of the Arkansas Army National Guard annual training (summer
camp). Col. Reeves noted that the more
usage Fort Chaffee has the more relevant it is, and the more relevant it is the
more security it has to remain a training site. He said Col. Hunt is in Little Rock and was unable to attend
today’s meeting. He wanted to convey
his appreciation for everyone’s support and say how much they enjoy being a
part of the community. Col. Reeves
wished everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Jennifer Goodson, Fort Smith
Public Library, welcomed Public
Awareness Committee members to the Fort Smith Public Library. She invited everyone to consider sponsoring
a library book in the library’s Perfect Gift program. Children’s books are $10 and adult books are $25. Books are sponsored in honor or in memory of
someone and each book contains a book plate indicating who donated it and in
whose honor or memory it was donated.
This information is also added to the library’s computerized catalog. Donors are given a Christmas card indicating
the name of the book donated and the name of the person who was honored. She said it makes a nice Christmas gift.
State Representative Frank Glidewell shared his thoughts on jails and
schools. He said that we need jails but
that we can’t afford to put people with drug and alcohol offenses in jail. They would be better suited to alternative
sentencing options such as rehabilitation.
He said over 200 of the individuals currently in the Sebastian County
Jail could be in some kind of rehabilitation program instead of in jail. Rep. Glidewell noted that the school
improvement issue will be the major focus of the upcoming legislative
session. He said he is concerned that
“adequate education” has not been defined.
He wonders how a problem that can’t even be defined can be fixed. In other comments, Rep. Glidewell said that
although committees are assigned by seniority, he was able to get the two
committees he wanted by trading after the assignments were made.
Col. J.R. Dallas, 188th
Fighter Wing, said 2005 will be a
very busy year. They are panning an air
show for spring 2006. The 188th
did a flyby at the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library in
November. He said they are looking into
the future to continue to identify that thing or things that will keep the 188th
alive well into the future. Groups need
to have community support and need to have something they do well to support
national security. He said they are
trying to bring lots of people in for training. In other comments, he said:
·
The 188th
is about to open a new 17,000 square foot headquarters building. About ¾ of everything that went into it came
from Arkansas.
·
The next
project they’re looking at is a $5 million hangar renovation.
·
The 188th
will be going overseas next year. It
will mark the first time the 188th has ever dropped bombs to kill
people.
·
The 188th
celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and issued a book
commemorating the anniversary. They
will donate a copy to the Fort Smith Public Library.
Mayor Bill Vines reported that he and other veteran’s services
people are constantly in touch with troops in the state before they go overseas
and after they return. They help people
return to their civilian jobs and also meet with employers when necessary to
assist individuals who have situations with their jobs when they return. They will be providing a lot of support to
the 188th when they send people overseas in 2005. Frank Broyles gave Mayor Vines 100 tickets
to the Arkansas vs. Texas game and recognized the military before the
game. The 188th also did a
flyover before the game. He encouraged
anyone who encounters Broyles to help express appreciation for the tickets. Mayor Vines also conveyed Congressman
Boozman’s regrets at not being able to attend today’s meeting. He had to be out of town today.
Lynn Pincumbe, U.S. Department of
Energy National Nuclear Security Administration, showed a poster of one of their federal agents. Dr. Chuck Larson was wearing some of the
gear and she talked about the various parts of the uniform including magazines,
a rifle, night vision goggles, gas mask, handgun, and first aid pack. She said they will graduate 29 new federal
agents on December 16. The next class
will begin in February 2005 for June 2005 graduation. They are graduating about 52 agents a year but that is not
enough. She said in 2000 they had one
full-time employee and now they have 117.
She said they offer three levels of training currently and are looking
at adding a fourth level.
Claude Legris, Ft. Smith Convention
and Visitors Bureau, delivered the
following report.
The fall 2004 travel season, though still not at pre-September 11 levels,
showed good volume. In the months of
September and October the Visitor Center hosed 33 motor coach tours and 3,250
visitors to the Center.
Through the month of September hotel/motel tax collections are $17,020
ahead of the same time in 2003. This
puts us at 98.5% of anticipated collections to date.
Construction of the new Welcome Center on I-40 by the State Department of
Parks and Tourism remains on schedule.
The new Center will be 4 times the size of the current facility. We anticipate staff to move into the new
complex just after the first of the year.
Demolition of the current center will then begin with dedication to
follow in approximately April of next year.
Now that the national elections are behind us we don’t anticipate major
changes in the priorities by the US Marshal Service Museum and their efforts to
establish a site for a national museum.
The Fort Smith Steering Committee will complete production of an
8-minute DVD touting the advantages of Fort Smith as the permanent site, soon
after the first of the year.
The Frontier Fest event was very successful. We estimate 7,000 persons attended the free weekend festival the
third weekend in October. The planning
committee was successful in staging the vent utilizing the National Historic
Site, the River Parks amphitheater and pavilion buildings, and the Frisco
Depot. It will the staged the third
weekend in October again next year.
The A&P is currently in discussion with the Arkansas and Missouri
Railroad regarding the potential for expanded excursion service out of Fort
Smith in 2005. Preliminary discussions
include the possibility of a Saturday evening dinner excursion round trip Fort
Smith to Chester.
Fort Smith hosted the Arkansas chapter of the American Institute of
Architects during the first week of November.
This convention is typically held in Little Rock. The 450 attendees were very impressed with
what Fort Smith had to offer during their first visit with us. Many specifically were impressed with the
architecture of the Convention Center.
Congratulations to the staffs of the Convention Center and Holiday Inn
in this team effort. Thanks to the 188th
Airborne as well for hosting a luncheon during the conference. All attendees were bused to the facility to
break in the new dining hall and tour the base thanks to the efforts of Col.
J.R. Dallas and his staff.
For future business, we have been successful in securing the Arkansas
School Food Service convention for the fall of 2005. This is another group that typically meets in Little Rock. We have been working for four years to bring
this group to Fort Smith.
The Arkansas River Valley Sports Council, formerly known as the Fort
Smith Sports Council, has now officially incorporated. They will be staging a fundraising gala at
the Holiday Inn January 15 featuring a banquet and silent auction. For ticket information contact the CVB at
783-8888.
Upcoming holiday events include:
·
Fort Smith
Christmas Parade this Saturday at 3 p.m. on Garrison Avenue
·
Followed by
open house at the Museum of History from 1-5 p.m.
·
Sunday open
house (Victorian Christmas) at the Clayton House from 1-4 p.m.
For information on all holiday events, see Entertainment Fort Smith
magazine.
Speaking of E Fort Smith,
congratulations to the staff there.
They have been named a finalist in the Media Support category for an
Arkansas Parks and Tourism HENRY award, the academy awards of the hospitality
industry. Winners will be announced in
March at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Little Rock. This is well-deserved recognition for our
local magazine!
Claude also left a supply of Arkansas
Fishing Guides.
Judge David Hudson talked about the Sebastian County Jail
situation. He said the jail is crowded,
with a capacity of 266 but housing at least 315 inmates. He said the meth issue has created more female
prisoners than were anticipated years ago.
An expansion project is underway using existing funds – no tax increase
was required. It will add 2500 square
feet of administrative support and 100 beds.
Judge Hudson said it is important to look at alternatives to putting
people in jail including alternative sentencing, community service, and
electronic monitoring. He said he isn’t
sure how long these 100 additional beds will last and is worried about what
we’ll do after that. He said it is
important to ask the question, “Are we scared of them or just mad at
them?” Individuals who aren’t
considered dangerous would be good candidates for alternatives to jail. He said it is important to educate the
general public on jail issues.
Ray Caruthers, City of Barling, said Barling will have a busy year in
2005. They recently sold almost $5
million in revenue bonds to be used for construction of a water and wastewater
system for the City of Barling. They
will also be doing work on the water distribution system within the City of
Barling proper. They want to improve
the quality of the water and provide for additional fire protection. He said they are finishing their first year
of having a full-time Fire Department.
They have firefighters on duty 24/7 to respond as first responders as
well as on fire calls. They are still
utilizing some volunteers. He said it
is working quite well.
Blake Benson, Fort Smith Chamber
of Commerce, said the Chamber’s
economic development campaign is underway.
They plan to raise $2.5 million for economic development. Their goal is to create 1000 net new jobs in
Fort Smith that pay at least $15/hour.
They have hired a consultant to help determine the types of businesses
they should pursue and how to go about it.
Rod Coleman with ERC Properties is chairing the effort. Another goal is the retention of at least
500 jobs in the area that could be moved out of the area or overseas. They plan to achieve this through a
corporate visitation program. Another
goal is to develop an economic development incentive fund. The consultant started work last month. They will tell us what’s right and wrong
about the Fort Smith area so we can move forward.
Cecil Engles, Civil Air Patrol, said the Civil Air Patrol is an auxiliary of
the Air Force. They do 90% of all
search and rescue. Their primary
functions include the cadet program, surveillance, and communications. They have the ability to fly aircraft using
night vision and thermal imaging cameras.
They have marked all the hazards in the low-fly zones of training areas
for the 188th. They have
about 700 people in Arkansas. They work
a lot behind the scenes with the Air Force and other agencies including the DEA
and Homeland Defense. They are always
looking for good volunteers. He said
there is a lot of work to be done and individuals don’t have to be pilots to
get involved.
Diana Angelo, Janet Huckabee
Arkansas River Valley Nature Center,
said they will award their construction bid tomorrow. They hope to have the groundbreaking in the next couple of weeks
with the official groundbreaking tentatively scheduled for January 6. The Nature Center is at Wells Lake at Fort
Chaffee.
Mikeal Bates, Fort Smith Police
Department, said the Police
Department is working hard to keep crime low in Fort Smith. They encourage people to participate in
neighborhood watch, which can cut the crime rate in an area by 60% and has
proven that it is effective. He said
they are working with the cable access channel to put crime prevention tips
there. They constantly map the crime
trends in Fort Smith so people know what to watch out for. He said the department’s website is www.fortsmithpd.org has the crime trend
maps updated every two weeks. It also
lists accidents going on at the current time.
He said the FSPD has about 19-21 cars on the street at a time, an
increase of about 11 over last year.
Buddy Acoach, Transportation
Security Administration, apologized
for being late. He said he works for
the Transportation Security Administration, which was created by the Aviation
Security Act. They are under the
Department of Homeland Security. They
have 52,000 employed in more than 400 airports and provide 100% of the
passenger and baggage screening at 460 airports. He said the aviation industry drives the economy of the US and if
we can get people back on the airlines the economy will flourish. The TSA’s goal is to provide world-class
security and world-class customer service.
Gene McVay, American Legion Post
31, said they are starting the
drive to raise money to send boys to Boys State. Every state except Hawaii has a Boys State. It costs $125 for each boy who goes. He said the American Legion appreciates the
support of individuals and businesses in raising these funds. He thanked everyone for their support of the
Veteran’s Fair. He said they got great
media coverage and helped quite a few veterans.
Harriet Howser, Area Agency on
Aging, gave examples of the many
things the Area Agency does. They
include:
·
Personal
emergency response units so people can call for help
·
Personal care
so people can stay at home
·
Case management
– coordinating services, getting equipment, etc.
·
Skilled care
·
Helping workers
over 55 find employment
·
Transportation
for Medicaid patients to and from doctor visits
·
Hospice care
for the last six months of life
Paul Martin, Fort Smith National
Cemetery, reported that there were 12,799
individuals buried at the National Cemetery, including 9,717 veterans and 3,016
dependents. They have begun measuring
out the new cremation section. About
400 people attended the Veteran’s Day program.
The construction at the main entrance is ongoing but the entrance is now
open. The warranty deed for the Andrews
ball field land is in Washington, D.C., now for review. They anticipate beginning the design phase
in January 2006.
Dr. Chuck Larson, Arkansas Oklahoma Astronomical Society AOAS, gave the following report.
The Arkansas Oklahoma Astronomical Society (AOAS) will hold its annual election of officers for 2005 at its regular potluck Christmas dinner meeting on December 17, 2004, in the Creekmore Park Community Center. The AOAS has been continually meeting at this facility on the third Friday of the month for the past 19 years. The organization will celebrate its 20th anniversary on January 15, 2005. The opportunity has now come fro changes in meeting days and location. Beginning with the February 4, 2005, meeting, all meetings of the Arkansas Oklahoma Astronomical Society will be held at the Fort Smith River Park building beside the Arkansas River in downtown Fort Smith. With the recent growth of several new members joining AOAS, this change will provide us with more space and additional parking for all those who wish to attend the meetings. One other change made for 2005 will be meetings are now scheduled for the first Friday of every other month. Meeting dates for 2005 are: February 4, April 1, June 3, August 5, October 7, and December 2.
Activities for the organization have continued to expand. AOAS will continue its partnership with the Fort Smith Public Parks District throughout 2005. A “Saturn in the Park” program will be offered on these Saturdays: February 12, March 19, April 16, and May 14. A “Stars in the Park” program will be offered on these Saturdays: June 11, July 9, August 6, September 3, and October 1. All of these programs will begin at dusk, weather conditions permitting, and will be held ad Carol Ann Cross Park in Fort Smith. All programs are free and open to the public.
Major construction at the Coleman Observatory site, northwest of Van Buren, has been completed for this year and the facility is being used extensively by all those interested in astronomy. This summer, AOAS worked closely with John Brown University, supporting their offering of an astronomy course in Fort Smith. Those enrolled in the course were able to use the Coleman Observatory equipment and site for evening observations. AOAS, as part of its educational mission, has been consulting with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith astronomy faculty to develop a close working relationship for their astronomy course and program. Efforts are also underway to continue to provide educational assistance to area public schools, in both Arkansas and Oklahoma, with their science programs that include astronomy.
AOAS is continuing its membership with the Night Sky Network, an educational outreach program sponsored by NASA, JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and the ASP (Astronomical Society of the Pacific). The purpose of the NSN program, and AOAS as well, is to make public observing nights available to the public and area school programs, and to introduce the night sky to everyone interested in astronomy. AOAS will also continue its membership with the Astronomical League, an association of member societies that all have the same mission: to promote the science of astronomy.
The AOAS also stands ready, willing, and able to assist any governmental, public and private business organization, and individuals who share our concern about the continual and growing problem of light pollution of the night skies all across our nation. There are many economical cost saving measures and simple means of controlling this problem, if anyone is willing to look at the solutions to the matter.
In November of 2004, AOAS was also honored by Col. Bill Strang, former commanding officer of the 188th TFG in Fort Smith and CO of the 188th at the time of Maj. Doug Coleman and Capt. Richard Lumpkin’s F-4 crash in 1987. Col. Strang mentioned a memorial tribute written by Bob Moody, President of AOAS, to Maj. Doug Coleman who was a former member of AOAS, contained in the 50th Anniversary Yearbook of the 188th. Maj. Doug Coleman’s memory will live on as a tribute to his life. The Coleman Observatory site was named in his honor. Bob Moody’s tribute to Major Coleman can be found on the AOAS website at www.aoas.org.
Loretta Larson, American Business Women’s Association, gave the following report.
The Fort Smith Chapter of ABWA was founded in 1960. The goals of the chapter are to increase the business efficiency of all members; improve the earning power of members; promote good relations between employers and employees; assist members in securing employment; advance members in a social, business, and educational way; and assist women in the community to better themselves through education.
The mission of the chapter is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide the River Valley business women opportunities to work together as friends helping each other grow personally as well as professionally. As we assist women in the community who desire to pursue a college education, we also strive to provide interesting programs and activities that will encourage and support all members in their particular line of work. This ultimately makes this community an even better place in which to live and work!
Anyone interested in further information, membership, or meeting dates and places, please contact:
Ann Crow, President
Apple Blossom Chapter, ABWA
5401 S. 92 St.
Fort Smith, AR 72903
479-484-7630
Dick Gordon noted
that Gene McVay will lead the prayer at the March Public Awareness meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 5:01 p.m.