City resubmits grant to purchase Carfagnio building
Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/67277/
ELKINS — A move to bring all city offices under the roof of a much larger building will have to wait a while.
Mayor Jack Ladyman told the Elkins City Council on Thursday the city did not receive the General Improvement Funds $ 150, 000 grant applied for in March through Arkansas Rural Development to help purchase the Carfagnio building on Stokenbury Road near Arkansas 16.
“ We did resubmit the grant, ” Ladyman said.
“ The letter I received said they had received requests for $ 6. 5 million. They only had about $ 1. 5 million to disburse, so they ran out of money, ” Ladyman said. “ I have heard there’s some priority when resubmitting. It doesn’t mean we’ll get it, but we might have a better chance the second round. ”
The grant would go toward the $ 235, 000 purchase price of the 11, 000-square-foot building. Ladyman said selling four buildings owned by the city would also go toward the purchase price. Those would include the current City Hall, the District Court Building, the Water Department building and an older building across from Harp’s Grocery that is being used only for storage.
Ladyman said the owner of the Carfagnio building had put a new roof on the building.
“ I negotiated a lower price with the owner by taking away the empty lot next to the building from the original purchase price, ” Ladyman said. “ The owner is willing to drop the price by $ 60, 000 if we don’t get the lot from the first option of $ 295, 000. ”
Bringing the building up to code by adding a fire escape on the second floor was also discussed.
“ I think we need to get a cost proposal on what it’s going to cost us to do all that needs to be done, ” Alderman Bruce Ledford said. “ I’d like to know what we’re talking about. If it’s going to cost too much, we might could build a new building for less. ”
Ladyman said the electrical and roof had been checked out.
“ The roof has been replaced now, and we can do improvements like new carpet after we move in, ” he said.
“ But there’s things that would have to be done before hand, and I want to know what it’s going to cost, ” Ledford said.
Alderman Bonnie Wilcox said the building also would have to be handicapped accessible to meet code. Ladyman said that was true and the courtroom would have to be redone with new floor coverings and a bench for the judge. He added an elevator would not have to be put in if no public meetings were held upstairs.
Ledford pressed getting a contractor to get an estimate of the cost to make improvements to the building. He moved to have a licensed contractor give the city an estimate on what it would cost in its entirety to bring the building up to code and make the improvements needed to house the city offices. Wilcox seconded the motion. It passed with a 4-0 vote as Bobbie McGarrah and Bob Cox agreed with Ledford and Wilcox on the motion. Jeremy Stevens and Bill Epperson was absent.
“ We need to know what it will take to bring it up to snuff, ” Wilcox said.
In other business, Ladyman said he and Gayla Stahman, office manager, had requested a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC ) statement from Chambers Bank on how much coverage there is on city funds.
“ I know you’ve all probably heard about problems with some banks, ” Ladyman said. “ We know our banks are sound, but we want to make sure the people’s money is protected.
He said Chambers is the primary bank used by the city. Arvest Bank is the secondary account holder.
“ We may have to move funds to other banks to get more coverage. We don’t know, and that is why we’re checking on it, ” Ladyman said. “ It’s not only the present economic condition, we have more money now than we did before. We don’t want to take any chances. ”
Ladyman said the city has $ 1. 5 million in its accounts.