Whether the Higgins Community Center will receive $200,000 from Pulaski County to replace its damaged facility won’t be decided this month, the Pulaski County Quorum Court decided Tuesday after a justice of the peace said she wanted more justices of the peace present for the vote.
“Better late than never,” said Patricia Jackson, director of We Care of Pulaski County, a nonprofit that operates many of the activities at the community center.
The Higgins Community Center, located just off Arkansas 365 and Higgins Switch Road, is out of compliance with state health code, has damaged roofing and flooring, and has mold. The bathrooms are also inaccessible to people in wheelchairs.
The community center serves as an emergency shelter and hosts after-school and summer youth programs, food donations, fish fries, family reunions, weddings, senior citizen activities and workshops, among other things, for the Higgins, Woodson and Hensley communities in southeast Pulaski County.
The cost of reconstruction is estimated at $400,000. The county would contribute $100,000 from its capital maintenance and technology reserve fund and $100,000 from unappropriated general fund money.
Unappropriated money in the general fund totals about $205,000, and the capital maintenance and technology reserve fund has about $500,000. Each are mostly made up of carryover funds from revenue not spent last year.
The Pulaski County Public Facilities Board has promised $200,000 if the Quorum Court matches that amount.
Only 10 justices of the peace were present for Tuesday night’s vote on the item, which required 10 yes votes to pass.
District 4 Justice of the Peace Julie Blackwood, a Democrat, made a motion to table the measure until more justices of the peace could be present for the vote. The motion to table passed 10-0.
“Frankly, we didn’t have the vote for it tonight,” said District 5 Justice of the Peace Lillie McMullen, a Democrat.
Two weeks ago, 13 justices of the peace voted in favor of moving the measure to fund the construction of a new community center to Tuesday’s agenda with a recommendation to pass it.
District 12 Justice of the Peace Karilyn Brown, a Republican, abstained from the vote after voicing her opposition to the measure at the meeting.
Brown was one of the 10 justices of the peace at Tuesday’s meeting.
Brown was concerned that funding the community center would set a precedent in the county of funding other community centers.
County Judge Buddy Villines and other officials said that because the Higgins Community Center is the only one owned by Pulaski County, it would not set a precedent. Other justices of the peace noted also that because the county owns the facility, it is tasked with taking care of it.
District 15 Justice of the Peace Shane Stacks, a Republican who has voiced his support for the measure, said other justices of the peace still had questions about the measure, providing another reason to postpone the vote.
The five justices of the peace absent were Tyler Denton, a Democrat from District 2; Teresa Coney, a Democrat from District 7; Curtis Keith, a Democrat from District 8; Wilma Walker, a Democrat from District 9; and Rev. Robert Green, a Democrat from District 10.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 04/23/2014