The Monette City Council held an extensive meeting to discuss several agenda items during the regularly scheduled meeting Monday night, July 24.
Monette Mayor Jerry "Chub" Qualls informed the board about the progression of Highway 18 and paving Highways 18 and 139 within the city limits.
“I just wanted to give you guys an update on the Highway 18 bypass that is being worked on right now. Everything is going as planned and they are looking to finish on time as projected,” Qualls said. “There will be roughly 10,000 passengers passing through here once it’s finished because so many of the bigger rigs are having to take interstate or Highway 412 to travel through northeast Arkansas, so this will do the city of Monette a world of good.”
When Qualls informed the board the Highway Department would be paving the highway within the city’s limits before the bypass was complete, several board members disagreed and felt the agreement needed to be looked at. Qualls ultimately agreed to get with the highway department to make sure they uphold their end of the agreement that was proposed.
Also discussed by the board were the boundaries set for a fence regarding the Norma Martinez property. Martinez was in attendance during last month’s meeting.
At last month’s meeting, Martinez said, “We would like this alley to be closed to prevent foot traffic on and around our property. The alley hasn’t been used since the '70s or '80s and we would like to put up a privacy fence. We’ve lived in the city of Monette for 16 years and are buying our home as well as a few lots surrounding our home, so closing off this alley would provide a sense of safety for our family. I have my children and grandchildren in my home and to have strangers walking around and through my yard isn’t something I would like to keep experiencing.”
A neighbor who didn’t agree with the board's decision last month was in attendance to protest the fact that she didn’t want the Martinez family to tie on to her fence in order to close off the alley from all directions.
Ultimately, the board stood by their decision and proposed that the Martinez family proceed with the erection of a new fence but not to build the fence up to the protesting neighbor’s fence until they are able to resolve the issue of the Martinez family latching on to her fence.
In other business the board:
*Agreed to proceed with the painting and servicing of water towers within the city limits.
*Agreed to purchase new equipment for the cemetery.
*Agreed to start the process of paving streets that have been deemed a priority in the city.