Sherwood Voter Petition Calls for a Vote on the North Hills Property

A.G. Opinion - additional signatures:
http://ag.arkansas.gov/opinions/docs/93-198.html
"If the Secretary of State, county clerk or city clerk, as the case may be, shall decide any petition to be insufficient, he shall without delay notify the sponsors of such petition, and permit at least thirty days from the date of such notification, in the instance of a State-wide petition, or ten days in the instance of a municipal or county petition, for correction or amendment."

The petition "Canvasser" must witness all signatures on each form that he/she collects and signs for, and the canvasser must sign the affidavit at the bottom of the petition and have it notarized. Canvasser's may not witness their own individual signature. Notaries are available at City Hall. Petitions must be turned in to the Sherwood City Clerk's office no later than Friday, March 7th.

Petition calls for a special election:
We, the undersigned legal voters of the City of Sherwood, Arkansas, respectfully order by this, our petition, that Ordinance Number 1767 passed by the City Council of the City of Sherwood, ............. be referred to the people of Sherwood, Arkansas to the end that the same may be approved or rejected by the vote of the legal voters of Sherwood, Arkansas at a special election ........ See more details in the story on Page 3 in the Arkansas Leader newspaper.

City Council Meeting Monday evening

The Sherwood City Council will meet Monday at 7:00 p.m., 02/25/2008. See the complete agenda at the link below:
http://www.cityofsherwood.net/City/Meetings/Agendas/Agenda%20080225.pdf

Hit & Run on East Lee was Fatal

There was a hit and run on East Lee early Saturday morning. The victim died. He was Chasson Joseph Lancon from New Iberia, LA. Please call Sherwood Police at 501-835-1425 if you have any information that might help police in their investigation.
KARK story: http://arkansasmatters.com/content/fulltext/?cid=65977
KARK video: http://arkansasmatters.com/media_player.php?media_id=26411
KTHV story: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=61172
KTHV video: http://www.todaysthv.com/video/news/player.aspx?aid=61177&bw=

ARM Services Surveys Sherwood ???

KATV story -
http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0208/498356.html
KATV Video:
http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0208/498356_video.html?ref=newsstory

Arkansas Leader story - Telemarketers slam Sherwood residents with negative questions on annexation:
http://www.arkansasleader.com/2008/02/top-story-phone-calls-irk-sherwood.html

Have you received a survey call from ARM Services? They are calling residents in Sherwood from phone number 1-866-400-1647. The company is based in Tulsa, OK. ARM uses recorded messages and live callers. Minimum technical setup is $500, $75 per hour, and $25 per hour for outbound calling services. The company refused to tell KATV their client's name. This activity does not pass the "smell" test.
Click on the links below to find out more about them:
http://automatedresearch.com/arm/default.asp
http://automatedresearch.com/arm/recordedmessages.asp
http://automatedresearch.com/arm/contact.asp

Automated Research & Marketing
(SW Corner 51st & Memorial in The Fontana Center)
7906 E 49th Street
Tulsa, OK 74145
918-828-0441

Roundtop Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

The State Review Board of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program approved the Roundtop Station for national recognition last year. The Roundtop Station is on Trammel Road, and is owned by the City of Sherwood. Former Sherwood Economic Developer Linda Nickle was instrumental in completing the documentation and taking necessary steps to have the property recognized. Roundtop is one of only eighteen (18) Arkansas properties recently approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. See a photo and read details in the Sherwood Voice article:
http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2008/02/21/sherwood_voice/news/nws01.txt

Federal Funding to Fight Drugs

Pulaski County is one of four (4) counties to receive federal funding to help fight drug trafficking.

2006 thru 2008
Interstate criminal patrols seized the following from travelers on Arkansas’s highways:
15,000 + pounds of marijuana
8000 + pounds of cocaine
$3 million dollars cash
60 pounds of meth
70,000 + pills

Read more details at the links below:
Arkansas Leader: http://www.arkansasleader.com/2008/02/top-story-county-gets-drug-grant.html
KSFM: http://www.kfsm.com/Global/story.asp?S=7907087
FOX16 story: http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=405f5945-3811-4e4f-abde-c05d3a6b05fc
KTHV story: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=61147
KTHV video: http://www.todaysthv.com/video/news/player.aspx?aid=61128&bw=

Stephen Ray - A Star from Sherwood

Stephen Ray, a 23 year old baritone from Sherwood, has made the finals! He and seven others will sing Sunday, February 24th. See today's story in the Arkansas section of the Democrat Gazette.

He auditioned at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York. Read details in the Feb. 14 Arkansas Democrat story:
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/feb/14/sherwood-baritone-gets-second-chance-met/

City Council - Monday 02/25, 7:00 PM

Sherwood City Council Meeting Agenda
Monday, 02/25/2008, 7:00 p.m.
http://www.cityofsherwood.net/City/Meetings/Agendas/Agenda%20080225.pdf

Sherwood Parks/Open Spaces Promoted for Residential Developments

The Sherwood Planning Commission will recommend to the City Council that area developments have parks and open space set aside. Details are in the story in the Arkansas Leader: http://www.arkansasleader.com/2008/02/top-story-sherwood-wants-parks-built.html

Sherwood Parks and Recreation Director Sonny Janssen is working with a company to maximize the use of Sherwood's city parks. A article was recently published in the Sherwood Voice regarding a 10-Year Sherwood Parks Plan. To read the article, please click on the following link:
http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2008/02/10/sherwood_voice/news/nws03.txt

Sherwood files court motion on North Hills Property

The City of Sherwood has filed a motion in Pulaski County Circuit Court regarding the North Hills Property. The Sherwood City Council retained the firm of attorney Tim Grooms to assist the city attorney. Read more details in the Sherwood Voice:
http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2008/02/15/sherwood_voice/news/nws01.txt

Scenic photo: http://www.nlrtimes.com/articles/2008/02/18/news/nws001.prt

North Little Rock Electric Lawsuit

Sherwood city officials need further clarification on Judge Fox's ruling. Mayor Hillman updated Sherwood Chamber of Commerce. Read details in Sherwood Voice: http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2008/02/15/sherwood_voice/news/nws06.txt

It's a mixed result for Sherwood. Yes, we can chose who we want for electric providers but the judge also says that we must pay damages to North Little Rock because of a "implied contract". To read more about this development, please click the following link for the Sherwood Voice Article: http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2008/01/31/sherwood_voice/news/nws03.txt

SFD receives $158,760 FEMA Grant

The Sherwood Fire Department will receive a $158,760 FEMA grant to buy new air packs (SCBA). This is the third FEMA grant received by the Sherwood Fire Department. Read details in the Arkansas Leader:
http://www.arkansasleader.com/2008/01/top-story-cities-will-get-fema-checks.html

Letter to editor in The Times

The following letter to the editor was published in The Times, Thursday February 7, 2008:

Appropriate exercise of eminent domain? The Sherwood City Council voted unanimously to condemn the former NorthHills Country Club property and claim eminent domain. Really, eminent domain? Eminent domain is the act of a government exercising its power to transfer title to private property from the rightful owner to itself. This is the council’s latest plan, a force-feeding of a multimillion-dollar purchase to the residents of our community in the form of initiating a public seizure? Temporarily disregarding the fact that many, likely a majority, of Sherwood citizens are opposed to the idea of an expensive acquisition of the property and will not be asked to vote on the city’s decision, how can this situation possibly be considered an appropriate use of eminent domain?
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution includes the statement, “Nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken, for public use, without just compensation.”There are prudent and genuine reasons that all levels of government sometimes need to take private property: highways, railroads, utility needs, war demands, public safety concerns, etc. But a golf course/citypark? How is the city planning to pitch that “due process of law” argument? Is public safety threatened by losing a golf course in place of a neighborhood?
The right to private property should not be taken lightly. Citizens need to be reasonably assured that they are free to invest in property for the purpose of investment or personal use. It’s one of the backbones of capitalism.The economist Adam Smith stated it this way: “The expectation of profit from improving one’s stock of capital rests on private property rights, and the belief that property rights encourage the property holders to develop the property, generate wealth, and efficiently allocate resources based on the operation of the market.”
The owner of this private property had a firm offer of $5.3 million, and now the city of Sherwood, in domineering, bully-like style, wants to purchase it for $2.2 million. This is not an issue of public need outweighing the constitutional right to private property (eminent domain). This can be better defined as a quasi-legal effort to defraud a local property owner out of the market value of private property. I actually hope the owner, Club Properties, is awarded far more than the original $5.3 million when a jury determines a value that is “fair and full compensation.”The use of eminent domain in this situation is a complete sham, and even though most Sherwood residents don’t want to purchase the golf course, we will all, unfortunately, be asked to pay the bill. - Bryant Rushing, Sherwood

Sherwood files to condemn club property

This article was published Friday, February 8, 2008 in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Arkansas Section, Pages 15 & 19 written by Stacy Hudson:
LITTLE ROCK — Sherwood officials filed an application Thursday in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to take control of the vacant, privately owned North Hills Country Club property.
The City Council voted Jan.28 to use eminent domain to take the country club land, hoping to end a lawsuit filed by property owner Club Properties Inc. and saying the city would probably use it as a public park. City officials had wrangled over what to do about the 105-acre property since April, whenthe City Council imposed a sixmonth building moratorium on the land while it sought advice on whether it could purchase and operate the 18-hole golf course. The country club closed in May after years of declining membership.
At the time, Club Properties had an offer to sell the land to developers Ron Campbell and Roy Marple for $5.1 million, but that deal fell through when the City Council imposed the moratorium. The property owners then sued the city and the developers.
In September, the City Council voted to negotiate with Club Properties to buy the land, but nothing came of those talks.
The Thursday filing doesn’t contain a dollar figure on the property. Instead, it requests that the court decide how much the property is worth.
The city had the land appraised for $2.2 million, lower than a $3.1 million Pulaski County appraisal. City Attorney Steve Cobb had previously said Sherwood would have to pay an amount it feels the property is worth and if the landowners disagree with the offer they could challenge it in court. Neither Mayor Virginia Hillman nor Cobb returned messages left on their cell phones Thursday night.
Jim Rodgers, one of the former club’s owners, hadn’t heard about the condemnation filing Thursday evening but said it wouldn’t affect Club Properties’ lawsuit. A trial date is set for April 21. “We’ve been under the impression all along that they condemned the property since the first moratorium,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said he hopes the court will find the country club property worth at least the $5.5 million that Club Properties had the land appraised for.
In January, the city’s Planning Commission indefinitely tabled requests from Club Properties that would allow it to develop a subdivision on the property. Officials said at that time that they were worried the land couldn’t handle the storm-water runoff and additional sewage a proposed subdivision would produce. The city estimated it would cost between $2 million and $3 million to address those concerns.
Sherwood aldermen have said they would ask the city’s Public Facilities Board to seek out funding to buy the property after it was condemned. Linda Napper, who serves on the facilities board, said Thursday night that her board has not met about the property and has not yet been asked to look into funding for it. Alderman Becki Vassar, who initiated the ordinance to condemn the property, did not immediately return a call for comment.