Turrell mayor, council end spat over mileage

Turrell mayor, council end spat over mileage

Cooper: ‘ It’s not going to do any good other than cause more bickering’

news@theeveningtimes.com

Turrell Mayor Dorothy Cooper has dropped her fight with the city council over mileage reimbursement.

Cooper and the council had been at odds over the amount the city should pay to cover mileage while on city business.

According to Cooper, auditors told her they found in the minutes where the city set the rate at 57.5 cents.

When the council disagreed, Cooper came back with a compromise offer of 51 cents per mile.

Councilmembers, however, pointed out that the 51 cents per mile is the federal mileage reimbursement rate and that the state rate is 42 cents per mile and voted to set it at that amount.

Cooper decided not to press her case for the higher rate.

“There was no argument from me,” Cooper said.

“It’s not going to do any good other than cause more bickering back and forth. I don’t want to bicker. I just want to do my job.”

Some on the city council have accused Cooper of conducting personal business and using the city to pay for the miles.

Cooper also said she will pay the cell phone bill

Mayor Dorothy Cooper which is several hundred dollars instead of pressing the city council.

She said although the reduced salary continues to impose an economic hardship on her and stands by her claim that she is being unfairly treated by the council, it is time to move on to other pressing matters.

“I’m moving on,” Cooper said. “I know what I need to do for the city and I’m just going to move on to other matters. I can’t worry about that. It’s too much stress on me. I’ve got too much going on that I have in the works.”

Cooper pointed to the work that is ongoing at the city’s new park and the recent news that Turrell has been awarded a $345,000 grant to fix the sewer pond.

The city broke ground on the park behind the fire station in December and should have it completed as early as July 4th. The park is being paid for by a $45,000 FUN (Facilities for Underdeveloped Neighborhoods) grant from Arkansas Department of parks and Tourism.

Cooper also secured a grant from Arkansas Natural Resources Council to build a new bridge to the sewer pond and clean out the drain pipe and fix the levee walls.

“I’m very thankful for the park that we’ve got going up,” Cooper said. “And I’m very thankful for the money we got for the sewer pond. That’s where my attention needs to be.”

Cooper said she will focus next on either replacing or rehabilitating the old water tower.

That project is expected to cost over one million dollars.

“We need to do something about that tower,” Cooper said. “Now the grass is growing up on it. That looks real bad. So after I get the sewer pond done

I’m going to focus on that in the last year of my term and try and get that done.”

By Mark Randall