Dierks City Council November Meeting

Monday night during the regular monthly meeting of the Dierks City Council, Mayor Ronnie Cogburn sworn in Rachel McBay as a new alderman.

Zach Bachelor of Arkansas Municipal Equipment spoke to the aldermen about the city leasing a trash truck. He said the city was spending approximately $4,100 a month of trash truck repair. Bachelor reported the city could lease a truck for $3,113 a month. He said the truck would be covered under warranty for everything except general maintenance and normal wear and tear items. Bachelor said at the end of the lease, Arkansas Municipal Equipment will lease another new truck to the city, or they could buy the truck outright.

Cogburn said the council would discuss the matter as they worked on the 2024 city budget.

Aldermen were informed that the city pays a gentleman to drive to Nashville 4-times a week to pick up two meals for Dierks senior citizens. Cogburn said the city had been doing this for the past 22 years, but the number of residents using the service has declined. Aldermen stated that would consider other options during their December meeting.

Cogburn informed the council that the city was ‘dinged’ for not mentioning they had received a grant during a council meeting, but other than that, the city had a clean audit.

Aldermen also accepted a bid to replace a bridge within the city limits at a cost of $16,200. However, Cogburn said there was no money in the budget for the project this year and it will have to wait until next year to be started.