Key discussions in Monday’s Pine Bluff City Council meeting included funding for the Juneteenth celebration, a controversial paving contract and a proposal for a new solid waste management consultant.
The Ways and Means Committee meeting, held just prior to the full council session, addressed a single item: a resolution to amend the 2025 municipal budget. Council Member Glen Brown Jr. reported for the committee.
“We had one item … a resolution amending the 2025 municipal budget to transfer funds from the building maintenance account to the parks and recreation account to pay for the rental of a tent for the Juneteenth celebration,” he said.
The resolution, which earmarks $10,000 for the Juneteenth event, was approved by the committee with a “do pass” recommendation. Pine Bluff Mayor Vivian Flowers explained the rationale behind the amount.
“What we wanted to do was go ahead and move 10 since we’re in the middle of spring/summer activities, and because the budget has been impacted so greatly by some of the irregularities. We wanted to go ahead and put more than enough for the Juneteenth partnership with UAPB,” said Flowers. “In that event, and if something else occurs that Parks needs to address, the funds will be there.”
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A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to procedural discussions regarding how resolutions, now acting as budget adjustments, should be handled. Council member Bruce Lockett raised concerns about new resolutions not being on the agenda in advance.
A resolution seeking to waive competitive bidding and authorize a contract with a trucking, asphalt and pavement company sparked heated debate. Lockett expressed strong reservations.
“I’m really having some problems with this because we waive competitive bidding,” he said. “If this were put out to bid, then why are we not going with the lowest bidder?”
Interim Pine Bluff Fire Chief Randy Compton explained that only one bid was received, for $260,000, which was significantly over budget. He clarified that another company had previously provided a lower estimate of $118,000, but did not submit a bid during the formal competitive process.
“We only obtained one bid, and that bid ended up being $260,000, way outside our budget, so that’s why I come to the council to try to ask to waive competitive bidding because we did have a bid for $118,000,” Compton stated.
Lockett remained unconvinced, criticizing the project management.
“What I’m saying is if the man wanted the job, why did he not bid on it? It’s not going to be entertained until he does bid on it,” said Lockett. “We’re not going to private people and soliciting numbers and telling them to do business with the city of Pine Bluff.”
He also indicated his lack of support based on a conversation with Larry Matthews, the project manager.
Ultimately, to address the concerns and allow for further communication, Flowers suggested delaying the vote.
“Why don’t we give it another couple of weeks for you to have that meeting with Mr. Matthews? … We’ll meet the deadline to have it put on the agenda,” Flowers said. “Mr. Matthews can come to the meeting in a couple weeks and we can do it that way.”
The resolution was not added to the agenda.
Another resolution proposing to waive competitive selection and authorize a contract with Solid Waste Specialist LLC for solid waste management consulting services also faced scrutiny.
Flowers explained that with the current contract with Waste Management expiring in October, this consultant would help the city secure a better future contract. She highlighted a key benefit: “For the $42,660 that would be spent on these services the winning bidder would come back and reimburse the city for those dollars so the way this works is basically whoever wins this extremely lucrative bid to provide these services and bill our citizens would be the ones to pay for this process,” said Flowers.
Lockett again voiced concerns about the last-minute introduction of significant contracts. “I’m really getting frustrated that we’re adding very heavy and very lucrative … But these are big issues now, what I’m saying is that the waste management contract is in the millions of dollars,” he said.
Brown echoed the urgency. “Our contract ends and I believe it’s in October. … We don’t have a lot of time … it’ll cost us upfront but we’ll get reimbursed,” he said.
Despite Flowers’ assurances that the process would be transparent and involve a selection committee, including a council member and the city attorney, Lockett still had his reservations.
“We will be engaging companies who want to do business with us and want to compete for this contract. What I’m asking us to do is consider a company that has a level of expertise and understanding of Pine Bluff and understanding of our contract,” said Flowers.
Due to the lack of a unanimous vote to add the item to the agenda, the presentation by the representative from Solid Waste Specialist LLC was postponed to the non-agenda portion of the meeting.
A resolution waiving competitive bidding and authorizing an agreement with Forvis LLP for auditing services was met with fewer objections. City officials clarified that Forvis LLP is the new name for BKD, the company that has historically performed the city’s federal audits.
Gina Devers, finance director, explained the situation.
“We were behind in our federal audits. … We’re in the process of catching up. … They’re getting ready to start 2023 and so we have to have another engagement letter for them to start that year,” she said, clarifying that the cost is based on hours spent, not a fixed amount.
Flowers emphasized the critical need for this continuity.
“This is another example of why we’re having to put some of these things before you all,” said Flowers. “We didn’t have anything to do with this name change, and we are still waiting for the audits to be completed so we can be in compliance.”
This resolution failed due to a lack of a unanimous vote.
A special-called city council meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Friday to vote on the resolution waiving competitive selection and authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with Solid Waste Specialist LLC, and a resolution waiving competitive bidding and authorizing an agreement with Forvis LLP for auditing services.