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July 1st was another Community Economic Development Forum meeting. Mayor Carol Sneath was on hand to speak about Ozark’s First Impressions and Infrastructure.

Amber Patton, Arts Committee Chairwoman, spoke about developing an Art Council with ideas for promoting art and getting monies to help build a Performing Arts Center as well as recruiting dedicated board members to serve on this project. Amber is committed to this and has some great ideas!!

Look for our next issue to come out August 1st.

Apex Communicatio

Chey’s Place Salon Ribbon Cutting

Pictured L to R: Missy Moore (Bank of the Ozarks), Sandy Key (Main Street Ozark), Baylee Hall (employee), Keva

Chrisman (A Touch of Class), Cheyenne Battles (owner), Mayor Carol Sneath, Amber Jones (employee), Linda Millsap

(Ozark Area Chamber of Commerce), Jessica Birchler (ATU-Ozark Campus)

4th of July Cardboard Boat Race Click the link for information and to register for this event. Included this year will

be three more races: a sprint, marathon and the demolition derby.

L-R Missy Moore, Sandy Key, Baylee Hall (stylist), Keva Chrisman, Cheyenne Battles (owner/stylist), Mayor

Carol Sneath, Amber Jones (stylist), Linda Millsap, Jessica Birchler

Chey’s Place Salon Ribbon Cutting

Arvest Bank

Eden Realty

Renewed Members:

A Touch of Class Consignment Shop

Hoffman’s of Ozark Inc.

M & K Liquor

Mulberry Mountain Lodging & Events

Outlaw Enterprises

Ozark Insurance Services

The I-40 Travel Center

The Spectator

We are having the Altus Grape Festival on July 25th and 26th at the Altus

City Park. We are celebrating the beginning of the Grape Harvest with the

grape stomps, food and entertainment with fresh grapes and wine tasting. All

area wineries will be participating and open for the festival. There will be a

Bacchus lookalike contest Friday evening along with the street dance until 11

P.M. For a schedule of events visit the website at altusgrapefest.com.

Tony’s Tips from AVECC

Monitor your home's relative humidity in the summer. If it

consistently stays in the 60 percent range or higher, ask your

HVAC technician about lowering your central air conditioning

unit's indoor fan speed.

From Tony Wilson, Member Services/Key Accounts

From The GrapeVine

In 1994 Main Street Ozark put forth a plan to build walking trails on both sides of the Arkansas River. Land was leased from the

Corps of Engineers in 2001 to accommodate these trails. We applied for and received grant money to light the Arkansas River

Bridge in 1997 and Transportation Enhancement funds to rehabilitate the old railroad depot into a museum. Feb of 2002, in an

effort to accelerate the promotion of downtown Ozark as a tourist destination even farther and solve a vacancy problem, Main

Street Ozark presented a conceptual drawing for riverfront development involving a marina, a river market and boardwalk to

the city council. The project was originally named “Riverbend Marketplace and Marina. In April of 2003 the Ozark City Council

passed a resolution authorizing Main Street Ozark to pursue the Riverbend Marketplace project and pledged its full

support. This was eleven years ago or a little over one decade. The project name was changed in late 2003 to “River and Rail

Market Place and Marina”. The purpose of the name change was to help foster a relationship with the railroad and Corps of

Engineers. Brochures to attract investors were produced using that official name and it never changed again.

Since that day in 2003 after some changes, progress has been made in the following areas:

Funds Acquired

In 2009 Main Street acquired a $200,000 grant to begin work on the project.

Boardwalk

The only change from the original conceptual drawing of the boardwalk is the removal of a pier that extended out into the

river and the method of construction. The boardwalk design was changed in 2011, per a Corps of Engineer recommendation, to

a cantilevered style rather than cement piers in the water.

Park (addition)

The new plan to add a park calls for a short walking path approximately 8 to 10’ in width. The park area is estimated to be

somewhere near two acres. The original walking trail plan was only 5' wide, so an 8’ to 10' wide trail is more than ample for

walking. This is an addition to the original plan.

Market Place

Nothing has changed regarding the market place area. It was always proposed to be built on River Street on the north side

of the tracks, on privately owned property. There are copies of the original plan in several locations around Ozark. A cursory

look at the plan will reveal there has never been a need for approval by any entity other than private property owners along

River Street. Additional properties have been acquired that can be used to expand the marketplace if needed.

Transient Boat Dock (addition)

The Arkansas River Connection is working on a plan to build transient boat docks along the river and Ozark is one

of the prime desired locations. The dock design for Ozark will be from 60’ to 100' long. The Corps has expressed it has

no objection to our having a floating dock but no formal application has been made; therefore there has been no

approval by the Corps for any version of a dock, scaled down or otherwise. In May of this year application was made

to the Arkansas River Connection for Ozark’s transient boat dock. ARC is applying for a Game & Fish grant to build all

of the ten proposed transient docks and as previously stated, Ozark is a prime desired location. The cost of the entire

Ozark dock project is estimated to be between $60,000 and $100,000. The city’s match will be 25% or between

$15,000 and $25,000 which Main Street has already secured for the project. This dock project was presented at the

last public forum by the President of Arkansas River Connection and the State Administrator for the grant. The number

of five to ten boats projected to use the transient boat dock per weekend is based on the number of boats presently

using our river. It doesn’t take into account the increase in boaters resulting in the addition of the marina and the out

of area visitors attending special downtown events. As a member of the board of directors of the Arkansas River

Connection, I have been involved in the planning of this project from the beginning. I wrote the Ozark application so

I'm very well versed in the details involving the plan if anyone wishes to discuss them.

Marina (Relocated & Expanded)

The conceptual drawing presented to the council in 2003 proposed a marina of approximately 24 boat slips on the

north side of the Arkansas River. The location was changed to the south side of the river to a site pre-approved by the

Corps of Engineers and expanded to 100 boat slips. This resulted in an expansion of four times its original size. The

increase was due to a 2007 University of Arkansas study showing the area could support 75 to 110 boat slips. Marina

Investors have been recruited and have been granted the necessary funding for the project. Their grant was approved

before they decided on Ozark as the location. This information was presented to the city council in 2013 when the

investors asked the city for permission to sublet city leased property. Their grant has been approved and is not in

question. All required paperwork for the marina has been submitted to the Corps of Engineers and is waiting their

approval.

All information in this article is factual. Anyone with questions pertaining to information provided is encouraged to

contact the Main Street office at 667-5337 to set up a time to review the documentation. We value your interest in

the Main Street program and look forward to hearing from you.

The Bookshelf -

Franklin County Public

Library

Nancy Smith Librarian

The library would like to thank everyone

who participated in the recent activities,

there was a great turnout!!

We have a new data base located on the

www.arvrls.com site. The data base is

NewsBank it can be accessed with your

library card outside the library. For

information on events and the data base

call the library at 479-667-2724. We are

located at 120 South Second Street, east

side of the courthouse across from the

gazebo.

Library hours are:

Monday 12:00 noon-7:00 pm

Tuesday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm

Saturday 10:00 am-12:00 noon.

There is still construction going on, but we

are looking forward to re-opening back

into our old location later in the year.

http://turnerbend.com/ http://www.byrdsadventurecenter.com/ http://www.mulberrymountainlodge.com/

Mulberry River

The Mulberry River flows through the Ozark Mountains.

Origin Newton County, Arkansas

Mouth Arkansas River

Location Arkansas, United States

Length 110 km (70 mi)

Source elevation 650 m (2,100 ft)

Avg. discharge 557 cu ft/s (15.8 m3/s)

Basin area 970 km2 (373 sq mi)

Contact Information

Megan D. Morris Public Information Specialist

e-mail: mmorris@atu.edu Phone: 479-667-2117

Fax: 479-667-1422

________________________________________________________________________

News Release (6/27/14)

Kids Campus events at Arkansas Tech-Ozark

OZARK – Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus’ Kids Campus program will host several

activities in July promoting computer skills, literacy, safety, the arts and health and wellness.

In partnership with the Ozark Area Youth Organization and United Way, Kids Campus activities

for pre-kindergarten students will be July 22-25 from 8 a.m. - noon. Activities for first through

third grade students will be July 22-25 from 1-4 p.m. All activities will take place at the Student

Services Conference Center at Arkansas Tech-Ozark. The cost for these events is $30 per

student. Please call (479) 209-4747 to register.

Kids Campus is also partnering with the Van Buren Center for Art and Education (CAE) to host

“Fizz, Boom, Art” as part of CAE’s “Wonderful World of Art” summer camp series.

“Fizz, Boom, Art” allows children to explore how science and art complement each other.

Students will explore chemistry, biology, zoology and entomology. There will be daily

experiments as well as story time and snack time.

The program will be July 21-25 from 9 a.m. - noon at the Student Services Conference Center at

Arkansas Tech-Ozark. “Fizz, Boom, Art” is available to children ages 6-14. Cost is $20 per child,

and registration is required through CAE. To register, call (479) 474-7767 or visit www.art-

ed.org.

For more information on Kids Campus events, contact Laura Rudolph, director of Community

Outreach at Arkansas Tech-Ozark, at (479) 508-3315 or lrudolph@atu.edu.

In the days leading up to Independence Day, members of the Arkansas House of Representatives were reminded

not only of the significance of the founding of our country but we were also given a lesson in the history of our

state.

This week, due to ongoing construction in our House Chamber, we held an Extraordinary Session in the Old

State House Museum. The museum once served as our State Capitol building and is now is the oldest standing

State Capitol west of the Mississippi.

Not only were we the first members to pass legislation in the Old State House in over 100 years, but we advanced

measures that will have an economic impact on the immediate future of our state.

Governor Beebe called for the session to address rising costs of teacher’s insurance premiums, prison

overcrowding, and confusion surrounding what kind of games are allowed under our state’s lottery.

Without addressing health insurance, our teachers and school staff would have been facing a 35% increase in

premiums this year.A task force has been working several months to find a solution. Included in a package of bills

were measures to save the program over $5 million by eliminating eligibility to part time employees. It was stated

by the sponsor of the bill that the majority of these employees will be eligible for coverage either under the Private

Option or the Health Care Exchange. Another change to the teacher’s insurance program addresses eligibility of

spouses of participants. If spouses are offered coverage by their employer, he or she will no longer be eligible for

coverage on the state offered plan.

We also voted to increase spending to the Department of Correction this year by $6 million. This money will

be used to fund 600 additional prison beds to alleviate prison overcrowding and overcrowding in our county jails.

And lastly, we passed a bill which would delay the start of any multi-draw screen based lottery games until

March 13, 2015. Screen based games include keno and bingo. Some legislators felt the expansion of the lottery to

include those games went beyond what voters intended when they voted on a constitutional amendment to begin a

state-wide lottery.Lottery officials have predicted screen based games could create millions more for college

scholarships.

The bill that passed is a compromise which will allow legislators more time to study the issue and address it in

the next Regular Session.

If you would like to review testimony on the bills and watch the historic session inside the Old State House visit

our video library at arkansashouse.org.

-Bill

Mercy Hospital Ozark

It’s finally summertime!!

The hospital is hopping…Those of you who have come through the Emergency Room may have noticed a lot of

activity going on. Changes are being made and are ongoing to help better service our patients.

The shuffle in the waiting area will help us have a better patient flow in the Emergency Dept. We have already

changed the patient check-in area and have had some very positive feedback from these improvements.

Construction continues to build a patient triage area. A triage nurse will talk to each patient on admission and get

an overall assessment on their condition that brought them to the Emergency Room and their treatment expedited

efficiently to ensure the safe and effective treatment of all patients.

There are also a lot of improvements going on in the background too including refurbishing patient rooms and

equipment updates whenever possible.

For the past couple of years we have had two telemedicine monitors from the University of Arkansas Medical

Center linked to our facility which allows us to link in with specialists for consultations for our ER patients who have

been in a Traumatic Injury resulting from some form of accident.

Our ER staff rocks!!!

We are kicking ourselves in high gear as Mercy Health Systems is pushing out a program called TELESTROKE.

Our nurses in the ER are all being trained to access the Telestroke system and we will have the ability link up

securely by Mercy computers and auxiliary linked equipment to neurologists or specialists directly across the state,

country and the world if needed. Our critical access hospital will remotely have the expertise at hand which puts

us in line with some of the larger centers for initiating appropriate treatment for patients experiencing a stroke.

(Early screening, detection and treatment initiation can lead to positive improved outcomes for stroke victims,

giving patients the best possible chance of optimal recovery).

Hold on to your seats Ozark residents, Telemedicine is putting us into a league to open doors to medical advances

that we never imagined possible in our little community. The Telestroke program is just the beginning and will

gradually cover a variety of medical situations for specialist consultation for patients. I will keep you updated on

interesting things yet to come to Mercy Ozark.

Anne Porter RN COHN(s) ASC

Clinical Education & Occupational Health

59*9Hello everyone.

It’s hard to believe 2014 is half over, time flies when we are having fun!!

The construction you see on Highway 64 just west of Shaffer Funeral Home is our water department laying new lines to loop with existing lines making for better water pressure and service in that area. This work is being completed in-house and will continue west until project is completed. Thank you to the affected residents for allowing us to cross their property to enhance our water system. The Enhancement Grant project for the Riverview Project will be going out for bid very shortly. This grant will allow for landscaping the plaza with railing, lighting, shrubs, walkway to the Depot Museum and plaques featuring the history of Ozark set up with QR Codes to access videos. Thanks to the A&P Commission for budgeting the matching funds for this grant. A pre-construction meeting with AHTD and Forsgren, Inc. (winning contractor) has been set on July 3 for Hillbilly Lane project. When we set a ground breaking ceremony will depend on when actual construction begins. We will send out mass emails to let everyone know of ground breaking. This is something we all have waited Sooooooooooooooo long for. Be sure to put our July 4th celebration on your calendar. Festivities will start at 5:30 – ice cream social, watermelon seed spitting contest, food vendors - with the Chamber’s Cardboard Boat Race at approximately 7:30 and the grandest fireworks Ozark has ever had. “Let Freedom Ring” Have a safe and happy holiday.

Royce Gattis- Tourism Committee Chairman

For more information, please see our website

http://www.ozarkchamberofcommerce.com/news_events

Scenic Driving in the Ozarks

Some of the prettiest country in the Arkansas Ozarks can be explored with a drive along the Pig Trail

Scenic Byway. This 19 mile long section of State Highway 23 passes through a picturesque section

of the Ozark National Forest. Along its winding way, the historic road passes waterfalls, rock

formations, scenic mountain views and the popular Mulberry River.

Named for its popularity as a short cut to Fayetteville for games University of Arkansas Razorbacks

(affectionately called the Hogs or Pigs), the Pig Trail is one of the most historic roads in the Ozarks.

It begins at the southern boundary of the National Forest, just north of Ozark, and ends at Brashears

where it intersections with Highway 16. The Pig Trail Scenic Byway is now featured in the new

Arkansas Motorcycling Guide as well as on the new Arkansas Parks & Tourism website

Motorcycling in Arkansas.

Long before it became a popular route for Razorbacks' fans and motorcycle touring, the Pig Trail was

a winding pathway through the valleys and rolling hills of the Ozarks. It existed long before the Civil

War and may have originated as an Indian or fur trapper path. French trappers frequented the region

during colonial times.

By the time of the Civil War it was part of a well-used road connecting Fayetteville in Northwest

Arkansas with Ozark on the Arkansas River. The road was heavily used by both regular Union and

Confederate troops and guerrilla forces during the war. In April of 1863, Confederate General W.L.

Cabell led 900 men north up the Pig Trail from Ozark on an expedition that ended at the Battle of

Fayetteville.

The Pig Trail became part of the Ozark National Forest when it was established by

Presidential Proclamation on March 6, 1908. As the tourism potential of the forest grew and people

began flocking to the region in the spring, summer and fall to admire the beautiful mountains, the 19

mile section from just north of Ozark to Brashears was designated a National Scenic Byway.

What comes to your mind when you think of Independence Day? If you’re like most people, your thoughts probably turn to bar-b-q, spending time with the family and fireworks…lots of beautiful, bright fireworks. For as long as most Americans can remember, we have celebrated the Fourth of July by staging fireworks shows in public or setting off our own smaller displays at home. The first commemorative Independence Day fireworks were actually lit on July 4, 1777. Even before the Declaration of Independence was signed, John Adams envisioned fireworks as a perfect way to celebrate our independence. In a letter he wrote to his wife on July 3, 1776, Adams said that the nation should celebrate “with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.” If you use fireworks, the best precautions begin with common sense, a lot of the injuries and fires occur in that category of ‘not the smartest choice’. In 2011, fireworks caused an estimated 17,800 reported fires, including 1,200 total structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside and other fires. These fires resulted in an estimated eight reported civilian deaths, 40 civilian injuries and $32 million in direct property damage. In 2012, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 8,700 people for fireworks related injuries; 55% of 2012 emergency room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities and 31% were to the head. The risk of fireworks injury was highest for young people ages 15-24, followed by children under 10. On Independence Day in a typical year, far more U.S. fires are reported than on any other day, and fireworks account for two out of five of those fires, more than any other cause of fires FIREWORK SAFETY Here are tips for handling fireworks: • Never try to relight a dud. If a firework doesn’t go off, wait 20 minutes and then douse it with water. • Never put your head or face over a firework. • Used sparklers should be dropped in a bucket of water – never left on the grass. A burning sparkler can reach 2,000 degrees. Often people discard used ones on the grass, and that can mean a serious burn for a barefoot child. • Never hold a firework while lighting it. • Make sure to light a tubular firework right side up. If it is upside down, the tube can explode, potentially sending fiberglass all over. • Keep a bucket of water or garden hose handy in case of fire.

Ozark Fire Department

Kevin Eveld, Fire Chief

• Never carry fireworks in a pocket. • Never point or throw fireworks at another person. • After a firework is done burning, douse it with water. • Never buy fireworks that are packaged in brown paper, which often is a sign they are made for professional displays and would pose a danger to consumers. • Always have an adult supervise if older children are using fireworks.

Have fun celebrating the Fourth, but be careful and be safe.

Ozark Fire Department

Kevin Eveld, Fire Chief

Subway inside Loves #271: The Applewood pulled pork and BBQ Steak & Bacon melt are at Subway! The $6

footlong special for July is the BBQ Oven Roasted Chicken Melt. The $3 six inch select is the Spicy Italian.

Hillbilly Hideout at The I-40 Travel Center: The Hillbilly Hideout offers daily lunch specials, and a deli both open

24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. You can call in your order for pick up at (479)-667-0711.

KFC/Taco Bell: KFC Dip Ems Combo: 3 crispy tenders, 2 dipping sauces, 1 individual side, 1 biscuit and medium drink. Taco Bell is now serving breakfast. Some new items are the waffle taco and AM Crunch Wrap. Open at 6:30 a.m.

The Coffee Break: All sandwiches and Panini’s are $6.00 each and are served with a pickle spear and your

choice of regular or BBQ chips. During the colder months, you can get soup instead of chips. They also have iced

and hot coffees and cappuccino.

Rivertowne BBQ: BBQ ribs, sandwiches, salad, bean ‘slop’, burgers and more. Choose from beef, chicken, or

pork. Carry-out and catering available. (479)-667-1808. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM-

8:00 PM. Saturday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Wiederkehr Weinkeller Restaurant: The Weinkeller's menu offers delicacies from the German, French, and Italian regions of Switzerland, as well as specialties from central Europe and America. Open every day except major holidays. Hours: Mon-Saturday, Lunch 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, Dinner 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Sunday 11:00 am- 9 pm. Reservations are recommended for dinner (479)-468-3551 or 1-800-622-WINE PJ’s Fina & Pizza Pro: Pizza, wings, breadsticks, cinnamon sticks. Specialty pizzas. Get the 2nd pizza for only

$5.00 (12 in.) or $7.00 (14 in.) equal or lesser toppings, carry out only.

Subway on Commercial: The Applewood pulled pork and BBQ Steak & Bacon melt are at Subway! The $6

footlong special for July is the BBQ Oven Roasted Chicken Melt. The $3 six inch select is the Spicy Italian.

Southern Grill: Serving breakfast 6-11 a.m. then lunch from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Daily specials and carry out

orders. Call 667-0704.

Altus Handy Mart: All Day Every Day! Buy any 1 Topping 14 in. Pizza for $8.99 and get a 14 in. Cheese Pizza for only $6.99 or get a 16 in. Cheese Pizza for $10.99

Offering breakfast and lunch. There are lunch specials every day. Lunch combos come with fries and a drink including chicken strips, hot ham and Swiss, burgers, etc. Salads as well as individual foods like crispitos, corndogs, eggrolls, etc.

The Judge’s Jot

The yard work on the courthouse lawn is coming along quite nicely. Expect big changes in the looks

of things very soon. Summer has begun and with summer comes various workshops for Elected

Officials.

Carol Evans, Joanne Perea, and many others have been working on the courthouse lawn. We

started by having a company come and spray the lawn to kill weeds and make the lawn more plush.

The fountain has arrived and will be assembled very soon. There are plans to plant more trees and

flowers. We are very grateful to this team for their hard work and dedication.

Mr. Paul Schaffer passes and has left great impression on many of Franklin County citizens. Franklin

County lost an amazing man. Paul was a quorum court member for 10 years. He was loved by many

and will be missed by all. At Paul’s memorial service several great stories were told that attested to

the great man he was. We love you Paul Schaffer and will miss you always.

Franklin County elected officials are busy with workshops in the summer. Treasurer Shelly Wilson

attended the Treasurers Association annual meeting last week. Shelly stated that they learned

about legislative updates and they were also informed of needs that would be raised and supported

during the special session.

Thanks for reading about Franklin County and as always if you have any questions or comments

please contact my office anytime. 479-667-4726

Thanks,

- Janet Powell, Franklin Co. Judge

Spotlighting Altus

Greetings from the wonderful City of Altus.

Summer has arrived with its heat and stormy weather, bringing with it rain. Every now and then, we will experience

severe weather to the point of hearing tornado sirens sounding in our area. All of us dread that sound and it seems as if

we are never prepared. The Altus Fire Department volunteers will be in the fire station when the siren goes off waiting

for a call to help.

These men and women are dedicated to being there to help. When the first call comes in about a fire, an automobile

wreck or any other emergency needing a helicopter for a life flight; they will be there no matter the time of day. Randy

and Susie Kinsworthy are doing a wonderful job leading the Fire Department including fund raising at various events in

Altus such as the Altus Spring Gala.

One of the most popular events that they are in charge of is the fireworks on July 4th. Every year they are in charge of

the fireworks that we all enjoy. The July 4th celebration will be in the Altus City Park beginning at 2 P.M. There will be

water slides, live music, dancing, food and many other activities that will be in full swing leading up to the 9 P.M.

fireworks display

At the corner of Main St. and Carbon Plant Rd. is a new beautiful building that will be dedicated in July as the new Altus

Fire Department. If you happen to see one of these brave men and women, stop to tell them how much you appreciate

their service to our community.

Larry W. Stacy is Mayor of Altus Arkansas.

Contact him at 479-213-7081

E-mail: mayorstacy@centurytel.net

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