February - From the Mayor's Desk

• Our water tower project is moving forward. Julian Brown will be here at the Council workshop on March 18th, 2025, at 6;30 pm. 
• The Police Chief and I went to Oklahoma City to check out several bucket trucks and we decided that the 2005 Ford F550 Diesel truck was the best one for the price of $12,250. With some discussion I was able to get this truck for $11,000 and having them place 2 new batteries in the engine compartment. The street department was able to get all the Christmas lights down and the American flags up within 4 hours using this truck. To be honest, when they got the truck back to the garage it was found that the water pump had sprung a leak and that has since been repaired which cost $492.75 labor and $237.62 for parts. I had just driven this truck back from Oklahoma City over 400 miles not a bit of mechanical trouble all the way just goes to show you that Murphys law is alive and well.
• On 2-25-25 the generator for City Hall was delivered now I must get the electricity hooked up and a propane tank which must be ten feet away from a building and heat pump. This will be an ongoing project, but I hope to have it ready and running before spring storms.
  
• On 2-25-25 the contractor hired to fix the damage to Dam site Park Bathhouse has set up scaffolding and has ordered the shingles for the roof and should have this project done in March. We, the city, would like to get volunteers to help paint this bathhouse once it is completed so, please, if you can help with the painting process let us know at city hall so we can set a date for this to happen. 
  
• Also, on 2-25-25 Jack Tyler was in town to install the pumps at lift station #6 and the sewer department advised me that the pumps are online, but they will be watching them closely making sure they will operate properly.
  
• The generator for Lift Station #16 has been built and is awaiting shipment to Crawford electric in Mountain Home and when it arrives Crawford will schedule it to be installed. I will keep you all informed as I get updates.
  
• For those citizens that have been wondering why the police vehicles are always running I will give you the reasons for I have had the same questions. All the electronics run off the car battery, Dash cam, Laptop or Tablet, Cad system this system monitors every movement the police vehicle makes and is time stamp thru the Marion County Sheriffs Dept. when the officer starts his or her shift it takes anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes to get the system up and running, it also uses up a lot of car battery power for it is powered by an inverter which will drain the vehicle battery in a short period of time. This system is very, very important to our officers for when they are responding to a call they are informed on many aspects to that call, if the call is a rescue with previous times to that location and victims history if it is heart attack, falling, seizure if it's a domestic they can get previous info on prior calls to that location if guns are present, if one partner is violent, etc. So, with that said if the Officer gets an emergency call, he or she needs to get as much info as possible, as quickly as possible and respond without delay to help ensure their safety and our citizens' safety. So, if they have to wait 10 to 15 minutes for the police vehicle to reboot not only have we jeopardized a citizen having a heart attack or other issue but also may have jeopardized our Officer Safety responding to a possible known violent offender by waiting for this system to come online. As a former law enforcement police officer and field tram mg officer and the Mayor of Bull Shoals my number one concern is the safety of every citizen in this community so, the consumption of fuel used by these vehicles while on duty is justified and will remain in use.
• A reminder for all that may want to give blood to the Red Cross the City of Bull Shoals will be Hosting the Red Cross at city hall in the council chambers on May 21st, 2025, 9 am to 2 pm If you cannot give blood, we do need to have volunteers to help, make donors comfortable on that day, and if you can volunteer, please contact Bull Shoals City Hall, and ask for City Clerk Susan Walling who has organized this proJect. 
  
• The Budget Committee I set up has met two time so far, and I have added another citizen to It being Marty Nickels who was a former City Alderman and sat on the Marion County Quorum Court as Justice of the Peace and was on the Marion County budget committee Check the city website for future budget committee meetings coming up and citizens are welcome to attend This administration wants to be as transparent as legally possible even with the continual FOIA request from former administration. 

Sincerely,