Council Approves Audio/Visual Upgrade

FARMINGTON -- Farmington City Council waived requirements of competitive bidding last week and unanimously voted to purchase a new high definition audio/video system for almost $40,000 from Commercial Audio Systems of Springdale.

Melissa McCarville, city business manager, said the current system is more than 10 years old, outdated and does not work well.

"Technology has advanced and we have not," McCarville told Council members at their July 11 meeting.

Commercial Audio Systems is owned by Jim Crews of Farmington and Crews said his company is involved only with commercial projects. His customers include the University of Arkansas, many school districts and the city of Jenks, Okla. Commercial Audio Systems also installed the audio/video systems for Farmington's new Performing Arts Center and Cardinal Arena.

Crews said he would keep the city's microphones and speakers but the rest would be replaced with new equipment. The city's new audio/visual system will include a 65-inch display screen placed on one of the walls in the council room, two high definition cameras, a touch panel control system and a 20-input system.

"I think you will like it," Crews said.

Council member Diane Bryant said she had a "little sticker shock" when she first saw the $40,000 price tag.

Mayor Ernie Penn responded that the city needs to upgrade its system, both for the protection of the city and those who speak at council meetings. The system also will be available for other meetings and uses. Anyone with a presentation will be able to display the information on the screen through the system, Penn said.

Penn pointed out that Crews' company is hired for "million dollar projects" and Farmington's project would be small compared to other systems.

The motion approved by aldermen to purchase the system also gave the city authority to purchase wireless capability and a document reader for an amount not to exceed $2,000.

In other business, fire chief Mark Cunningham reported he had received a $20,000 grant to purchase air packs for firefighters and city clerk Kelly Penn reported revenue from the city sales tax was down for June but county sales tax revenues were up for a net increase of $72, compared to June 2015. For the year, Farmington's sales taxes revenues are up by $150,000, compared to the same period in 2015.

Jeff Hatley with Ozark Regional Transit said the authority is having another record year for ridership. Year to date, ridership is up by 11 percent compared to the same period in 2015, Hatley said.

For Route 620, which runs from West Fork to Lincoln, ridership is up by 17 percent, compared to last year. In Farmington, ORT has picked up 129 passengers and dropped off 154 passengers so far this year.

Ozark plans to purchase five new paratransit vans in August and this will help those patrons who have physical needs, he added.

General News on 07/20/2016