New Bloomfield to vote on $315,000 street bonds

Residents of the city of New Bloomfield will vote on April 3 whether to authorize the city to issue $315,000 in general obligation bonds to improve the city's streets and roads.

New Bloomfield City Superintendent Mike Rieken said the bonds are needed to finance maintenance and improvements to the city's streets and roads.

"We are going to try to do something to all streets in the city. Some of the streets that have been paved in the last five years probably won't receive as much attention as older streets," Rieken said.

"The work involves mostly repairs and maintenance, including sealing cracks. It also will include a combination of asphalt overlay and chip and seal projects, depending on the street," Rieken said.

Mayor Terry Shaw said as one street bond is paid off, the city typically seeks another bond issue to finance continuing improvement and maintenance of city streets every 10 years.

He said the city would issue some of the bonds as needed during the next 10 years to maintain city streets.

"We will issue only bonds that are needed during the next 10 years for street maintenance. This policy of using bond money to finance street maintenance has been working well for us," Shaw said.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.