Mayor Hamms is one of 5 children and the brother to the late Reverend Tommy Hamms. He served 2 terms on the City Council and was led by the Lord to run for mayor. He knows that all will turn out okay if he follows the Lord’s guidance. Mayor Hamms focus is growing our city together. An ongoing project is electric service as we now have more customers than previously. The water department received a 4.2 million dollar grant for repair projects and for the annexation of some areas. There is new equipment for beautification projects to make things more efficient. The recreation department is very important to the mayor and we need to do our part to give recreational opportunities. We are supposed to train our children properly and have a good influence on them. We received a CAP grant to improve transportation in the downtown and the appearance of downtown. A letter of intent has been signed with the Main Street Project so we are now on the Main Street team. This will help us to improve the buildings downtown. The DOTD will help by repairing sidewalks at no cost to the city.
When he came into office the city was two audits behind. Both have now been completed. The only audit left is the one for 2022 which could not be done until the others were completed. They are now able to finish 2022 in a timely manner since the others have been completed. They are also looking for new businesses to come to Winnfield and Winn Parish. The city loses an estimated 40 million dollars per year in taxes because people go out of town to eat and shop. The city wants an area for food trucks and want to promote more activities on Main St. to get more people downtown. The look of the city can be improved by enforcing the order to keep property looking good. Swift Connect, a broadband company is renting the Vassarette building and Larry Bates building. The annexation up to Hwy 156 is complete and this will increase tax revenue. These businesses will also be included in city utilities.
Mayor Hamms is looking for a grant writer for the city. He has also been talking to Representative Julia Letlow about available grants. In regards to the Recreation Center cameras have been installed. They are looking at new turf for the fields, improving the bathrooms, and looking into better lighting for the fields.
We appreciate Mayor Hamms taking the time to speak to the Kiwanis club.
