Hefty agenda for City Board meeting

n The meeting features 20 items on the docket.

There is a hefty agenda in store for the Siloam Springs Board of Directors on Tuesday. The first meeting in December will feature 20 separate agenda items, ranging from annual contracts and appointments, to property maintenance code and construction projects.

Construction and plans

Five new projects and designs were present on the Dec. 6 agenda.

First is a project that will replace the Runway end identifier lights (REILs) at the Cecil Smith Field. The REILs are one of two types of visual aids used by pilots landing at the airport. Both the REILs and the other visual aids, known as PAPIs, were unusable for most of 2016. The PAPI replacements were approved in August, but the project was scaled back to exclude the REILs due to grant availability.

The second part of the airport project would be an expansion to the perimeter fence around the airport. The fence currently covers about half of the perimeter, according to a city staff report. The project would increase that figure to about 80 percent.

Second, city staff proposed that a winter storage facility be built that can hold enough salt and sand for multiple winter storm events. The city currently has storage for salt and sand, but only enough for one storm event. The new building will be in the old public works compound on Tahlequah and Hill Streets and cost $203,200, putting the project $28,200 over budget.

Next is a renovation to the old library building, which will be used to house the Parks and Recreation Department. The bid for the renovation is priced at $194,725, which is about $33,000 over budget.

The overage for the project is covered as part of a proposed budget amendment elsewhere in the agenda. The amendment is for increase in expense of $3,330,560, $416,103 of which was not previously approved. The new expenses come from the FEMA costs from the December flood in 2015, the Kayak Park study, an increase in bad debt and the old library project.

The city's board will also vote on adopting the City Lake Master Plan on Tuesday. The plan has been discussed over the last several years, including at a workshop in August 2015.

Highlights of the master plan include about five miles of dirt trail, a wooden bridge, around one mile of multi-use trail, a bike track and skills course, a birder blind, gravel parking lots and a fishing dock. A grant has been obtained for the multi-use trail and another grant is being considered for several other elements. The parts of the project that are covered by grants will be constructed in 2017, with the remaining elements being constructed as budgets allow.

The grant itself is a separate agenda item. The grant is an agreement with Ozark Off-Road Cyclists to contribute around $212,000 over two years for improvements to City Lake bicycle trails. The project in total will cost about $575,000. The cost not covered by the city would be covered from private sources and volunteers.

Contracts and appointments

With the year drawing to a close, the Board of Directors will have a few appointments to consider. They include a member of the City of Siloam Springs, Arkansas Public Education Facilities Board, two members of the Parks Advisory Board out of three applicants, and a pair of members on the Planning and Zoning Commission, out of two applicants.

The city will also consider contracts with several vendors to supply all of the city's chemicals for water treatment and wastewater treatment. Six different companies are included in the proposed contract.

The other contract before the city will be from Siloam Springs Youth Baseball for another two-year lease of the city's fields. The lease is for $10 per year.

Planning

The board will hear four planning related proposals. The first is an application for approval for the Medical Arts building at the Siloam Springs Regional Hospital to change ownership. Second is a utility easement grant for moving gas lines for the Cheri Whitlock overpass project. Third is a housing development's final plat approval at the 2800 block of Dawn Hill Road, and last is the proposed lifting of a development moratorium.

Courtney Courts has been under a development moratorium since December 2012 due to flooding concerns to nearby developments. Since that time, three drainage projects have been completed in the area, and staff is confident that, after witnessing the impact to the area by the December 2015 floods, it is appropriate to repeal the moratorium, according to the staff report.

Returning to the agenda are the issues of increasing pay for Board members and the mayor, establishing pay for Planning and Zoning members and the proposed property maintenance and nuisance code.

The proposed property maintenance and nuisance code is unchanged except for a revision that will allow judges to deem violations a violation instead of a misdemeanor and a line that stipulated that inoperable vehicles could be kept in garages for only one year.

The board will also hold a workshop on Board Procedures, starting at 5:30 p.m.

General News on 12/04/2016