A pair of Simmons Foods Inc. grants were accepted Tuesday, paving the way for a new police dog and emergency equipment geared specifically for Siloam Springs' expanding mountain bike trail system.
The city's Board of Directors met Feb. 21 to hear the two grant applications along with the proposed board goals, sidewalk and trail master plan and a building change order.
Simmons' first grant that was accepted Tuesday was $10,500 to cover the costs of purchasing a police dog for the city. It will be the third police dog Simmons Foods has donated to Siloam Springs, including the K9 unit that is currently in service, Fado.
Police Chief Jim Wilmeth said the addition of a second active K9 unit will provide 24-hour coverage without unduly stressing either the dog or the handler.
The new police dog would likely be a Belgian Malinois, the same breed as Fado.
The grant will pay for the dog's expenses and training for the new handler. The police department will spend about $3,600 to outfit one of its vehicles as a K9 unit.
Simmons' second grant was for two mountain bikes for use by emergency medical personnel and a Utility Terrain Vehicle. The grant totals $33,500.
Fire Chief Jeremey Criner said the new equipment would be used in areas that traditional firefighting equipment or EMS vehicles cannot reach, especially the mountain bike trials near John Brown University and the trails that are under construction near City Lake. The new equipment would also be valuable for events that require street closure, Criner said.
"I'm excited about Simmons Foods and their commitment to this community," said Director Steve Beers. The grants were accepted unanimously.
Next, Directors heard the list of goals that were set by city staff for 2017-18. The goals list as presented was the product of a meeting and informal poll in January.
As originally proposed, the goals list for the board included 10 goals and four "parking lot" goals that were identified as lower priority.
After some discussion, board members combined a pair of parking lot goals into one goal and added the other parking lot goals to the main goals list, leaving the final document with 13 goals.
The goals include a plan for improvements to East Main Street, a plan for future use of the old post office, a sidewalk master plan, regulations for any future medical marijuana dispensary or grow facility in the city, future improvements to the water treatment plant, replacement of the grass medians on U.S. Highway 412, a plan for park upkeep, a street maintenance master plan and a city-wide analysis of EMS and fire protection.
The parking lot goals that were added to the main goals list included encouraging businesses in Siloam Springs, which directors determined was too important to be on the parking lot. That goal was combined with the goal of researching liquor code to develop amendments allowing "nano-breweries" in the city.
The other two parking lot goals that were added were developing a plan for city-owned, undeveloped properties and finding a way to allow recycling at the transfer station outside of normal operating hours.
The next issue on the agenda was the Sidewalk and Trail Master Plan. City staff made a few adjustments to the plan after a public workshop that attracted 58 attendees and gathered 38 comments, according to Senior Planner Ben Rhoads. The comments pointed to an "overwhelming demand" for sidewalk improvements to East Main Street, said the staff report on the agenda item.
Rhoads said the meeting caused staff to move East Main Street up on the priorities list for improvements. The project was divided into two phases, with the portion east of Lincoln Street listed as the second priority in the plan, followed by the western portion as the third priority.
As presented, the plan calls for the eastern portion of East Main Street to get sidewalks in 2018, while a date for the western portion, project 3, is not set because of the unique challenges that will face the project, including finding a way to negotiate the railroad overpass.
Director Brad Burns urged City Engineer Justin Bland, who presented an overview of the plan, to search for grants for project 3. Director Lucas Roebuck said that part of East Main Street should be a high priority. Roebuck and Burns both asked Bland to find out how much the project would cost to complete earlier and if some sacrifices in other areas would be necessary.
"Tell us what the pain is gonna be," Roebuck said.
The plan was passed unanimously.
Directors also:
• approved a change order to the winter materials storage facility. Architect Matt Pearson said while plans were being drawn up for the building, he had not called for concrete walls of the correct strength. As a result, additional strengthening measures will need to be installed, at a cost of $26,223. Pearson said he was paying for the additional engineering fees himself, and Public Works Director Steve Gorszczyk said the project would have been the same price to the city had no errors been made.
• attended a workshop aimed at exploring options to decrease delinquency among businesses that were not renewing their permits on time. Nine percent of Siloam Springs businesses are sent to code enforcement after receiving four notices from the city, said City Administrator Phillip Patterson.
• heard an update from Patterson on sales tax and the Cheri Whitlock project. Patterson said sales tax per capita is going up in Siloam Springs, which he said is a good sign of economic growth. Patterson also said the city is completing a bore for a water line on the Cheri Whitlock overpass.
General News on 02/26/2017