On Tuesday, Siloam Springs' Board of Directors will kick off the second in a series of budget review presentations in a workshop an hour before the regularly scheduled meeting begins. The budget workshop will begin at 5:30, and the board meeting at 6:30.
Tuesday's board meeting includes several new agenda items, including a resolution to lift the moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation facilities. Earlier this month, directors approved a pair of ordinances to establish zoning and use codes for prospective medical marijuana developments. The changes were approved during a 180-day moratorium that was approved in late June, scheduled to expire in December.
The moratorium was adopted alongside a second moratorium, for manufactured home developments. The product of the time afforded by the moratorium -- a pair of ordinances to update zoning codes as they relate to manufactured home developments and a set of updated building code standards -- is also up for approval. Both ordinances have been placed on their second readings. The moratorium for manufactured housing developments is set to expire on Wednesday, one day after the meeting.
Other new agenda items include a contract to paint the water tower at Hico St., a memorandum of understanding for the Lake Frances Kayak Park Project, waiving bidding to use the Arkansas Municipal League for the city's legal defense program, and the authorization of the sale of 11 acres to the Siloam Springs school district.
The memorandum of understanding is an agreement to be signed by the city, the Grand River Dam Authority and the Walton Family Foundation. The agreement will allow plans to continue to develop for the park, which will be a $15 million kayak park along the Illinois River near the Lake Frances Dam. The city will be responsible for $700,000 of the cost.
Next, the board will be asked to approve renewal of the city's participation in the Arkansas Municipal League Defense Program. The city has been using the program for some time, and the amount has not increased from last year.
The sale of 11 acres to the Siloam Springs school district is the culmination of a goal held by the board for years. In 2013, according to the city's staff report on the agenda item, the city purchased approximately 20 acres off of Lincoln Street to host the Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds, which currently occupy the space that is proposed for sale. With the sale, the space will be freed for the development of the school or the community nearby. The rodeo grounds will be moved to the city-owned property on Lincoln St near E. Lake Francis Dr.
By combining the two most recent appraisals of the site, city staff and the school district arrived at the proposed price of $382,695.50, which is below the budgeted income of $440,000 for the sale. In addition, the staff report said that the most recent estimation of the cost of moving the rodeo grounds is over budget by $432,000, though bids for the project have not yet been received.
During the final portion of the meeting, the administrator's reports, the board will review the third quarter update of the 2017-18 board goals. Directors will also be briefed on the results of a request for proposal for the city-owned 27-acre property near the Siloam Springs Regional Hospital.
General News on 10/15/2017