HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-08-06 MinutesMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL
A meeting of the Fayetteville
August 6, 1996, at 6:30 p.m.
Administration Building, 113 W.
319
City Council was held on Tuesday,
in the Council Room of the City
Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
PRESENT: Mayor Fred Hanna; Aldermen Len Schaper, Heather Daniel,
Stephen Miller, Kit Williams, Cyrus Young, Woody Bassett
(arrived late), Jimmy Hill, and Steve Parker; City
Attorney Jerry Rose; City Clerk/Treasurer Traci Paul;
members of staff, press, and audience.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hanna called the meeting to order with 7 aldermen present.
Alderman Bassett arrived.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of items which may be approved
by motion or contracts and leases which can be approved by
resolution and which may be grouped together and approved
simultaneously under a consent agenda.
A. Minutes of the July 16 regular City Council meeting;
B. A resolution approving a budget adjustment and accepting
the low bid of $46,898 from Diversified Recreation for
playground equipment at Vandergriff and Holcomb
elementary school parks;
RESOLUTION 88-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
C. Item C, Girls Softball Complex, was removed from the
consent agenda. See below.
D. A resolution approving payment in the appraised amount of
$26,000 to Paradise Valley Golf Course for the
acquisition of 14,810' of right of way in conjunction
with the improvement of Joyce Blvd.;
RESOLUTION 89-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
August 6, 1996
E. A resolution awarding.,Bid-96-47.to Chryis King Electric.in
an amount not to 'exceed $50,0,00 for the Downtown Square
Electrical Upgrade Project;.
` •RESOLUTION 90-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S. OFFICE.
Alderman Young, seconded by Alderman_ Miller, moved to.approve,;;the
consent agenda as read. Upon roll call, the motion .passed on a
vote of 8 to O.
SOFTBALL COMPLEX
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Hanna introduced for consideration a resolution approving a
contract with Red Deer, Inc., in the amount of $309,600 plus a 5%
contingency for construction of Phase I of the Girls Softball
Complex.
Mayor Hanna stated there had been questions concerning this at the
agenda session.
Alderman Daniel stated she had talked to Dale Clark, Parks
Director. This is a multipurpose field. It is not limited just to
girls softball. The fieldS.will be large enough sothere can be
adult:play and .can beused by boys for baseball. One important'+•
thing is that these fields are for girls. There has been a real:-
struggle
eal:'struggle to make facilities available for young women.. _-•Ih
addition, we have a cultural.problem now. Instead of emphasizing
looks, we need to give girls the 'opportunity to improve their
athletic abilities in addition to intellectual abilities: The
parks board has worked hard .and are disappointed in how much it
will cost, but phasing it.,in.is:the right thing.
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Alderman Schaper stated he wanted .this pulled off the consent
agenda because he had quite a few concerns The bids' came -in
substantially more then :what -. was 'expected. He,,had many questions
and was just handed information he had not yet had' time to digest.
He asked if it was true the bids were almost double what was
expected.
Bill.Ackerman, Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, stated this did
come in considerably over the estimated -cost. There were a number
of. reasons.. When you try to put together the quality .complex to
complement the variety of uses. necessary; you will run into
overruns on cost. Dealing with the environmental issues will drive
the costs up. 'There are a number.of specific issues, including the
lighting., When you have neighborhoods who -.ask for certain
considerations .since they live adjacent to a facility such as this,
they will ask for concessions and we try to accommodate that with
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August 6, 1996
the right type of lighting. About two years have passed since we
started working on this project. We thought $600,000 - $700,000
would do the complex. There have been a number of increases in
product, labor, and other items that go into the construction.
Alderman Schaper asked, since that represents either $300,000 or
$400,000 more than expected, what other things in the budget got
shifted to a lower priority and how were those decisions made.
Mr. Ackerman replied that had we addressed this as an ongoing
totally funded project, we would have had to put some other
maintenance and developmental projects on hold. However, by coming
back to the drawing board with our engineers, architects, and
contractors, we developed a plan to phase this in over three years.
Therefore, we did not have to put anything else aside. We are
still able to do the things we projected because we won't be
spending as much money in a given year as we had contemplated.
Alderman Schaper recognized we are behind in our parks projects and
there are always things we would like to do that we haven't been
able to afford, but there is only so much money. If you put three
or four hundred thousand more into this, than something has to fall
down in the priority list.
Mr. Ackerman addressed what we are trying to accomplish in the
dollars involved in the time frame we are utilizing here. Our
first phase is going run $309,600. We had approximately $530,000
allocated for that. Therefore, we are not going to spend it all.
Of the $309,600, $280,000 is the A & P money. The balance of the
money is green space money accumulated for that quadrant. There is
no impact with this expenditure with regard to what we are wanting
to do in our overall maintenance and ongoing construction program.
Alderman Schaper stated that quadrant is largely Ward 4. We are
building a girls softball complex. It has been alluded to that
this is really a multi -use field. He would agree that any time
something is not being used, it should be available to other folks.
We may be using green space money from that district, but this
really is more of a special purpose citywide facility. It is not
a general purpose park like Gulley Park. He asked how many girls
are playing softball and where are they playing now.
Mr. Ackerman responded that there are approximately 491 girls
enrolled in the softball program. They currently play at the Lake
Fayetteville facility which are not really girls softball fields.
They have to work with what they have. We have not done a thing
for the girls program since the Asbell project in 1974. The girls
have had to catch as catch can for facilities. Every facility that
we have now is completely booked and overbooked. There is not one
field for practice or for play available for this community at this
time.
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August .6, 1996
Alderman Parker asked if the facilities -_for the mens and boys
program were addressed more fully .than the.:.program.for, girls
softball.
Mr. Ackerman replied there was no question about that.
•
Dale Clark, Parks Director, stated the adults play at: Lake
Fayetteville. There are three fields. Eighty-eight teams, are
registered for fall ball. The girls have continued to play at
Asbell and Wilson. Those:.are two fields the little girls have
played on since 1974:
Alderman Parker was curious as to why the fields used for.'the boys
softball weren't split between boys and girls so both -leagues. would
have equal use .of facilities that public money was used for.
Dale Clark responded that the boys program has been in existence
for many, many years. They have had Walker Park. We have built
three'additional fields down•there for them over the last 6 to 8
years. They are just now beginning to catch up. It ..has been
impossible to take away from what they have and give to the girls.,
They have not had adequate facilities.
Alderman Parker stated he hoped if this doesnotcatch up the girls
Softball facilities with the boys and mens softball facilities, we
'.would co -use the facilities so that both organizations.are.,equal:.
If,there is insufficient playing fields for -everybody, then:there
'should be equal use of what,is,there. There should not be fully
equipped facilities for the guys.and not fully equipped facilities
for -the 'girls softball teams. '. .
Clark stated the number of fields seems large. However, everybody
plays at the same time of year, so it congests the facilities,
Parker stated that if this doesn't fully take care of the girls at
least up to the level of the guys, he would like to see a shared
use of what facilities there are, even if you have to take away
from one to give to the other.
Alderman Schaper asked what the -play season was.
Dale- Clark responded they start -as early as March 15 and:usually
end after the.. 4th of July. .The adult season starts at the.. same
time. This will also allow some usage by the adults into the fall
program and weekends and that sort. of thing.
Alderman Parker clarified a statement he'd made. -If you have 400
girls -in the program and you have- 800 boys, the girls should -'.get
one-third'use-of all fields rather than'fifty-fifty:
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August 6, 1996
Dale Clark pointed out the time frame on softball games is much
less than on baseball. We try to get a girls softball game in
every hour. With baseball, it takes at least an hour and a half to
two hours.
Alderman Schaper stated a lot of the money going the first year is
for parking lot and grading and those kinds of things. He asked
how many parking spaces we are building.
Mr. Ackerman responded there will be 119. In addition to that, we
are using the school parking as well with six acres of their
property to assist with the parking logistics.
Alderman Schaper stated the land this is on is low and asked if
there is some filling required to get it above flood plain.
Mr. Ackerman replied that in the construction phase we will raise
the base up.
Alderman Schaper asked how much of the $309,000 goes to raising up
the land.
Mr. Ackerman was not prepared to give a breakout on the bid specs
but could provide that.
Alderman Schaper was concerned about a sense of false economy in
saying we have cheap land but it then takes a lot of money to fix
the land and turn it into a playable facility.
Mr. Ackerman stated this is 15.45 acres of very useable land
adjacent to an existing school project. With a minimum of dirt
work, we can bring it into a regular area that we are very
comfortable with. This is not a piece of property that is not
feasible. It is a large tract of land which we desperately need.
In the first phase of the construction, it is very important that
you do all of the dirt work for the entire complex.
Alderman Schaper agreed that it had been phased properly. We are
adjacent to a school which is being used as a community center. We
are contributing to playground equipment. He always thought in
these arrangements there is some kind of provision for dual use.
In the softball complex there are restrooms. He asked if there is
a reason we couldn't be using the restrooms in the school.
Mr. Ackerman answered the restrooms in the school would not
accommodate the crowd. We would have to work that out with the
powers -that -be at the school. This is not a practical solution
that would justify elimination of the facilities at the complex.
Restroom facilities are always a problem at any of our complexes at
any given time.
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August;6y 1996
Alderman Bassett stated there might besome•..security.problems,and
coordination problems.
Alderman Williams stated this is an elementary school and they
don't build restrooms for kids exactly the same way as they do for
adults.`
Alderman Parker stated the joint -use facilities. are used for
scheduled youth center activities where they have somebody there to
watch over it.
Alderman Schaper did want to try and separate the recreational and
physical fitness aspects of this from the spectator sport aspect of
it. He was not sure we need to be using public money for things
like concession booths and bleachers. He was very worried about
lighting and asked how late in the evening we'll be going with the
program.
Dale Clark replied that the ordinance called for all parks closing
at 11:00. For the most part, we are out of our ;facilities. by
10:00.
Alderman Schaper had some concerns about.young children being out
so late. He has heard complaints from teachers about boys
baseball.
Alderman Williams agreed it often is too late,. but this, is .one
thing we are trying to do by building more facilities to:get the
games over and done with. Regarding concessions and bleachers, we
are not _building these just for the participants butl.1so for
parents and friends.
Alderman Parker stated we want to encourage parental participation
in this as a family activity.
Alderman Schaper stated there is, -"a real problem between, the
athletic and recreational aspects of this and the spectator sport
aspect. We are building these.to accommodate parents;whowant::to
watch the:games.
Alderman Bassett did not seeanythinginherently wrong with. this.
The kids;need .transportation. The.parents need -concessions. and
lights. The parks board has done a'good job .given the..facilities
we have and the growth we've had. If we can get more facilities
for boys and girls, it Would give .the parks: department more
flexibility in scheduling to accommodate kids and parents.
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Alderman Schaper stated constituents have raised a concern stemming
from soccer: He asked if all these teams are from Fayetteville..
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August 6, 1996
Dale Clark answered that the 491 girls are Fayetteville residents.
We do have tournaments with outside teams. This is a bonus for our
merchants, particularly the fast food merchants.
Alderman Bassett stated that he and others worked extremely hard
with the A & P Commission to get a commitment of $280,000. One of
the underlying factors was the idea that if we had this complex,
there would be people using the facilities who might stay overnight
and certainly use the restaurants. There is $280,000 ready to be
spent from the A & P Commission for this project. If we don't use
it for this project, we will lose it.
Alderman Hill had questions about
documents is it was bid once and
back and rebid. At that point we
now looking at. He asked if the
rebid.
the process. The way he read the
was out of the money and it came
came up with the $309,000 we are
other two phases are going to be
Mr. Ackerman responded they would be rebid at the time we are ready
to go forward.
Alderman Hill encouraged him to relook at the lighting system.
That lighting was totally out of line. Everybody was scared to
death of it. People put big fees in there because they did not
think they could meet the standards. Some money could be saved
there.
Mr. Ackerman stated that we got into a bit of a time frame crush as
well. If we are going to get anything done this year, we had to
break it up. We immediately gave all of our attention to the first
phase, knowing we had time to work on the second two phases.
Certainly time will change all of that and hopefully we should get
better numbers.
Alderman Schaper referred to the information received at the
meeting. There was an advertising flyer for the HMR tax. The
first item listed for why the tax was needed stated, "Purchase of
land in critical growth areas of the city for design and building
of a progressive network of parks and community recreation
centers." We are only spending $50,000 in 1996 of the HMR tax for
purchase of land. That is about 5% of what the HMR tax is
generating. That is not enough. Our developing land is rapidly
disappearing. This kind of complex, as useful as it is, is not a
general purpose park. It is not open space.
Mr. Ackerman appreciated these comments. This is the first year
the parks department has had any money to acquire land. We set
aside $200,000 in 1996 to acquire land with. Acquiring property
does not happen overnight. We are out on the street talking to
anyone who might have a piece of land that would be suitable for
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what we need for a nice park. We set aside..$50, 000 this year
knowing we could take $50,000 and tie up any tract of land in this
area-. that would be of interest to us.. For most tracts of landof
this, magnitude, the seller is rarely interested in giving it up at -
the time of acquisition. We have also poised ourselvesto where we
could pull back on any of the expansionor developmental projects.
We are not blind or deaf to the needs of this community to acquire
`tracts of land. .We are actively searching that out. It is only
prudent _that we utilize the best use of the. funds during this
interim .period. Next year, we also have $200,000 earmarked for
land acquisition. We have that ongoing. We are on track with
everything we have collectively put together since 1994. Now we
are in a position to move forward and see many of these projects
come to fruition. Regarding this softball complex, we areonly
answering the cry of this community.
Alderman Parker stated that when the ad agency drew up this program
for the penny for parks tax, it was no mistake that theyput
purchase, of land first. That's what they thought would attract
most people to vote for it. That should get at least as heavy
emphasis as anything else on here.
Alderman Miller echoed Alderman Schaper's remarks regardingbuying
land for .parks. All parks don't have to be 15 or 20 acres.
Regarding the softball complex, although Alderman Miller's
childhood experiences in Little League were not good, he has
observed the activities in Walker Park and his outlook;onthis has
improved. He approved of the phasing in. Too many times we try to
build fast and cheap.
Mr. Ackerman made a closing. observation. We currently have
developed parks in our community of 836.2 acres:.. We have
undeveloped park land to the extent of 2,081.96 acres. We need to
acquire more land in the proper locations, but we have our work cut
out developing the property we currently own. .We havesome nice
tracts of land now that -we -.need to address. .
Alderman Daniel shared Alderman Schaper's concern about young
people being out so late. When kids are in school, it: is a
problem.
Alderman Miller commented that it is up to the parents how late
their kidsareup.
Mayor Hanna asked for comments from the audience.
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August 6, 1996
Chuck Yarborough stated he came to tell the Council how great this
need is. It is a positive step forward in our community. As a
member of a couple of associations, he has brought over twenty
years of state tournaments and national invitational tournaments to
our community. We've gotten exceptional write-ups about our parks.
This next step brings forward an opportunity to expand some of the
programs. Once these facilities are developed, we still plan to
work and put forth a tremendous amount of effort to continue to
bring different types of softball tournaments to our town. This is
nothing more than a step in the right direction of continuing to
promote a very good community sport.
There being no further comments from the audience, Mayor Hanna
brought the discussion back to the Council
Alderman Williams stated this will be a good investment for
Fayetteville, not only for the youth but also for the business
community. It is very timely. The University is bringing on
women's softball. That will pique the interest of the girls and
women in this town.
Alderman Williams moved to adopt the resolution. Daniel seconded.
Alderman Bassett reminded the Council that the United States had
just won a gold medal in the Olympics. The popularity of women's
softball is continuing to rise in this country. If we get this
facility built, it will open up opportunities for other leagues.
He agreed with some of Alderman Schaper's points. He is all in
favor of doing what we can where we can to purchase more open
space. It is something we owe to the future population. Trying to
juggle this is not easy. This particular project is long overdue.
There are a lot of young women who deserve a facility of this
nature. He stated the cost does bother him. No matter what we do,
open space or sports and recreation, the price will be high.
Mayor Hanna called for the vote.
Upon roll call, the resolution passed on
RESOLUTION 91-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY
WEDINGTON CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT
a vote of 8 to 0.
CLERK'S OFFICE.
Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a resolution approving a
budget adjustment and a construction contract with Edwards Design
& Construction, Inc., in the mount of $1,091,455.50 plus a 5%
contingency of $55,000 for the Wedington Drive Water & Sewer
Relocation Project.
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August 6, 1996
Alderman Daniel stated there had been a discussion at the agenda
setting meeting last week about this. Alderman Schaper was
concerned about the homeowners. Itoccurred to her that the
homeowners probably don't know the right questions to ask. She had
concerns about the amount.of.land being taken, the devaluation of
these homes, the quality of life. It was just a few months ago
that the Council learned the City discourages planting trees in the
utility easements. She would like to see the City do abetter job
of working with homeowners, maybe have more meetings and make sure
the people are contacted, help advise them, and even give away
plants or trees that would be appropriate for them to put out.
Kevin Crosson, Public Works Director, stated this project has been
on-going for 15 years. A public hearing was held in 1993. There
was a large turnout in favor of making the improvements. This
isn't a new project. We'll do everything we can to work with the
highway department to address your concerns. The management
responsibility for the project is the highway department. Crosson
stated Don Bunn, City Engineer, put together a memo that addressed
a lot of Mr. Schaper's concerns that he brought out at agenda
session. The best thing we can say about the tree situation is
that at this point we waitand see what happens with the project
and after it is completed determine the areas we can put trees
back.
Alderman Schaper stated the memo, received just before the meeting,
is discouraging. It sounds like the sewer is mainly within the
highway right of way on the south side, but on the north side we
have a 24" water main in a 15' easement next to the right of way
and you are going to be discouraging tree planting on that side.
It doesn't look like there will be too many trees along the greatly
widened Wedington road.
Crosson stated part of the problem is that there will be sidewalks
on both sides of the road. One will be even wider to allow for
bicycle traffic.
Charles Venable, Assistant to the Public Works Director, stated the
plan calls for four lanes except at Sang where there will be turn
lanes for the signal. They.are.incorporating a 6' wide sidewalk.
The right of way is normally 80'; the outside lane of the roadway
is going to be a little bit wider, possibly used for a bicycle
lane. It won't be striped. There will be- 6' wide sidewalks on
both sides integral with the curb. It is the same type as Sixth
Street. They will stripe it so the outside lane will.be wider,.
which will accommodate if someone wants to ride there. -
Alderman Schaper suggested that when this thing is done we should
take some of our tree planting money and go back in there and help
out the folks along that road by doing some tree planting.
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Mayor
being
none,
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August 6, 1996
Hanna asked for further comments from the Council. There
none, he asked for comments from the public. There being
he brought it back to the Council.
Alderman Miller gave what he stated was his standard gripe. We've
just spent $300,000 on girls softball. Here we are going to spend
about $1 million for automobiles. We need big automobiles to ride
in by ourselves and big roads to drive on. It is the American way
and I guess I have to support this.
Mayor Hanna asked if that was a motion.
Alderman Williams stated that you can see why the highway
department doesn't like to have water mains and sewer lines in the
highways if you look at what's happened on North College right now.
If we had problems on Wedington while school is in session, it
could be a real nightmare.
Mayor Hanna stated we did have a big water break on North College
over the weekend. Some people have asked if we've had more breaks,
because they've seen our equipment out there digging. We are
trying to forestall another event like that by putting in valves so
that we can isolate breaks and not affect the number of businesses
we did this time.
Mayor Hanna again asked Alderman Miller if that was a motion.
Alderman Miller replied, "Sure." Hill seconded. Upon roll call
the resolution passed on a vote of 8 to 0.
RESOLUTION 92-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
CLEAR CREEK BRIDGE
Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a resolution approving a
budget adjustment and the expenditure of $20,000 to go toward the
cost of highway department engineering of the Clear Creek Bridge
replacement.
Mayor Hanna stated there was a question raised about whether we
could legally do this. Our City Attorney has been working on that.
City Attorney Rose stated that Alderman Miller at the agenda
session brought up the point of whether or not we can legally use
public funds to make improvements in another community. The
general rule is a city cannot expend public funds for improvements
and construction outside its corporate limits unless (1) it is for
a valid public purpose and (2) it is so authorized by statute or
charter. There are two determinations to make.
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August 6,:1996
Rose stated if it is for a public purpose, that is .a factual
determination. There is strong case law to the:effectthat simply
because the bridge is out ofithe city doesn't mean it's not for a
public purpose. That is afact determination for you to make.
Rose stated the second question is, is it authorized by statute or
by our City corporate charter. That is a harder question. The
answer is it is not specifically authorized. He could not find:a
statute that said you could go outside the city limits'and-build a
bridge. He found some specific things like water and sewer
services, public parks, natural gas lines, avigation easements.
All those things are specifically mentioned that you could go
outside the city limits. He could find some general authority for
this. Some.statutes tell us we can join with other cities in the
promotion of our own general welfare. There are some statutes that
say we can cooperatewith other localities on a basis of mutual
advantage. That language comes from the Interlocal Cooperation
Agreement Act. Those interlocalagreements are submitted to the
office of the Attorney General. The Attorney General specifically
rules on the specific agreement.
Rose stated if you want to fund the bridge and believe it has a
valid public purpose, he .would suggest doing it .by way of an
interlocal cooperative agreement and in the resolution authorize
him to enter into one with the City of Johnson. There is some risk
involved. To minimize that risk and!go ahead, the way to do it. is
with the interlocal cooperative agreement:
Mayor Hanna stated this has been discussed quite a bit since the
agenda session. It needs to be made clear that this first
expenditure is for an engineering study. It is quite a way down
the line before we will be asked to participate in bridge building;
right-of-way acquiring, and whatever.
Alderman Daniel had some real misgivings about this. She stated
it's not the money, as she believed in helping Johnson, but
believed this would do the opposite. The best thing for,Johnson is
not to widen this bridge. She had spoken to a citizen of Johnson
who felt if this bridge is widened peoplewill want access'to the
bypass, and there is another one -lane bridge. There have been some
serious accidents and there is a sign now that says three cars can
pass at one time. The one lane fosters consideration; people are
watching out. Johnson is a beautiful town and this might destroy
the place. She wondered if there were other routes we'could take.
Alderman Schaper stated that trying to get from Joyce Blvd. to the
bypass through Johnson will not improve the qualityof life in
Johnson. This is only for a study, but when we..do studies people
say'we already spent that money now we've got to spend the money to
build the bridge. It becomes self-fulfilling. If we are not
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August 6, 1996
prepared to spend the $220,000 to build the bridge, then we
shouldn't be spending the $20,000 out of $25,000 to do the study.
Alderman Williams thought it was presumptuous to decide what's in
the best interest of Johnson. They have there own government which
has come up with $5,000 out of $25,000 requested. We need to think
about the best interests of Fayetteville and make our decisions
based on that. We should talk to Johnson's elected officials and
not rely on the opinion of one of its citizens.
Richard Long, Mayor of Johnson, stated he was excited at first in
understanding that Fayetteville was going to participate in the
design, not just the study, of Clear Creek Bridge. He was hoping
when the construction phase came along that Fayetteville would also
look upon this favorably. As far as ruining the City of Johnson,
one thing that would do it more than anything would be the
extension of Joyce into the City of Johnson, directing all the mall
traffic into our area. Without the Clear Creek Bridge widened, we
will have a severe traffic problem. The bids for the extension of
Joyce will be opened August 16, with anticipated completion of
construction in December. Mud Creek is going to be funded in
October and construction will start in November or December. At
that time, Wilkerson South will be completely closed. We'll have
Joyce Street open with only a single one -lane bridge to the north
to take care of that traffic. The Clear Creek Bridge is a
salvation to us. As far as the other one -lane bridge to the west,
that has been revised and that will be on the Northwest Arkansas
Regional Commission TIP in about two months. That will be
scheduled for replacement and widening in about three years. That
will do away with all the one -lane bridges in Johnson. Main Street
from 71B to the railroad track and from the railroad track to the
bypass is also in the Transportation Improvement Program. We are
having to look into the future for funding sharing wherever we can
get it. We do not have a large budget. Joyce Street is going to
be a problem for us until we get Clear Creek multi -lane.
Alderman Schaper asked Mayor Long if they had to come up with a
local share for the widening of Main Street.
Mayor Long answered in the future they will have to come up with
that. They do not know what their 1% sales tax will do yet. They
are due to get their first check this month.
Mayor Hanna asked if they have completed a new census and will
receive triple turnback funds.
Mayor Long replied he is arguing with the State about that. They
are getting some turnback funds, but are not for some things like
the volunteer fire department on the basis of the new census
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August 6, 1996
Alderman Williams asked if the citizens of Johnson are aware of the
extension of Joyce Street and the' proposal about the,two bridges
that Fayetteville might be participating'in.
Mayor Long stated the citizens on Jane Circle and the duplexes
south of there are very familiar with it: We sent them a letter
earlier this year informing them when Mud Creek is built that road
will be closed for a period of up to three months.. We did this for
Fayetteville's benefit in order to reduce construction costs,
:rather than have the construction people have to fight traffic at
'that location.
Alderman Parker commented on construction costs. The better part
of the traffic we will reap from tripling the commercial area on
the western side of 71 was something that should have been
addressed at the time of voting on the 300 acres. At that time we
discussed two routes andone of them, the southern route, would
have had us bridging two creeks at great expense. He asked how
much the southern route was going to be for Fayetteville.
Kevin Crosson responded that in 1994 we estimated that southern
route to be roughly $2-$3 million more than the northern route
based on the bridges and the extra length of roadway.
Alderman Parker stated our share would have been fairly high. We
picked the northern route and we made this agreement to help expand
this bridge because it was going to relieve that traffic and save
Fayetteville money. He stated he was ready to stand by what we
said we'd do.
Mayor Long stated he had copies of their minutesfrom last
January's meeting. This is when Mandy Bunch and Alett Little were
at their council meeting. Mr. Rick Green, one of Johnson's
aldermen, made the comment at that meeting that Johnson would agree
to the Joyce Street extension -with the recommendations that the
City of Fayetteville would go along with them. The two
representatives from the City. of Fayetteville agreedtothem
wholly.
Kevin Crosson stated he'd attended two previous public hearings on
that issue, in August and November of 1994. At both of those
public hearings, we had a disclaimer at the start that said
anything we agreed to had to be approved by our Council.
Alderman Parker stated he was referring to Council discussions,
discussions he'd come away from with a strong impression that the
northern route would require us to contribute for the bridge in
Johnson.
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August 6, 1996
Alderman Williams stated there are two bridges. Obviously, we'll
participate and build the southern bridge. He remembers it as
Kevin Crosson stated. When Crosson presented it to the Street
Committee and the Council, he always said this was not a firm
agreement; it was something the staff had talked to the City of
Johnson about. On the other hand, we ought to go forward on this
and pass this resolution so we can get going on this bridge because
it is going to be necessary. It is in the best interest of
Fayetteville. We need to provide good access to the mall. This is
a relatively small amount of money at this point. When you look at
how important the Northwest Arkansas Mall is to the economic health
of Fayetteville, we need to be careful to preserve that.
Mayor Hanna agreed. This first resolution is for the engineering.
It will have to come back to our Council before we approve any
other amounts of money. When we were in the process of trying to
figure out how to make it possible for us to financially extend
Joyce Street, we needed Johnson's cooperation. We asked for it and
we got it. We have an obligation to move this along.
Mayor Long informed City Attorney Rose that their attorney was
Danny Wright.
Alderman Williams asked if there was a problem time -wise about
having an agreement done.
Mayor Long stated the money should be in now so they can start
design.
Alderman Williams moved to accept the resolution with the proviso
as City Attorney Rose has stated about entering into an unlawful
agreement with the City of Johnson on this portion of it.
City Attorney Rose read the resolution: A resolution approving
entering into an interlocal cooperative agreement with the City of
Johnson for the expenditure of $20,000 as Fayetteville's share of
cost for engineering of a bridge replacement across Clear Creek and
approval of a budget adjustment.
Alderman Miller was assured by City Attorney Rose that this goes in
review to the Attorney General who passes on whether or not this is
okay for us to do.
Alderman Williams stated to City Attorney Rose that that was his
motion. Miller seconded.
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August •6 1996
Alderman Young wished to sum up for the minutes what a. lot of
people have.been saying.. .It is needed. 'I -t .is needed to relieve
the traffic problem. Also, whenever a developer comes, in, oui
regulations require him to put in certain improvements. He stated
we should put.the same regulation on this.
City Attorney Rose stated he understood the'concept.
Alderman Hill stated he supported this since Mayor Long explained
their feelings and they will be widening the bridge to the west.
He is sympathetic to Mayor Long's feelings about the traffic we'll
be putting through there from Joyce. He would like to see the
Council entertain along with the developer,hooking up a segment off
Joyce going down to Van Ashe to handle some of our own traffic.
Alderman Bassett agreed with Hill. We need to get on with this
project. On down the road we need to find other ways to get people
from the mall without having to dump all of them into Johnson.
Mayor Hanna called for the vote.
Upon roll call, the resolution Teased on a vote of 7. to 1, with
Daniel voting no.
RESOLUTION 93-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CLERK'S,OFFICE..
City Attorney Rose stated to Mayor Long he would be in touch with
Danny Wright to work out the agreement.
MINIMUM STREET STANDARDS
Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a resolution approving -.the
Minimum Street Standards.
Alderman Williams stated this came through the Street Committee but
there were other aldermen there very interested in it. This is
actually Alderman Young's baby.
Alderman Young stated this sets up the minimum standards for street
construction in the City of Fayetteville. It spells out the
specific technical aspects that any development has to meet. It is
just the minimum. A situation may come up where the terrain
warrants more stringent design .standards, but this sets the
absolute minimum the developers have to meet.. It is in a form they
can go by rather than spread out in various ordinances. This is
set up exactly like the water and sewer standards we adopted. As
time goes by, we may have to change these and it is set up so the
Street Committee can make changes.
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August 6, 1996
Alderman Williams stated the key factor is that we are establishing
standards now. This will pay big dividends in the future as our
roads will not deteriorate and fail as some have.
Alderman Parker stated there have been some valid concerns but this
is a resolution and relatively easily changed. If it turns out to
be unduly burdensome or not stringent enough, it can be changed.
Alderman Daniel had questions about the performance bond where you
don't sign the final plat until improvements are done and if a
company should declare bankruptcy, that performance bond should
cover.
Alderman Young said he'd raised this question to remind them about
the signing of the plat and they said they did need the performance
bond. The staff has to deal with this and they say they need it.
Alderman Daniel had questions about sidewalks and trails. She
assumed there would be curb cuts. She was told this was standard.
Mayor Hanna asked for comments from the audience. There were none.
Alderman Young moved to adopt the street standards pursuant to the
ordinance that we passed earlier. Traci can figure out the number
to drop in there. Alderman Parker seconded. Upon roll call the
resolution passed on a vote of 8 to 0.
RESOLUTION 94-96 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Hanna asked for any announcements. There being none, the
meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
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