Little Rock board notebook

Funds OK’d to buy new site for police

Little Rock will purchase the McFadden Building on West Markham Street to renovate for its new Police Department headquarters.

The city Board of Directors approved the $956,000 purchase of the 15,000-squarefoot building at 615 W. Markham St. at a meeting Tuesday.

The board had previously committed $9 million toward new police and new courts buildings, to be paid with revenue from collections of a sales tax approved by voters in 2011.

That tax will run through 2022. Money to renovate and open the police headquarters is accruing each year.

The McFadden Building is across the street from the current headquarters, at 700 W. Markham St., and down the road from City Hall, 500 W. Markham St.

2017 budget gets $2M adjustment

The 2017 Little Rock budget has been amended to reflect actual revenue and expenditures. It required a $2 million adjustment.

Much of the change was to fund additional police overtime, firefighter overtime and police recruit incentives. The adjustment was approved by the city board Tuesday.

The city had to use almost $850,000 of contingency funds to balance the budget before the end of the year.

City Manager Bruce Moore is expected to present the 2018 budget by the end of the month.

Study to examine extending services

Maryland-based company TischlerBise Inc. will perform the city’s study of the potential impact of extending city services to areas in its extraterritorial district.

The Little Rock Board of Directors had asked for a study earlier this year after debate over a private sewer service in a community just outside of city limits.

It also directed the city’s semi-autonomous wastewater agency to conduct its own study.

The city’s study and report will cost $243,750.

TischlerBise will research what it would take to provide services such as trash collection, police and fire protection, road repair, animal services and other services to areas outside city limits if the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority decides to provide sanitary sewer services there.

The report is meant to inform the city on whether to pursue a policy of providing such services beyond city limits.