Pay raises OK’d for city of NLR
Council receives hotel update
The North Little Rock City Council voted Monday to increase the salaries of elected officials and a large swathe of city employees.
The raises include:
■ 2.5% base salary increases for all full-time employees, excluding elected officials and uniformed employees who are included in agreements between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police, International Association of Firefighters and the North Little Rock Police Department Supervisors Association;
■ 25 cent-per-hour increase for all part-time city employees’ pay;
■ 2.5% base salary increases for the city’s assistant fire chief, the fire battalion chiefs and the fire marshal;
■ 2.5% base salary increases for elected officials, including City Council members, the mayor, the city attorney and the city clerk/treasurer.
The council approved the raises without discussion during their bimonthly meeting at North Little Rock City Hall, 300 Main St. They will go into effect Jan. 6.
The resolutions for each of the increases state that the adoption of the raises would be “in the best interests of the citizens and residents of the City of North Little Rock.”
In November, a new contract with the International Association of Firefighters signed by Mayor Terry Hartwick stated that city firefighters would get pay raises over the next two years, including a straight 5% increase in 2025. North Little Rock Police Department officers and other department employees also received pay increases after Hartwick approved new two-year contracts
last December.
During Monday’s meeting, the City Council also heard an update on plans for a “boutique hotel” at the site of the former Greyhound bus station, 118 E. Washington Ave. The City Council approved the $620,650 sale of the property
to Makan Hospitality Management in May.
Kal Makan, chief operating officer and director of operations for the company, said he plans for the hotel to open sometime in 2025. Though earlier plans suggested the hotel might be up to 14 stories tall, Makan said Monday the hotel is likely to be between eight and nine stories in height, along with a “rooftop element.” He estimated the number of guest rooms to be about 120.
During his presentation, he said the hotel company Hilton “felt that it was a right fit” to bring one of their new Tempo hotels to Argenta, a historic section of downtown North Little Rock. Hilton launched the Tempo brand in January 2020, with the first opening at Times Square in New York. Two more, one in downtown Nashville and another in downtown Louisville, are “coming soon,” according to that company.
Hilton described the Tempo brand in their news release as reflecting “an elevated and approachable lifestyle.” “Hilton is very excited for this project in regards to coming into the Argenta area,” Makan said. “And we asked them that there would be the name of ‘Argenta’ in some way, shape or form tied in with this hotel.”
Makan also said a “very high-caliber local celebrity” will be involved in the hotel “from an investment standpoint.” He told the council he wouldn’t name the celebrity until the project develops further, but that he and Hartwick met with him last week.
The update to the City Council was given in hopes of getting their “blessing” of the hotel branding. The council members each raised their hands in approval, following a motion to do so by Maurice Taylor of Ward 2.
“I don’t care what it is,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be a great project.”
Hartwick also voiced his optimism about the project, saying, “I think the city, the City Council, everybody I’ve talked about is in favor of this thing going forward.”
The City Council also approved an ordinance and emergency clause to authorize the issuance of industrial development revenue bonds. The bonds “shall be issued in one or more series in an aggregate principal amount of not to exceed $5,000,000.00,” according to the ordinance.
City officials have agreed to cooperate with Farquhar Enterprises LLC, doing business as Pella Products of Arkansas and Missouri, as well as Sunny Slope Holdings LLC in the acquisition, in the construction and equipping of an industrial facility in North Little Rock, as well as to provide certain financing for the warehousing and distribution of windows and doors on a roughly 3-acre site at 8740 Maumelle Blvd.
Pella and Sunny Slope also intend to enter into a lease agreement with the city with regard to the property, according to the ordinance.
According to the ordinance, the City Council believes the project “may be useful in providing additional employment opportunities and will provide other benefits” to the city. The ordinance goes on to state there is an “immediate need” for the operations in order to provide such benefits.
The City Council unanimously approved the ordinance and emergency clause, which took effect immediately upon passage.
With regard to short-term rentals, the council approved ordinances to allow the continuation of three short-term rentals in the city. In April, the city established new regulations regarding the operation of short-term rentals, such as those offered through vacation rental websites Airbnb and Vrbo. The April ordinance passed following over a year of debate.
Previously existing shortterm rental properties without a city of North Little Rock business license were given three months to start the process for a special use to allow the short-term rental. To qualify as a preexisting short-term rental, satisfactory proof of operation prior to the adoption of the ordinance must be provided.