City eyes work

Officials react to approval of bond issue

SPRINGDALE — City officials reacted quickly to the voters’ approval of $220 million of bond improvements for the city. The City Council — working through its committees — advanced a resolution Monday night that gives city staff the authority to get started on projects and reimburse city coffers when money is received from sale of the bonds. The full council will vote on the resolution during its regular meeting Feb. 27.

The closing date for the sale of the bonds has been set at May 17, said Wyman Morgan, the city’s director of finance and administration.

Federal law gives the city a three-year window to get the projects going, Mayor Doug Sprouse said. In that threeyear time frame, 85 percent of the money must be spent and most of that money will be spent on construction costs, Morgan said.

“We want to get started on the design process to help move the projects forward,” Sprouse said. The city will ask the architects for the animal shelter — SCM Architects of Little Rock — and the architects of the Shaw Family Park and renovations of Randal Tyson Recreational Complex — Ritchie Smith Associates of Memphis — to complete the design processes for these facilities. Preliminary designs, paid with grant money from the Walton Family Foundation, were presented to voters before the election.

In addition, the resolution would allow the city, depending on council approval, to get started on the extensions of Gene George Boulevard north from Bleaux to Elm Springs Road and Maple Avenue east from Holcomb Street to Park Street.

Public input meeting dates for the projects will be

Federal law gives the city a threeyear window to get the projects going, Mayor Doug Sprouse said.

planned once the council approves the resolution, Sprouse said.

“We want to have as much in play as we can when we sell the bonds,” he said.

The council committee members also voted to pass

on to council the approval of Nabholz Construction Services of Little Rock as the construction manager for the design phase of the animal shelter. Nabholz will be paid $9,750 for 180 days of work.

The construction manager will work with the staff of SCM Architects of Little Rock to ensure all sites, material and procedures for installation are the most practical,

Morgan said. The architect might have worked with a certain type of equipment, but never actually installed it, or the contractor might recommend one tile over another based on drying time.

“We want Nabholz Construction in early on in the design,” Sprouse said. “They might see a cheaper or better way to do something.”

Nabholz was chosen based on interviews for construction manager of the Criminal Justice and Administration Building, another bond program. Once the design is completed, Nabholz will have the opportunity to bid for the construction contract of the animal shelter, Morgan said.