Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
City Council tables trails agreement
BELLA VISTA — The City Council tabled a trail license agreement and appointing a council member to replace Brian Bahr during its meeting Monday.
The proposed agreement between the city and the Bella Vista Property Owners Association would allow the city to lease a portion of land from the association for trails to be built in the city’s central portion. It would be separate from the agreement the city has for the Back 40 trail system, which sits on the East side of the city.
Mayor Peter Christie said the way the proposal has been presented has been confusing and he’d like to see it tabled so a more clear agreement can be built.
That should avoid confusion with multiple documents and any complications from adopting things already adopted, he said. It’s important to note, he said, the city wasn’t discussing an additional $35,000 in maintenance costs, the number that was taken from the Back 40 agreement.
City staff attorney Jason Kelley will be working with Erin Rushing, director of NWA Trailblazers for a new agreement, he said.
The council also voted to postpone appointing a member to the City Council, who would fill a vacancy in Ward 3, Position 2 created by Bahr’s resignation in June.
The vote came in at 3-2, with Christie casting a “yes” vote to allow the motion to carry. Council members Linda Lloyd, Jim Wozniak and Frank Anderson voted in favor of tabling while Doug Fowler and John Flynn voted against tabling it.
Anderson, who made the motion, said he wanted to appoint someone once the election is passed in November, at which point the council can choose whoever wins the election.
“It did not seem to me that we five people on this City Council should be influencing in any way who gets elected,” he said.
Flynn said he disagreed and believed the council had a responsibility to appoint someone both legally and because the council accepted applications and did interviews.
“I think Arkansas law is pretty clear that we need to appoint someone,” he said. “Besides that, we told everybody we were going to appoint someone.”
The council also voted to spend $47,124 for police equipment, $126,404 for dump truck for the Street Department and $168,000 for a sand and salt storage building on Trafalgar Road.