Gentry to pay more than expected for drainage project

GENTRY — The West Main Street drainage project will cost the city more than originally expected.

The City Council accepted a project bid of $374,025 from Krein Construction Inc. on Feb. 6. It was the only bid received for the project.

According to a Feb. 1 letter to the city from Ron Homeyer of Civil Engineering Inc., the bid is $ 46,025 more than the construction funding of $328,000, made up of $300,000 in community development block grant funds plus $28,000 in local funding.

Though Homeyer provided options for proceeding using a deductive alternate requiring the city to secure an additional $ 9,225 in local funding, he wrote, “I do believe that it would be in the best interest of the city of Gentry to secure the full $29,625 of additional local funding and proceed with the entire project. The cost to perform the work included in the deductive alternate will only increase over time and the economy of scale will also be lost, making it much more expensive to complete the last portion of the project.”

The council approved going forward with the entire project, using funds from the street budget to meet the shortfall of $29,625. The grant funds come through an Arkansas Economic Development Commission community block grant.

The project is designed to provide stormwater drainage from North Collins Avenue and west along Main Street to Smith Avenue.

In other business, the council voted to table, until next February, action to collect on a city lien against a property at 119 N. Nelson Ave. for lot cleanup. Rather than foreclosing on the property to collect the lien amount of $9,657.86, the council chose to delay action to allow more time for the property owner to pay the owed amount.

In February 2022, the council was informed by City Attorney Joel Kurtz that a lien had been filed against the property and that the lien would be good for 10 years. Should the city decide to do so, it could foreclose on the property to collect the lien amount at any time. The council, in February 2022, voted to table foreclosure for a year to see if the lien amount is satisfied by that time.

Mayor Kevin Johnston told council members there is a need for a provision to pay overtime to city employees in special emergency situations, such as the ice and snow storm earlier this month that required city employees to work overtime hours to help with snow and ice removal. Johnston said that making city employees take off comp time instead of being paid for overtime hours causes a problem at other times of the year because employees taking comp time are not available to complete necessary city projects planned during the warmer months. He suggested that a way of paying for overtime hours in such emergency situations would be of benefit to the city.

Kurtz will research the matter and possibly bring back a resolution for the March council meeting.

The council also considered and approved an amended 2022 budget, adjusting line items to reflect actual expenditures.

Kurtz shared with the council a draft document codifying city ordinances, saying the city had not done this in some time and that it would be helpful to approve this as a PDF to be posted on the city’s website. Instead of sending the codification project off to be done by an outside company and paying a high price, Kurtz suggested the city could do this and update it each year. He asked the council to review the 246-page draft document he provided and notify him of any mistakes or errors. Approval was tabled by the council, and an ordinance approving the codification of the city’s ordinances is expected to be brought back at the March council meeting for consideration.

Johnston reported to the council that the economic development committee meeting that had been postponed due to ice and snow would be rescheduled soon. He said topics to be taken up by the committee would include horses on sidewalks, through truck traffic on West Main Street and liquor by the drink.

Announced at the beginning of the meeting by Janie Parks, the executive director of the Gentry Chamber of Commerce, were the Easter egg hunt coming up on April 8, an award celebration to be held in the McKee Community Room at a date soon to be set and a downtown revitalization meeting with a date also yet to be set. Parks said a fishing derby for local youth would be held from 9 a.m.noon June 3. She also spoke of other businesses preparing to open soon in Gentry.

Council member Janice Arnold asked, “What can we do to get more restaurants in town?”

Johnston stated that Gentry needs to grow in order to attract more restaurants and businesses. Johnston said Siloam Springs is five times Gentry’s size in population and that is the reason so many restaurants and businesses are opening there. He said that businesses are not willing to invest large amounts of money to build a new restaurant or facility if there are not enough people there to support that investment.

Parks said she has a long list of people looking for available space in the city but that there are only two buildings currently available on Main Street.

Larry Gregory, reporting for Garver, reported ongoing progress with the city’s wastewater project. He said he expected more information to be ready for the city at its March meeting.