First meeting of 2017
The Siloam Springs Board of Directors will return for their first meeting of 2017 on Tuesday.
First on the agenda is the first of two proposals related to Northside Elementary.
A rezoning permit and a significant development permit will both be considered for the school. The Siloam Springs School District has requested to build a 5,536-square-foot addition to the school in order to provide more classroom space.
The project was reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission in December. The commission hearing featured some questions about traffic problems that already exist in the area from members of the public who attended the meeting. The Commissioners ultimately decided the project, which would accommodate up to 50 new students, would not significantly worsen traffic issues.
The project will be on the west side of the school, where the current playground is located. The playground will be moved to the west side of the current gym as part of the project.
Next on the agenda is a final plat development permit for an addition on West Jefferson and South Dogwood Streets. The permit was previously remanded to the Planning and Zoning Commission because the developer deleted one lot. The new permit
requests nine lots, instead of 10.
An organizational meeting required by state law will follow the plat permit. The meeting is to renew the policy on the procedures of the Board of Directors. The only proposed change from last year is the addition of a clause in the section on the Mayor’s veto power that would mean the mayor has no veto power when appointing personnel.
Up next is a preliminary plat permit. The permit is proposed for the Heritage Ranch addition, located at the 2200 block of North Carl Street. The permit would cover 53 lots in four phases, one of which has already been constructed. City staff has requested that the development be annexed into the city, as it is currently outside of city limits, but within the city’s planning area.
In total, the subdivision would be 60 single-family lots in a 18.36 acre space.
The final item on the agenda is an amendment to the city’s employee handbook. Currently, any city employee that is subject to being on-call is required to live within 10 miles of city limits, except for fire and police personnel, who have to live within 20 miles of city limits.
The city’s staff report said that the distance is measured in a straight line, and doesn’t necessarily reflect drive-time. The proposed amendment is to allow the City Administrator to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for cases where travel time is still relatively short for a candidate, even though they do not meet the proximity requirement.