Goals, sidewalks and Simmons grants on tap for City Board

Directors to meet Tuesday for workshop and meeting.

Board of Directors members will meet Tuesday to make decisions on a pair of grants and a pair of documents that will give direction to the body for the next few years, among other items.

The meeting, which will be preceded by a workshop entitled “Business License” at 5:45 p.m., includes the consideration of the 2017-18 board goals and the city’s Sidewalk and Trail Connectivity Master Plan.

Directors have already met to talk about the goals for the next two years for the body. Along with City Administrator Phillip Patterson and Mayor John Mark Turner, directors hammered out a list of priorities for the next two years on Jan. 25. The list on which directors will vote is the product of that meeting.

The proposed goals for the board include development of a crosswalk master plan and a street repair master plan, strategies for annexation of areas like Dawn Hill, the area north of the airport and city parks, researching regulation or prohibition of medical marijuana dispensaries, replacing the grass medians on U.S. Highway 412, funding water plant upgrades, maintaining parks and developing a plan for the future of Fire Station 2.

There are four “parking lot” goals, which are lower priority. They are: Encouraging new businesses in Siloam Springs, new and old; developing liquor code amendments to allow for “nano-breweries,” which are smaller than micro-breweries; making a plan for all city-owned, undeveloped properties; and exploring options to allow people to leave recyclable materials at the transfer station outside of normal business hours.

Next on the agenda is the adoption of the Sidewalk Trail and Connectivity Master Plan, which will help identify needs

for sidewalk improvement and the priorities of those improvements. The plan builds on the Northwest Arkansas Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan of 2015, according to the staff report.

The plan will connect core neighborhoods and parks to the city’s downtown area. This version of the plan will also include changes based on feedback from a public open house in October of 2016. Adjustments include reflecting an “overwhelming demand” to bring sidewalk improvements to East Main Street, according to the staff report.

Directors will then be asked to decide whether or not to accept a pair of donations from Simmons Foods Inc. The first is for a police dog for the city. The police dog, if approved, will join K9 unit Fado on Siloam Springs’ police force. Like Fado, the second dog would be a dual-purpose unit, trained for patrol and drug detection, according to City Communication Director Holland Hayden.

If approved, the dog would be the third police dog donated by Simmons Foods. The grant, as proposed, is in the amount of $10,500, which will pay for the dog and training for the handler. The police department will have to pay $3,616.80 to outfit a vehicle for use as a K9 unit.

The second grant from Simmons Foods is for a utility trail vehicle and mountain bikes for use by emergency medical personnel. The grant, which is the more sizable of the two at $33,500, would pay for a motorized vehicle with firefighting capabilities, and a number of bicycles. The equipment for the vehicles and training for the bikes will cost the Fire Department an estimated $6,500.

The remaining item on the agenda is a change order for the previously approved winter material building, which will store materials used in maintaining roads during winter storms. According to the staff report, the original plans did not have strong enough concrete walls. Additional tie-beams, spread footings and pilasters will need to be added, which will add $26,233 to the overall cost.