City board to hear Boys & Girls Club contract
City directors will decide whether to approve Ordinance 21-05 concerning a contract between the city and the Boys & Girls Club of Western Benton County during the city board meeting on Tuesday.
The city offers a variety of youth sports programs, but is unable to provide these programs utilizing only city staff and facilities, according to a staff report prepared by Community Development Director Don Clark on March 5.
A longstanding practice of the city is to contract for services it is unable to provide, the report states. The Boys & Girls Club has provided these services in the past and is willing to continue to do so, the report states.
Since the city is unaware of any other organization in the area which has the ability to provide these services, staff is seeking to waive the competitive bidding process, the report states.
The contract will be a threeyear agreement with the Boys & Girls Club where the city will pay the club $85,000 annually for them to manage youth sports
programs, the report states.
“We’ve been in partnership with the city in some form for 20 years,” said Chris Shimer, Boys & Girls Club of Western Benton County CEO.
Along with funding, the city also provides access to some city facilities such as the James Butts Baseball Complex for softball, Shimmer said.
Fees for families are $60 per sport, which are some of the lowest in Northwest Arkansas, the report states. Shimer also said no child is who wants to participate is turned away because their family is unable to pay and any child who is on free or reduced lunches at school receives a 50 percent discount, so the $60 fee would be reduced to $30.
The Boys & Girls Club of Western Benton County offers basketball, cheer leading, tackle and flag football, softball and volleyball programs, according to a list provided by the club. In the past three years, more than 700 students have participated each year in the local Boys & Girls Club’s athletic programs. City directors will also discuss the following items:
Consent Agenda
• Workshop minutes for the March 2 workshop.
• Regular meeting minutes for the March 2 meeting.
• Purchase for a 2022 walking floor trailer from Ken’s Truck Repair Inc. in the amount of $85,000.
• Grant application for a $13,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Coronavirus Response Grant Program (ACRGP).
Ordinances
• Placing Ordinance 2102
Staff Reports
• January 2021 financials.
• Administrator’s report.
regarding the vacation of un-named rights-of-way at 316 N. Hico St. on its third reading.
• Placing Ordinance 2103 concerning rezoning 813 AR Highway 16 from A-1 (Agriculture) to R-2 (Residential Medium) on its second reading.
• Placing Ordinance 2104 regarding amending Chapter 102 of the Zoning Code to remove Floor-toArea Ratio from residential zoning requirements on its second reading.