Board to hear budget amendment for pond guardrail

City directors will hear a budget amendment during Tuesday’s meeting concerning the installation of a guardrail and landscaping along the Highway 412 gateway pond.

During the Sept. 7 board meeting, city staff gave an update regarding the addition of a guardrail around the gateway pond intersection of Hwy 412 and East Main Street as well as installing landscaping (Spicata Liriope), according to a staff report prepared by City Engineer Justin Bland on Oct. 8.

If approved, the guardrail will be installed by Time Striping Inc., Bland said in a follow-up email. Installation would occur 4-8 weeks following approval of the budget amendment.

An increase of expense for the capital outlay in the General Fund will occur if approved in the amount of $24,431, the report states.

The board reviewed the options staff presented and decided on installing 275 feet of Cor-ten guardrail on the Hwy 412 side of the pond, the report states.

This would start about halfway around the curve in the pond wall on the south side and extend to the northeast to a point behind the shadow of the welcome sign, the report states. Landscaping would be installed between the guardrail and the top of the pond wall, the report states.

A resolution was approved in April of this year by the city board to ask the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) to place a guardrail at the retention pond near the “Welcome to Siloam Springs” sign on U.S. Highway 412.

The resolution is due to two separate vehicle accidents that resulted in vehicles crashing into the pond, as well as a mower crashing into the pond in May,

causing the injury of a city worker.

A vehicle crashed into the pond on Jan. 1, 2019, and was flipped upside down, leading to the death of 11-year-old Tyner Levi Hammett.

On March 18 of this year a second vehicle crashed into the retention pond and the driver was arrested in connection with driving while intoxicated and was not transported to the hospital, according to the Siloam Springs Police Department.

A city worker was injured while mowing at the pond when their mower overturned into the pond on May 3. The worker was seriously injured and transported via ambulance to Northwest Regional Medical Çenter in Springdale.

The bid for the guardrail does not include the auguring of the holes for the guardrail posts, the report states. This work will be done by the electric department with digger trucks, the report states.

Additionally staff is still working on concepts for the bushes in front of the guardrail so that cost is not included, the report states.

In the interest of timing staff would like to bring that concept to the city board in the near future with an additional budget amendment as needed, the report states.

City directors will also discuss and vote on the following items:

Consent agenda

• Workshop minutes for the Oct. 5 workshop.

• Regular meeting minutes for the Oct. 5 meeting.

• Resolution 53-21 concerning the participation in the settlement of an opioid case with the Arkansas Municipal League’s Municipal Legal Defense Program.

Ordinances

• Placing Ordinance 2120 regarding the vacation of an unnamed right-of-way for 613 East University Street on its second reading.

• Placing Ordinance 2121 concerning rezoning 613 E. University St. from I-1 (Industrial) to R-3 (Residential Two-Family) on its second reading.

Staff reports

• Board 2021-2022 board goals update.

• Chamber of Commerce third quarter report.

• Main Street Siloam Springs third quarter report.

• Siloam Springs History Museum third quarter report.

• Administrator’s report.

• Executive session/city administrator employment.