Parking spaces, bulk waste removal on the table
Arkansas-side officials discuss possible return of Dial-a-Truck during workshop
Texarkana, Ark., city staff discussed downtown parking and providing bulk waste removal service during a workshop meeting Wednesday in City Hall.
As a result, leasing cityowned parking spaces to developers of new downtown apartments remains an option, and the city Board of Directors will consider providing residents with junk-removal service for a fee.
The city is considering leasing 64 parking spaces at East Broad and Hazel streets to Pagame Properties, a company that hopes to convert the former Coliseum nightclub at 401 E. Broad St. into an apartment building. Owners of neighboring businesses have expressed concern about tenants of the new apartments parking closer to the building, forcing their customers to park farther away.
Pagame partner Christian Wright on Wednesday said preliminary architectural plans would put 23 to 25 apartments in the Coliseum building, down from a first estimate of more than 30, so residents would need only about half of the spaces originally proposed.
A draft lease contract would require Pagame to maintain the city lot and clear it of vehicles on days when there are special events such as car shows at the nearby Four States Auto Museum.
“We want to accommodate everyone,” Public Works Director Tyler Richards said.
Assistant Public Works Director Tracie Lee presented some figures regarding the city’s defunct Dial-a-Truck service, which picked up residents’ bulk waste on demand until the program ended in 2012 because it was too expensive.
Lee estimated that today the service would cost more than $74,000 a year, including more than $18,000 for waste management fees and more than $56,000 in labor, equipment and fuel. To defray that cost, Public Works recommends that the service should be provided for a fee.
“The days of free are gone,” Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell said.
For residential pickup, the city would charge $60 per 2 cubic yards, with a maximum charge of $110 and an additional $110 fee if the truck has to make more than one trip. For commercial properties or rental homes, the fee would be $120 for a small load or $360 for a large load, which would double if the truck has to return.
“In order for us to resurrect this program, the economics will have to make sense. Years ago this program was eliminated because the city could not sustain it financially. What you don’t want to do is offer the citizens a service and a year or two later have to walk it back.
“I believe our new approach to bringing back the Dial-aTruck is reasonable, sustainable and most of all affordable,” City Manager Kenny Haskin said.
Staff plan to propose the Dial-a-Truck fee schedule to the city Board of Directors at a future board meeting.