City Council approves contract for construction of new city hall
The Benton City Council approved a resolution on Monday accepting Moser Construction for construction manager services in remodeling the old Ualr-benton campus into the new city hall for $2,200,000. The old building is located at 410 River Street. In 2021, the city purchased 6 acres of property to begin the project. Before serving as the UALR- Benton campus, students of Westside Junior High went to school in the building.
The city has already placed a new roof on the building and it was emptied last year by city employees and community members. They had a yard sale where they sold the furniture and equipment from the Ualr-benton campus.
Ready for renovation, the construction project now begins with the council’s approval on Monday night.
According to Mayor Tom Farmer, the city is in the process of putting together a contract and then they will be able to give a timeline for when the project will be finished.
“With the continued growth in many of our city departments there is a great need for additional office space which will be met with the completion of this project,” said Farmer. “Within my outer office, there are two people sharing one office space.
Our code enforcement has increased from 1.5 employees to 5. Our permit tech has increased by one and one fulltime city clerk assistant.”
As the city continues to grow Farmer wants the city to accommodate that growth.
“Our business office has also increased. Our police Department, according to the chief, is presently in need of 13 offices due to filling all the vacant openings,” Farmer added.
The Benton Police Department will use the current city hall once it’s moved to River Street.
In the most recent census, Benton added 4,333 people to its population over the past decade with a growth rate of 14.1 percent. Based on the census data, the overall population in Benton grew from 30,681 people in 2010 to 35,014 people in 2020. The population in 2000 was only
is that of community development director. The city hasn’t hired a community development director since Truett
Smith left the role last year. Smith served as the director of community development since 2018.
The community development director oversees all planning and development for the city as well as code enforcement, Rue stated in her request.
The council also approved the hiring of two deputy court clerks, and the two positions are also budgeted for the entire year so there is no expected increase
to the city budget by filling these positions. The vacant positions need to be filled because having only one clerk for Bryant, Shannon Hills and Haskell courts is not sustainable, Rue stated.
The council also approved a request by the Parks and Recreation Department to resurface the Mills Park pool with a new plaster surface at a cost of $44,300.
“The sides of the concrete have degraded,” Cox told the council. “The pool needs it now to ensure a safe pool for the season.”
Due to the quickly approaching opening of the city’s pools, which begin service on Memorial Day weekend, Cox said.
Tuesday was Treat’s first time to sit in the mayor’s seat during a council meeting. Councilman Jason Brown, Treat’s opponent in the special election, which was held on March 5, complimented the new mayor on his performance. “I look forward to working with you,” Brown said.
Treat thanked Brown and the council. “It is an honor to serve, thank you, council,” he said. “We are going to work really hard as an administration to give you all the information you need.”