State of the City
Looking back on 2021, ahead to 2022
Editor’s Note: On Feb. 28 Bella Vista Mayor Peter Christie presented the annual State of the City Address to the City Council during its regular session. Here is that address in its entirety.
In my annual report last year, I described 2020 as different, distinct and challenging. Needless to say, 2021, while somewhat better, was also demanding in so many ways, not the least of which was the continued pandemic. In January we met the pandemic head-on as our community paramedics and communications team partnered with Northwest Health to begin our vaccine clinics. We were the first municipality in Northwest AR to do so. As well as numerous clinics at Riordan hall and St. Bernard’s church, we worked with the Northwest AR Council participating in all of their large drive-through vaccination events. We also offered an at-home vaccination service which was very popular. As of the end of 2021 we estimate that close to 70% of eligible Bella Vista residents received both shots and a booster shot. We recognize that vaccination is a personal decision, however we continue to urge everyone to become vaccinated not only for their own health but for the health and well being of family and friends.
Although 2021 was clearly a tumultuous year, the City remains in excellent financial shape. The following information is preliminary and has not been audited. We are in the process of closing the year. Our fund balance (cash reserves) at the end of 2020 exceeded the minimal requirements of 25% of the revenue for the year 2021. We estimate the balance to be approximately $6M. We expect the Fund balance to exceed the 25% requirement of the 2022 budgeted revenue as well.
Last year I highlighted seven activities that were on the horizon. We competed all but one, our search for suitable land to build a fire training facility. I’m pleased to inform you that city council on February 28th, 2022 approved the purchase of land from Cooper Communities close to the MO border near the animal shelter and Republic Services Transfer Station. This is the last project authorized within our
bond issue of 2020.
Allow me to highlight some of our 2020 accomplishments:
• The ever-popular Farmers Markets reopened in 2021 in a new location at Village Center on Lancashire Boulevard. As the name suggests, this location is the geographic center of Bella Vista. The market was well attended each Sunday between April and the end of October.
• Community Development Services (CDS) processed 581 new residential housing permits, 39% more than 2020! They also oversaw the building of the Blowing Springs to Metfield 3.1 mile Blowing Springs Greenway, which has become a very popular venue for cyclists, runners and walkers. CDS, in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, gave away 400 trees and bushes to Bella Vista citizens. Other CDS 2021 highlights include a new septic tank ordinance for new homes, as well as introducing an impact fee on new residences and commercial buildings to help defer our rising infrastructure costs as we continue to grow. The CDS and Streets Department teams worked diligently to successfully re-open Sunset Drive. I’m happy to report that the city did not incur any costs associated with the reinforcement of the cliff and construction of the road other than minimal outside Engineering consultation.
• Last year I mentioned that we doubled the road resurfacing budget for 2021. In 2021 the Street Department oversaw the re-surfacing of 59 miles of city streets, a 91% increase from the year before and the greatest number of miles for at least the last ten years. The approved 2022 budget includes the same amount, $2.4M, for street resurfacing. The Department received 1284 citizen requests in 2021, a 43% increase from the year before. Eighty-seven percent or 1123 of these requests were responded to within two days. Of all departments, the Street Department received the greatest number of compliments from our residents in 2021!
• Our Police Department continued to move forward in the middle of the pandemic. On July 28th they hosted a groundbreaking for the new Public Safety Building on Forest Hills Boulevard, the largest project funded by our bond. The project is on schedule to be completed in December 2022. They hosted events in 2021 that were canceled in 2020 – namely Coffee with A Cop, National Night Out, Citizens Police Academy, and the SALT Senior Safety Academy. The Department introduced a new motorcycle division which has already proved invaluable for traffic patrols and special events. We are extremely proud of Officer John Hearron who has been recognized by the Attorney General as the Benton County 2021 Officer of the Year for his capture of two suspects involved in the murder of Officer Kevin Apple with the Pea Ridge Police Department.
• Our Fire Department has also had a successful year. As mentioned earlier, they were the first department in NWAR to introduce very successful, and well received, vaccine clinics. As a result, they were requested by the Governor’s office to assist in the drafting of a playbook for mass vaccine distribution events within the State and with other States such as Pennsylvania. Our EMS team was the first municipal provider offering covid-19 Rapid and PCR antigen testing. Our Community Paramedic team partnered with Northwest Health to provide acute home healthcare through TeleHealth. New Fire Station No. 3 was built through bond funding and opened for business in January of 2022. This is a six-person station complete with a full complement of equipment and vehicles including an ambulance. Finally, in 2021 the department saw a 15% increase from the previous year in ambulance runs with just over 4,000 calls for service!
• Early in 2021 our Library team transitioned from a covid restricted facility to a fully operational library and they haven’t looked back! The library staff opened the new library extension to the public which includes a children’s area, study and reading rooms as well as meeting rooms which can be booked for public events. They streamlined many patron processes such as new computer reservations and check out systems. In November the library, in conjunction with the city Arts Council, opened a new permanent public art exhibit entitled “Fire Flies” created by local artist Tom Flynn.
• Our Court and Legal team responded to the covid-19 challenge by conducting quarterly arraignments by Zoom and introduced new check-in and check-out changes to ensure the safety of all participants. In 2021 they filed 2,138 cases with more than 2,700 cases pending some of which are old disposed and pending cases transferred from our files in Bentonville prior to the establishment of our own Bella Vista courthouse in 2018. The Court has been converted to a new filing system as they prepare for their move to the new Public Safety building in December. In the first half of the year the legal team was focused on the issue of procuring fire protection water for the new public safety building. A settlement was reached just prior to litigation authorized by City Council. Eminent domain lawsuits were filed against two property owners to obtain necessary property for the completion of the Mercy Way bridge, trail and street improvement project. The team successfully worked to transition the Board of Adjustment duties to the Planning Commission, worked on many ordinance drafts related to enacting a new septic sizing ordinance and made changes to the city burning ordinance. The lack of space at the County jail continues to be a major problem not only for Bella Vista but for all agencies within the County.
• Our Human Resources team negotiated our 2022 employee benefits plans with NO increase in premiums! They, like many of their colleagues in other cities in NWA, retained a professional organization to conduct a salary study in 2021. Staying on top of salaries and benefits is a key element in our recruit and retain strategies. The team was able to justify a number of mid-year increases in 2021 with no negative impact to the bottom line. In addition, the 2022 approved budget includes adjustments to many key positions within the city. We hired 38 individuals in 2021 to fill open positions such as a Finance Director, Trails Manager, and Chief Building official. The team continued to be busy in 2021 tracking covid exposures, quarantines and positive cases. Since the first case of known exposure in 2020, there have been 121 reported exposures of city employees with 54 positive cases. Countless hours have been spent ensuring that all employees have the information and equipment to navigate through each situation.
• Our Communications Director played a prominent role in assisting the Fire Department plan and deploy all vaccine clinics as well as the first mass clinic at JB Hunt. The work of this team garnered a great deal of statewide exposure for the Bella Vista Fire Department. In September of 2021 the much-awaited Bella Vista Bypass was opened by ARDOT. Our Communications Team worked closely with their State and County counterparts in the planning and execution of this very important celebration! The team worked with the Police to disseminate information to the public and media about cases of importance. The Communications Director revamped the trail event permitting process to make it easier for both event organizers and city staff to permit and conduct events. We celebrated the return of trail events in 2021 with both mountain biking and trail running events held on the Back 40 and Little Sugar trail systems.
• A large day to day component that is vitally important to the successful operation of a municipality is Information Technology. Our IT team designed telephone, internet services and cyber security protocols for new Fire Station number 3 and the Public Safety building. They also assisted the library team with some of their improvements, namely digital signage, new self-checkout options and a new intercom system. No matter how much new software and hardware is deployed in the constant vigil to stay ahead of hackers, the main safety thrust in any environment is ensuring that all employees understand that they are key to preventing an outside party from entering our IT systems. In 2021 the IT team added a new email security program complete with monthly educational on line “pointers” to prevent spam and reduce phishing attacks. Through the use of CARES Act funding, the IT team successfully deployed over $200,000 in new equipment and procured 25 new laptops that were deployed to employees who had to work from home during the pandemic.
The year 2022 promises to be a very exciting year full of infrastructure improvements.
• The opening of Fire Station number 3 in January and the Public Safety Building in December.
• Obtaining land for the Fire Training Facility.
• ARDOT replacement of the Tanyard Creek Bridge on Hwy 340/Lancashire Blvd should be complete in Spring of 2022. The replacement of the Little Sugar bridge, also on Hwy 340, has a completion date of early summer 2023.
• Refurbishing the former Fire Station Number 3 into a Streets Department substation and the building of a sand and salt storage facility on the site.
• Continuing with our aggressive road resurfacing program.
• Pay off the last of our short-term debt for new fire fighting vehicles and associated equipment.
• Order a second ladder truck for delivery in 2023
One of the financial challenges we face in 2022 is the reduction of our share of the County Sales and Use tax from 11.98% to 10.59%. This percentage is based on census data. While Bella Vista grew by 13.5% from the previous census to a total population of 30,104, other municipalities grew at a much faster rate. As a result, we were not able to include all requests within the 2022 budget until we assess the full impact of this change in County apportionment of tax revenue. At this point it looks promising that we will be able to fulfill all requests. The Streets department needs a proper wash bay for their vehicles. Currently they have a special permit from the State Environmental Agency to wash the vehicles outside and collect samples of the runoff for inspection by the State lab. There will be a time in the not too distant future when State will no longer renew the permit. The funding for this project, $225,000, is included in our 2023 capital plan however we may need to move this forward.
As always, on behalf of all members of City Council, I extend our thanks to the many volunteers in our community who tirelessly help with the Library, Animal Shelter, trail maintenance, the recycling center, the museum, our churches, community groups and service clubs all of whom are vital to the success of our wonderful community. I also extend a huge thank you to our employees and their supportive families. We have a great team for a great city.
Bella Vista – A Wonderful Place to Call Home!