‘It’s the right time’
Bond funding has Morrilton eyeing growth, progress
Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer said moving forward with a $3.8 million bond issue will allow Morrilton to “capitalize on the momentum” in the city.
“We’ve got more going on at one time than we’ve had in a long, long time,” Lipsmeyer said. “It’s kind of like a domino effect.”
He said private and public investments to the tune of about $150 million are underway or planned in Morrilton within the next year.
The Morrilton City Council gave its blessing to “get the ball rolling” on a $3.8 million bond issue for projects that he said will improve the quality of life for the city’s 6,700 residents.
“It was great; it was unanimous,” Lipsmeyer said of the City Council vote earlier this month.
The resolution approved was to engage Stephens Inc. and Friday Law Firm, the bond counsel, to get the paperwork ready to issue bonds. The bonds would be paid using existing revenues from franchise fees, Lipsmeyer said.
He said $2 million of the $3.8 million would be for street projects, including the Bruce and Harding street intersection.
“The No. 1 priority is redoing that [Bruce and Harding] intersection,” Lipsmeyer said. The estimated cost from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is $150,000, with the city of Morrilton doing “most of the work,” Lipsmeyer said. “You can only come into Bruce Street off the interstate and exit onto Harding to the right. We have a brand-new hotel there. You assume you can go out the way you came in; you can’t.”
Lipsmeyer said engineers have redrawn the intersection, which will include moving utilities. A right-of-way must be obtained from McDonald’s Corp., he said.
“We’re trying to pave all the main streets
coming off Business 9,” he said.
“By the first of the year, we should have our money, and we can start these projects, weather permitting and all that. You can’t start paving roads in January,” Lipsmeyer said.
In addition to street projects, Lipsmeyer said $800,000 will be allocated to Morrilton Parks and Recreation projects, including adding a splash pad and a slide for the city pool and creating an aquatic center.
“We’re looking at possibly buying C4 (Conway County Community Center), which has an indoor pool and basketball arena,” he said. “That would give us an indoor/outdoor pool that some communities are spending millions and millions of dollars on.”
Another project would be to install canopies over the bleachers at the baseball/softball complex.
He said approximately $400,000 would be used for “kind of sprucing up our fire stations and buying a new firetruck.” The three fire stations are metal buildings, and they would receive new facades, possibly crafted out of rock, he said.
A new City Hall might be in the cards, too.
Lipsmeyer said the city is considering buying and renovating the former U.S. Bank on Division Street, depending on how negotiations go.
“U.S. Bank wants $400,000. That’s more than we probably want to spend,” Lipsmeyer said. He said the City Council will tour property on U.S. 64 for a possible location to build a “small” city hall.
“If the city built a city hall, the police department could take over the existing city hall,” he said, adding that the department would move with the city offices if the U.S. Bank building is purchased. “We’re trying to see where we could get the most bang for our bucks.
“We do need a nicer facility to bring people into than what we have, a more modern, updated facility.”
Lipsmeyer said the current building, a former Coca-Cola plant, is about 80 years old and has problems, such as exposed wiring. He said it also doesn’t make a good impression for people who might want to invest in or move to the city.
“The chamber is nice, but then you come to the city hall, and people would wonder if we are on the same page,” he said.
Jerry Smith, president and CEO of the Morrilton Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway County Economic Development Corp., said, “We are real excited” about the bond issue and the projects it will bring.
“You can’t sell businesses on a community that’s not taking care of the growth that’s occurring in the business community,” Smith said. “The community’s got to come along with it.”
Smith said he agrees that the Bruce Street intersection “is a high priority.”
“I think it will facilitate more development getting done in that area,” Smith said.
Among other pending developments, Lipsmeyer mentioned recent purchases in the industrial park. He said Wayne Smith Trucking in Morrilton purchased a facility in the industrial park and is renovating it, a $1 million investment, and another piece of property in the park was purchased.
The mayor ticked off other investments in the community, including a $35 million equipment upgrade at Green Bay Packaging’s Morrilton facility, $20 million that furniture manufacturer Vinhlong-Arkansas Ltd. is infusing into its facility and a $12.5 million workforce training center at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton.
He also touted the South Conway County School District’s successful millage campaign in the Sept. 15 school election. Patrons approved a 3.9-mill property-tax increase for $23 million in projects across the five campuses. A strong school district is a good calling card for people who want to locate in the city, he said.
“Schools are up 80 kids this year. That means people are moving in,” he said. “We want people to come live in Morrilton; the door is open.”
He said a 48-unit apartment complex was approved this month in the city.
“We just feel like this is the right time for us to grow,” Lipsmeyer said. “That’s why we’re doing these things to make our town more viable, have more quality of life — to get people to want to move here.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 3270370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.