Council approves $20,000 chamber proposal contract

“This gives us an opportunity to have a separate entity of people, business people, who can do our economic development that we can’t do with committees.”

— Ernie Penn, Farmington mayor

FARMINGTON — The City Council recently agreed to a proposal to pay the Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce $20,000 for economic development services for 2022.

The chamber will return with a formal contract outlining what services will be provided, chamber President Josh Frye told council members during their March 14 meeting. This contract will have to be approved by the council, and state law requires the city to approve the contract on an annual basis.

Mayor Ernie Penn recommended the agreement, noting it is a proposal that has been discussed for several years.

“This gives us an opportunity to have a separate entity of people, business people, who can do our economic development that we can’t do with committees,” Penn said. “We’ve tried it. It just doesn’t work. You can’t get enough volunteers to serve.”

The chamber board presently has eight members, and two of those are from the city, business manager Melissa McCarville and council member Diane Bryant.

“So we have two people who are your representatives on the chamber board,” Penn said.

Other board members are Ryan Crawford (Arvest Bank), secretary Tammie Shelley, David Dixon (local attorney), Nancy Woodward (Farmington Veterinary Clinic) and Clayton Williams (Farmington School District).

Frye, who works for First Security Bank, addressed the council, noting he’s been in the community for 12 years and has volunteered with several organizations in Farmington over the years.

The chamber’s mission, Frye said, is to “improve the economic vitality in the Farmington community by cultivating relationships with existing and prospective businesses to drive economic development opportunities.”

Frye said a partnership with the city will help the chamber accomplish its mission by focusing on three main objectives:

• Enhancing communication and engagement from citizens regarding economic development initiatives and increased collaboration with local, state and federal agencies to identify opportunities to create jobs that will in turn increase sales tax revenues for city services and amenities.

• Improve recreational opportunities by delivering community events, such as the local farmers market, fall festival, annual Christmas festivities and other events.

• Improve staffing resources for the chamber to help it facilitate the execution of these objectives and others.

Council member Linda Bell asked if the chamber has used any outside expertise to help with economic development, and Frye said the chamber “historically has not,” mainly because the chamber has a low budget and a board that is 100% volunteer.

“We’ve not had the capacity to champion some of these other causes, and that’s what necessitates this contract,” Frye said, adding the “ideas are there but the ability to execute those ideas is not.”

Along with the three main objectives, the board has other goals and one of those is to increase membership, Frye said. Presently, the chamber has about 50 business members, and not all of them are in Farmington. The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, for example, is a member of the Farmington chamber.

Frye said the chamber’s proposal presented at the meeting would come back as a formal contract to show “what the return on investment will look like for the city.”

McCarville said the city has a similar contract with the Area Agency of Aging of Northwest Arkansas for services and staff support for the Farmington Senior Activity and Wellness Center. This contract has specific goals that have to be met and each year, the center submits a report showing how the money was spent and how it met those objectives, she added.

In other action, the council approved the following:

• A resolution authorizing the sale of bonds to refinance the 2017 bond issue for park and public works improvements.

Kevin Faught, senior vice president of public finance with Stephens, attended the council meeting and said the market for refunding bond issues has changed due to higher inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Initially, Faught said, the city was looking at reducing the interest rate from 3.43% to 2.5% for the $5 million bond issue, with a net savings of $149,000. That’s no longer the case, Faught said.

The resolution will allow Stephens to move forward when interest rates are favorable. If the bonds are sold, Faught will return to the council asking it to ratify the sale with an ordinance.

“If it doesn’t happen, you aren’t out any money,” Faught said.

• A resolution setting a public hearing at 6 p.m. April 11 to discuss vacating a right of way at the corner of South Hill and West Vine streets. Pop’s Holdings LLC has filed the petition for the city to abandon this easement to help with an offsite parking lot for Pedal Pops on Main Street.