Parking lot improvements given OK

BENTONVILLE — The City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a bid award that will improve amenities at Lake Bella Vista.

David Wright, Parks and Recreation director, asked the council to consider a $1.83 million agreement with Milestone Construction for the purchase of materials, labor and services for parking lot improvements.

The project will include a new parking lot, a trail connection, restrooms and playground, according to a letter from Wade Tomlinson, city parks planner.

Funds will come from a $1,189,396 balance of the Razorback Greenway improvements 2019 grant from the Walton Family Foundation and $645,463 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, which administers funds from FEMA, has approved the bid and authorized the city to move forward, according to council documents.

“This is something we have wanted to do for a long time,” Wright said. “We want to get moving on the parking lot.”

Work on the parking lot could start in late spring or early summer with a goal to be finished by the end of the year, he said.

CEI Engineering will be able work on erosion mitigation for the McKissic Creek Trail project after the council approved a $58,000 change order. The money came from the Walton Family Foundation.

Since the McKissic Creek Trail’s design was completed in 2019, McKissic Creek has experienced numerous high- impact rain events, which have caused significant erosion. Due to the extreme nature of the erosion, the trail cannot be built strictly following the original design nor can it be easily modified to accommodate necessary changes, Hunter Garrison, bike and pedestrian planner, wrote in a letter that was part of council documents.

Additional short- term and long-term solutions are needed to help deter future erosion and ensure the trail is built in a sustainable manner. CEI has proposed to contract with FTN Associates, Ltd., an Arkansas-based engineering firm that specializes in water resources engineering, for the additional services, according to council documents.

A part-time medical director for the Fire Department also was given council approval.

The department has a contract position with Dr. Brad Johnson for the medical director that pays $12,000 annually. The position is a licensed physician working for a private clinic/ hospital, and he allows the city to use his medical credentials and license to support the city’s ambulance service, according to city documents.

Johnson will continue in the part-time role, Fire Chief Brent Boydston said.

The national trend for fire departments with ambulance service agreements is to have medical directors on staff who can be directly involved in EMT and paramedic training, quality control, advanced medical training and medical emergency incident critiques, according to city documents.

To further utilize the medical director’s expertise and accompanying use of medical credentials and license, the city wanted to create a part-time position working approximately 12 hours a week, according to city documents.

The medical director will begin onsite training at various city fire stations and be able to accompany Fire Department staff on ambulance calls to observe and train. The additional costs associated with converting the position from a contract worker at $12,000 annually to a part-time employee with salary of $60,000 annually will be generated by adding a $10 surcharge on all ambulance calls, according to city documents.