Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Informational meeting draws few residents
Lincoln voters to consider sales, use tax in election May 9
The election ballot will have two questions, and both questions have to be approved for the city to move forward with its plan to construct a new community building on Lincoln Square.
LINCOLN — Only two Lincoln residents, a retired city employee and his wife, showed up during a twohour, drop-in informational meeting recently about the city’s proposed new community building and upcoming May 9 special election.
Four others from outside Lincoln dropped by to find out more about the project, but they will not be able to vote in the upcoming election.
Mayor Doug Hutchens and city business manager Rhonda Hulse joked that they may have to provide free hot dogs for the next informational meeting April 25.
Despite the low turnout, Hutchens and Hulse talked to those who came to the Lincoln Public Library and explained the city’s plans. Four large renderings were posted on easels for residents to see a visual of the plans.
The renderings will continue to be available at the library for people to see, and Hutchens said he also hopes to move the renderings to other places in town frequented by city residents.
The Lincoln City Council is asking voters on May 9 to extend the city’s 0.625% local sales and use tax with proceeds to be used to refund the library debt and pay off a 2023 community building bond issue.
The election ballot will have two questions, and both questions have to be approved for the city to move forward with its plan to construct a new community building on Lincoln Square. Voters will cast a ballot “for” or “against” on each question.
The first question asks voters to allow the city to refund the outstanding balance, $450,000, on the 2012 library bond issue and to extend the 0.625% local sales tax to pay this outstanding balance.
The second question asks voters to allow the city to issue $3.8 million in bonds to finance the costs to demolish the present community building on Lincoln Square, to finance the construction of a new community building in its place and to extend the 0.625% local sales tax to pay off the bonds.
Plans show the new community building would have 4,431 square feet. The interior design includes a lobby, community room with seating for 176 people at round tables, commercial kitchen, storage room, and men’s and women’s restrooms.
The building will be placed in the middle of the city square, rather than off-center like the current building. The location of the front entrance has been changed and will face south toward Main Street.
Hutchens said city officials and the architectural firm, WER Architects of Fayetteville, all agreed the entrance should face south. The “big” question is not why will it face south, but why was it facing west, he said.
The exterior of the proposed building is brick to match the library, has porches on two sides, a drive-up area for the kitchen, and men’s and women’s bathrooms.
Hutchens said the city would keep as many trees as it could. If voters approve the two questions, the goal, Hutchens said, is to have the new building ready for the 2024 Arkansas Apple Festival. The 2023 festival has been canceled because of the unsafe and deteriorating conditions of the present building. The building was closed to the public last fall because of its condition.
“I think it’s an achievable goal, but we’re not going to compromise the integrity of the building to meet it,” Hutchens said.
Jay Norton, the city’s former fire administrator, and his wife, Sandy, are the only two city residents to come by the library, and both said they plan to vote for the project and to continue the local sales tax to pay for it.
Sandy Norton said she thinks the new building will be nice. “Sure it would be nice to keep that [old] building, but that can’t happen. There’s not much of an alternative,” she said.
Jay Norton added that he inspected the building for six to 10 years and it’s been slowly falling down.
He was in the building for a reunion about three weeks before the city closed it and said he noticed a crack going into the kitchen had widened quite a bit.
“I like them,” Norton said about the plans. “It’s functional, useful. It’s laid out well.”