Council discusses security

The Bella Vista City Council discussed a security fence for the police station during its Monday, Dec. 9, work session.

Mayor Peter Christie said that this discussion was prompted by the murder of Fayetteville police officer Stephen Carr, who was shot Saturday night in the police station’s parking area.

“As you know, we had a very unfortunate murder in Fayetteville of a young police officer,” Christie said.

This murder prompted Bella Vista staff and officials to examine their own security, he said. “We are wide open,” he said. Christie said that, after meeting with Bella Vista Police Chief James Graves and Capt. Tim Cook, as well as Fire Chief Steve Sims, the decision was made to pursue a six-foot-tall chain-link fence with concertina wire on top and privacy slats through the links to cover the back portion of the police and fire departments.

Graves explained that he’s been asked to get more information, including estimates on pricing.

The fence will provide better security, he said, and there will be a key fob system like many of the doors in the police department to open the gate for authorized personnel. Additionally, fire department personnel will have a button to open the gate so a battalion chief can open the gate and garage door at the same time so the gate will be open by the time they are through the garage door.

Even if the department gets a new station, he said, this fence will still provide extra security for the fire department.

“It’ll be something that’ll increase the security of this entire property,” he said.

Christie said that this expense is likely to have an impact on the budget.

The current draft of the 2020 budget includes a car wash at the street department facility to improve compliance with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, but a potential safety and security issue is a much higher priority, he said.

“Once we get the costs and everything, I’ll let you know,” he said.

The council also discussed a handful of small

tweaks made to the 2020 city budget, budgetary funding transfers between departments, grant revenue from the Walton Family Foundation for the Mercy Way bridge project, the reappointment of Manual Hagan to the Board of Construction Appeals and a contract with the Bella Vista Animal Shelter, all of which the council is expected to vote on during its Monday, Dec. 16, regular meeting.