Council approves statue for new safety building

The new public safety building being built in Bella Vista will have a bronze statue outside in front of the building after all following Monday night’s vote by the City Council.

During its regular session held at the Bella Vista District Court Building, the council passed an ordinance waiving the requirements of competitive bidding and authorizing a contract with JH Creative, LLC, in an amount not to exceed $90,000 for the purchase of bronze statuary artwork for display at the public safety building.

After first voting to move the ordinance to a third and final reading, the council voted to pass it by a 4-2 margin.

Moments earlier, during the public input portion of the meeting, four individuals spoke in favor of the statue with one speaking in opposition.

The council had allocated the money for the statue, depicting a police officer with a K-9 officer, in its 2022 budget. But during a February work session a discussion grew out of the idea of whether spending that money was a good use of public funds. The two councilmen who voted no Monday night were Jerry Snow and Steven Bourke. Snow said he would rather see the funds come from private entities or through some fundraising effort while Bourke said he felt he wasn’t being a good steward of city funds if he voted for those funds to be used for this purpose rather than using them to address other needs of the city.

Each of the remaining items on the Monday night agenda passed by virtue of unanimous votes. Those included:

• A resolution authorizing a contract with 1st Employment Staffing in an amount not to exceed $41,395 to provide personnel for seasonal right-of-way mowing for 2022.

• A resolution authorizing the purchase of a front end loader in

the amount of $220,000 for use by the Bella Vista Street Department.

• A resolution authorizing a fifth amendment to the trail system license agreement between the city and the Bella Vista Property Owners Association for the purpose of adding parcels for expansion of the public trail system.

• A resolution approving the mayor’s reappointment of JB Portillo to the Bella Vista Planning Commission for a four-year term expiring March 1, 2026 (Position 5).

• A resolution approving the mayor’s appointment of Clayton Sedberry to the Bella Vista Planning Commission for a four-year term expiring March 1, 2026 (Position 4).

• A resolution approving the mayor’s reappointment of Demara Titzer to the Bella Vista Arts Council for a three-year term.

• A resolution authorizing a contract with Cooper Communities, Inc., in the amount of $112,125 plus closing costs for the purchase of land near U.S. 71 and the Missouri state line for usage as a fire department training facility.

• A resolution amending the 2022 city budget to appropriate $9,800 from the city’s reserves to the Bella Vista Public Library for purchase of HVAC Air Sanitizers.

• A resolution authorizing a third amended trail maintenance agreement between the city and the Bella Vista Property Owners Association.