Springtown Council hears clarifications
GENTRY — The Springtown Council heard clarifications on the Bredehoeft Street Project at its meeting on June 4.
According to the information contained in the unapproved minutes of the June 4 meeting, the town’s declaratory judgment appeal has been filed, with the appellant’s brief due June 17. The brief was to be prepared for the town by George Rhoads and Associates.
Though there was no update on the Bredehoeft Street Project, the town’s attorney, George Rhoads, “clarified many issues related to this project and discussed prescriptive roads and how they might relate to this subject.”
According to the unapproved minutes, a recent survey of the area shows the street has shifted over many years of use. As a result of the effort to reopen the street to through traffic, residents have staked “the purported property lines to demonstrate the placement of the street based on the survey.”
If the road remains as it is currently marked, several bushes and trees will be removed, according to the minutes.
According to information in the unapproved minutes, “an easement is a legal term describing the right to use land that is owned by someone else for a specific purpose. A prescriptive easement is where the land is used for a specific purpose but the permission of the owner has not been granted. The owner fails to stop this use and so the user automatically becomes the dominant tenement.”
No update was available on the Bredehoeft low-water bridge replacement project, according to the minutes, but the project is underway.
Unapproved minutes state the “Legislative Audit review of finances is complete and waiting for final approval of the committee. Mayor (Terri) Glenn spoke with the auditor and was told there was a delay due to system changes at the state level, and the town should have the final approved report in approximately 30 days.”
It was reported that “grants are available from Northwest Arkansas Economic Development and USDA Rural Development (Community Facility Grant Program)” and “Mayor Glenn circulated grant information to the council members at the May meeting and asked for input on the town’s needs.”
Alderman David Clark suggested purchasing additional maintenance equipment, such as a mower, weed eater and leaf blower to allow the town more control over the upkeep of the town’s property.
Alderman Karee Barrett suggested purchasing security cameras for the community building and town properties.
Under new business, the town received information related to recycling grant funds, which required attendance at an informational meeting on June 6. Alderman Chuck Bostwick volunteered to attend and report back to the council.
Town residents reported tree damage caused by a recent storm and requested assistance in removing the debris. Because the trees are located on an unclosed street and are town property, the town will pay for removal of the tree. According to the unapproved minutes, “Mayor Glenn suggested this unused, unmaintained street be closed.”
Town resident Linda Taylor asked if the town could reduce the speed limit on Arkansas Highway 12 through Springtown. According to the minutes, the “issue has been identified as a concern for many years and is the responsibility of the state. Speed studies have been conducted and the appropriate signage is in place. The town continues to communicate the concerns to the state to document accidents in hopes of implementing change.”
Mayor Glenn also reported a minor plumbing repair needed at the community building.
Present at the meeting were Mayor Glenn, Alderman Chuck Bostwick, Alderman Janet Bostwick, Alderman Karee Barrett, Alderman Virginia Riley, Alderman David Clark, Recorder-Treasurer Shelly
McGarrah, as well as guests George Rhoads, Linda Taylor, Hannah Lemke, Preston Barrett and Vernon Reams.
Instead of allowing public comment at the beginning of the meetings, comment periods are currently allowed (on a trial basis) after each item on the agenda is discussed. This procedure was temporarily changed to assess public participation. Mayor Glenn read aloud the “Rules for Public Comment,” which are not changed.
The council approved minutes of the May 14 meeting as written and accepted financial reports.
The next regular meeting of the council will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9, at the community building in Springtown.
Bredehoeft Street Project
Controversy in Springtown continues over the Bredehoeft Road Project. Some claim a section of narrowed street in the town should be open and used as an extension of Bredehoeft Road between the road and the Don Earley Memorial Bridge on Aubrey Long Road. Others have marked property lines following a narrowing of the street in 2014 and have put up barricades and no trespassing signs on their properties to limit or prevent the use of the road.
At issue in the declaratory-judgment appeal is the width of a former street between Bredehoeft Road and Flint Creek, near the Don Earley Memorial Bridge on Aubrey Long Road. The unused street was narrowed from 60 to 20 feet in 2014, giving to adjacent landowners Michael Evans, Lisa Taylor and Paul Lemke the land vacated by the town.
A new council in 2017 has sought to reopen the street as a continuation of Bredehoeft Road and reroute traffic from Bredehoeft and Aubrey Long Roads there rather than on the current section of Aubrey Long Road which passes by the home and big spring on property owned by Preston and Karee Barrett.
According to a petition seeking to void the 2014 council’s action narrowing the street which was filed on Oct. 13, 2017, the proposed 2014 ordinance was adopted with less than a 2/3 majority of the council voting in favor of suspending the rules and reading by title only and then passing the ordinance on three readings with a single vote. The motion to suspend the rules and read by title only, as well as the vote to pass the ordinance on three readings with a single vote, according to the petition filed in Benton County Circuit Court, was with three council members in favor and two abstaining, or 3/5 of the council and not with the required 2/3 of the council.
The petition also alleged that then-mayor Paul Lemke, who introduced the ordinance, and Elnora Kay Taylor, who voted to combine the three readings into a single reading, benefited from the passing of the ordinance and should not have participated in the introduction or adoption of the ordinance. It also alleged that Linda Taylor, daughter of Elnora Kay Taylor, seconded a motion to read the proposed ordinance by title only and should not have participated in the council actions since her mother stood to benefit from the passage of the ordinance.
The petition alleged that the 3-year-old ordinance should be declared void and the 20 feet on each side of the former Bredehoeft Road be restored to the city because the passing of the ordinance was not done according to Arkansas Code.
In his ruling on Nov. 11, 2018, Judge John Scott said the previous council had lawfully passed the ordinance and he denied the town’s motion to void the 2014 council action.
The decision of the circuit court is now being appealed by the town.
The reopening of this spur of Bredehoeft Road and associated changes remain controversial and relate to a years-old dispute over the location of the Aubrey Long Bridge. When the bridge was planned in 2012, Karee and Preston Barrett objected to its location near a natural spring on their property. After the bridge was completed, the Barretts blamed associated county road work for causing sinkholes on their property. After a change in the makeup of the council, the council embarked on a plan to take back roadways previously abandoned by Springtown and reroute traffic from the bridge away from the Barrett property.