LITTLE ROCK — LR directors to vote on firetruck fix-up
The Little Rock Board of Directors will vote Tuesday on a resolution that would allow the Fire Department to refurbish an aerial truck through Fire Trucks Unlimited of Henderson, Nev.
According to the resolution before the board, the department needs to keep the unit in service because of the expense of buying new equipment and the “pressing need” for it.
The department has asked to refurbish the 1993 aerial truck for about $250,000, which will take six months, and then place the truck in the city’s reserve rotation.
According to the city manager’s office, Fire Trucks Unlimited was the lowest responsive bidder for the work.
The city previously bought a new aerial truck to replace this specific truck in the front-line rotation. New trucks cost between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on how they are outfitted.
50-camera contract on board agenda
The Little Rock Board of Directors will consider Tuesday a request to award a sole-source contract for 50 high-definition digital “crime monitoring cameras” to add to the Police Department’s crime-fighting clout.
The department is asking to award the contract for $501,000 to Crime Point Inc.
Funding for the cameras will come from the Police Camera Special Project Fund, which has been accumulating for several years. The city began discussions about using crime-monitoring cameras in 2004.
The Board of Directors approved the purchase of two aerial trucks worth $177,800 in December to help install and maintain the camera system.
Department staff said the Crime Point equipment is compatible with other equipment the city already uses in its increasingly high-tech crime monitoring endeavors, including 25 in-car camera systems purchased in October.
The department has not chosen the locations for all 50 cameras, but Police Chief Stuart Thomas told the board last week that the cameras will be split among the three major patrol divisions and placed at intersections where statistics have shown an uptick in crime.
Boardinghouse a go as appeal falters
A boardinghouse for veterans, parolees and probationers will move forward with opening on Benanna Street after a complainant failed to follow the proper procedures to have an appeal heard by the Little Rock Board of Directors.
The board was to hold a public hearing Tuesday on a Little Rock Planning Commission hearing to allow the house. The Planning Commission voted 6-3 to allow a special-use permit for the Southwest Good Samaritan Restoration Center to convert a building into a boardinghouse at the corner of the Interstate 30 service road and Benanna Street. The city staff recommended approval on the basis of neighboring property uses.
Several neighbors and representatives from area neighborhood associations, including members of Southwest Little Rock United for Progress, attended the commission hearing in November to object to the plan.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter said an appeal of the decision had to be scrapped because the resident filing it did not notify neighbors within 200 feet of the proposed site that the appeal would go before the Board of Directors.
The request asked that the group be allowed to operate the boardinghouse for veterans and nonviolent, non-sex offenders. Representatives said they hope to serve up to 30 male residents and includes a plan for two live-in house managers.
The center plans to run job placement, counseling, GED preparation and other programs out of the boarding facility. The plan calls for an average stay between six months and one year.
Several residents registered objections based on area businesses in the largely commercial area trying to revitalize the surrounding location. At least one resident in a nearby apartment complex said she did not think the area was appropriate because of the number of children living in the complex.
Water utility offers to fix leaks for 40
Central Arkansas Water will celebrate national Fix a Leak Week March 16 through March 24 with a variety of programs, including free help for 40 customers.
The program asks for low-income or elderly residents with leaking toilets in Little Rock or North Little Rock to apply. To qualify, residents must own their own homes and have seen a 50 percent increase in their last two utility bills, utility staff said.
The utility will also be giving away low-flow shower heads and leak-detecting tablets, as well as hosting leak-repair demonstrations.
The utility also announced that it won a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the Government Finance Officers Association for the third year in a row.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 02/03/2013