SPRINGDALE -- The Springdale Public Facilities Board on Monday approved the sale of 10.72 acres in the city's technology park to Tyson Foods where the company plans to build a poultry incubation and hatching plant.
Also at the special meeting, the board approved a plan for financing the $1.4 million purchase of property in north Springdale that has been the subject of legal disputes.
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The board approved Tyson Foods' offer of $35,000 per acre, totaling $375,200, said James Crouch, chairman of the board. The property is located on the south side of East Huntsville Avenue between Kawneer Drive and North Monitor Road and east of Bobby Hopper Park. The land is in the area known as the technology park, said Perry Webb, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.
The sale will close around Dec. 18, Webb said.
Tyson Foods already submitted a large-scale development plan to the city to build the hatchery in that location. The Planning Commission is set to consider the plan at its meeting Dec. 1.
The new incubation and hatching operation would replace operations at the hatchery on Randall Wobbe Lane, said Worth Sparkman, company spokesman. The hatchery is dated and upgrades are needed, he said.
The Springdale Public Facilities Board contracts with the Springdale Chamber of Commerce to facilitate industrial park development.
In other business, the board approved using Chambers Bank to finance the possible purchase of the property in north Springdale that has been the center of multiple lawsuits between Bethel Heights and Springdale. The board is interested in purchasing approximately 90 acres at the site, Webb said.
A contract signed Oct. 23 lists the purchase price as $1.4 million.
Crouch said the board has a contract with the property owner to buy the land, but it's not a done deal yet. Appraisals still need to be done, he said.
The real estate contract states that the land would be purchased from Kendrick Revocable Trust and Shelly Ann Kendrick. The 12-page document lists three tracts of land at 1161 Kendrick Ave., 1270 Kendrick Ave. and 1255 Kendrick Ave.
Springdale annexed the land in March, and the City Council approved rezoning it from agricultural to general industrial May 26. Ernest Cate, city attorney, said Bethel Heights has appealed a lawsuit concerning rezoning of the land to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse has said the Springdale Public Facilities Board is interested in buying the land for industrial use. If the board purchases the land, Webb said it isn't expecting to sell any of it in the near future. However, he said he's shown the land to three prospective companies so far.
NW News on 11/10/2015