BENTONVILLE -- The city will hire help to clear debris from flooding two months ago at Bella Vista Lake.
Heavy rain caused flooding throughout the region at the end of December. Parks and Recreation teams have been cleaning debris left in parks and trails since mid-January.
Council Action
Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:
• A March 22 public hearing for an utility easement vacation request by Food Hub NWA.
• A leas with Software Strategies for a hangar at 2550 S.W. Aviation St., Suite 1.
• Updating a lease agreement with Point 6 for Hangar 7 and a lease for Hangar 8 of South T-Hangars at the airport.
• A $1,793 change order for the 2015 sidewalk improvements.
• Appointing of Katie Gottlieb, Nathan Pollet and Octavio Sanchez to the Library Advisory Board.
• Emergency medical services agreements with Centerton, Cave Springs, Highfill and Benton County for ambulance services.
Source: Staff report
Lake Bella Vista Trail was the last trail to open. The 1.75-mile loop opened Monday, David Wright, parks and recreation director, said. That includes the section of path over the Lake Bella Vista Dam, which was damaged in the flood.
But there's still more work to be done in the park's 8.5 acres.
Wright said the damage caused by the flooding event at the end of 2015 was three to four times worse than any other flooding event the city's experienced.
"It was a massive event," he said. "We're not done cleaning it up."
City Council approved Tuesday hiring Pick-It Construction for $72,000 to finish the job. Up to 75 percent of that could be reimbursed by Federal Emergency Management Agency and another 12.5 percent from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, according to meeting documents.
This is the first time the Parks and Recreation Department has contracted work to remove debris from a weather event, Mayor Bob McCaslin said.
The dead trees were too large and the locations were too complex for the Parks and Recreation teams to be able to remove them, Wright told council members in a memo.
"It looks like a bomb went off," Wright said after the meeting of the park's east side.
There's also the issue of time and manpower as department employees will soon be busy maintaining other parks as warm weather comes, according to Wright's memo.
Pick-It Construction will pile all the washed up tree limbs, stumps and burnable debris and burn it while providing supervision, according to meeting documents. They will remove any material that doesn't burn.
Council approved waiving bidding requirements to expedite the project. It would be as late as May before work could begin with the normal bidding process, according to meeting documents.
City officials did, however, met with four companies, which Pick-It Construction offered the lowest bid.
They will have to wait 30 days to start work, but work should take 30 to 45 days once started, Wright said.
The anticipated rain this week has Wright and his crew nervous about more potential cleanup, he said.
Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch that included Benton County through Thursday afternoon.
From 2 to 4 inches of rain is forecast Wednesday and Thursday with the possibility of additional showers and thunderstorms through Sunday.
NW News on 03/09/2016