After months of contention and a lot of dollars spent by the city of Bentonville toward replacing the failed Lake Bella Vista dam, it now seems the legal part of this dispute has all but resolved itself.
That's because the lawsuit to stop that project was dismissed by mutual consent and the necessary money may well have dried up, according to a story by reporter Melissa Gute.
The construction permit that would have allowed a new dam to proceed has expired and the feds have told the city it can't spend the millions awarded toward the project unless and until the U.S. Corps of Engineers issues a new permit.
That news had to please the Friends of Little Sugar Creek, since its members have been crusading in recent years for the city to remove the dam altogether and allow Little Sugar Creek to flow freely once again. Readers may recall that's also been my feeling, especially since the original decrepit dam had been topped four times since 2008. The advocacy group visualizes parklike settings along the creek along with recreation areas for the public to enjoy.
Even though Bentonville wasn't part of the dismissed litigation, it already had spent more than $400,000 toward realizing the dam's replacement, Mayor Bob McCaslin said. Those funds were allocated with the anticipation of being reimbursed with funds pledged by FEMA. McCaslin said it will be more difficult now to do the project.
The story also quoted Greg Van Horn with Friends of Little Sugar Creek saying Bentonville wouldn't have spent the money it did if leaders had heeded that group's opposition to the project.
Van Horn also recalled when Alderman John Skaggs and nearly 100 residents urged the city not spend $478,800 on designing the dam in December 2015. The original plan was to have federal and state funds pay to replace the dam, expected to cost $3.5 million. FEMA committed $2.7 million toward that end with the remainder coming from the state's Emergency Management and Economic Development departments.
What happens next in the saga seems as clear as muddy waters. Meanwhile, the lake remains drained with gates standing open since the last round of flooding. Sounds to me like it's finally time to forget the dam restoration idea altogether, remove this failed albatross, and go with the Friends' original concept of releasing this beautiful little creek to meander freely once again.
'Symbolic' arrests?
With all the circus-like clashing, gnashing and thrashing going on among masked "protest" crowds at the University of California at Berkeley campus, I wondered why the Berkeley Police were acting more like bystanders than law enforcement agents. So I went to the police website hoping to find a mission statement and discovered they apparently offer the opportunity for campus protesters to request "symbolic arrests," as opposed to facing actual charges. That's what it says under the department's "Event Planning Checklist."
Prospective protesters apparently can even tell police when and where they'd prefer the police department to make these arrests in front of a media all too willing to make the arrests seem real. Well, at least I've never seen any newsfolk tell readers or viewers that police described any arrests as "symbolic."
Girl's GodNod
Speaking of GodNods, those inexplicable events that hearken to divine intervention, a 4-year-old Harrison girl somehow managed to unlatch the rear door to her church van and suddenly toppled out onto U.S. 65.
In an act I label a "GodNod," Ryan Ciampoli, an off-duty EMT and volunteer firefighter from Crawford County, was following close behind and stopped to move her from the roadway and offer first aid before an ambulance arrived to transport her to Mercy Hospital in nearby Springfield. At last report, the fortunate little girl has a broken jaw, but is healing.
Costly trip
I'm playing golf with my lifelong friend Pat Moles the other day when he told the little story of he and our mutual friend Roy Thomas, playing together in a two-day amputee tournament at the now defunct Rosswood Country Club in Pine Bluff.
"We decided the first night we arrived to make the two-hour drive to Tunica and enjoy an evening at the casinos," said Pat, who lost his lower left arm and most of his right hand from a landmine explosion during the Vietnam War. Roy has a prosthesis in place of his missing right leg.
"So the next morning, the fellas we were playing with were making pleasant conversation when one asked how we'd done at Tunica.
"Without missing a beat Pat chimed up: 'Pretty bad actually. We lost an arm and a leg!'"
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 04/25/2017