The city of Austin is growing and recently expanded its city hall to better serve those who live in the area.
Bernie Chamberlain, who has been the mayor of Austin since 1999, said new features include expansion of both the mayor’s office and city-services offices, such as the water and human resources offices and the Austin Police Department.
“The addition to City Hall provides much-needed space for the district court and the City Council and Planning Commission meetings. It will also serve as a polling site and a Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office substation,” she said.
City officials broke ground for the project in April 2016, and the ribbon-cutting
ceremony took place in May of this year, she said.
“The renovation also provided a place for community events and functions, such as a training room for police and fire personnel and CPR classes.”
Three offices in the building exist as they were, four offices were expanded, and five new offices were built in City Hall.
A new City Council room and courtroom was also added, along with a kitchen area, restrooms and more parking space and storage space, she said.
Chamberlain said new counters were installed in the building, along with new flooring, and the walls were painted.
“We try to do our own work,” she said. “We don’t like spending taxpayers’ money.”
Chamberlain said the building was 2,100 square feet initially, and the addition added approximately 4,000 square feet.
Funds were saved in the city over the past decade to help pay for the expansion, which cost about $500,000, she said.
“It’s nice because we don’t owe any money,” she said. “It’s completely paid for.”
Kasai Finley was recently appointed as a member of the Austin City Council.
Finley said council member Matt Sheets recently moved to Cabot, and a replacement was needed.
“It was a job that was presented to me if I was interested, and I was,” Finley said. “It was not something that was planned in my life, but it came up, and I very much look forward to it.”
Finley said she hopes to focus on the Howard and Edith Martin Memorial Park in Austin that needs attention, as well as be involved in new things for children to do around the city.
“I’m brand new to this, and I’m just learning everything right now,” she said.
Chamberlain said Sheets recommended Finley for the council when he resigned.
“She’s young, caring; she’ll be able to bring in new ideas, and she owns a business here in Austin,” Chamberlain said.
The Austin City Council now has three males and three females on board.
“We’ve evened up,” she said, laughing.
Finley said the small-town atmosphere is the best thing about Austin.
“There’s a lot to be said for that,” she said. “I very much enjoy it, and it may sound cliche, but everybody knows everybody.”
Chamberlain said the expansion allows all departments to be under the same roof.
The Police Department is no longer located in its old building across the parking lot, which also served as the council room and courtroom in the past, she said.
“We’re not separated. If there’s a problem, we’re all here, and we’re not running back and forth across parking lots anymore,” she said. “There’s so much more we can do here. We couldn’t hold classes over there. We tried at times, and it was as tight as it could be.”
Chamberlain said her favorite thing about being mayor is having the ability to serve the residents of Austin.
“One benefit of being a part of the city of Austin is the citizens are willing to come together for betterment of the city. New citizens and existing residents step up more often than not to provide ideas, manpower and general support for the city in which they live,” she said.
A town-hall meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at Austin City Hall to discuss the growth of the city and how it pertains to the Police Department.
Chamberlain believes in an open-door policy for residents, she said, and hopes they feel that they can reach out to her anytime to express their needs and make suggestions.
As mayor, Chamberlain said, she is actively involved with most of the events and functions that take place in Austin.
“I make every attempt to volunteer my time and energy to every planned event. Some of the events include Austinfest, the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] Commodity Distribution, the Safe Haven Women’s Shelter and the Christmas Alliance of Cabot,” she said.
Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.