North Little Rock's City Council is set to forgive a local business for ignoring its direction from months earlier, with a proposal Monday to allow the removal and sale of recycled concrete from an unauthorized site for use on an interstate construction project.
The council in February rejected a proposal to allow concrete recycling within a residential neighborhood on the city's east side.
The newly proposed resolution, if approved, will finalize an agreement reached between the city and Kaye Lynn Tankersley, AR Trison Group LLC and AR Trison Farms LLC. Tankersley is the authorized agent of both companies, which operated at the site unauthorized after the February council meeting.
The council meets at 6 p.m. Monday. The resolution is on the council's consent agenda, usually reserved for items considered noncontroversial and voted on as a group.
The resolution would allow Trison to proceed with the removal and cleanup of recycled concrete that has accumulated over the past six months on Tankersley's property, at 12602 Faulkner Lake Road. The concrete-recycling business didn't have a city permit until this month, as required in the tentative agreement.
Any concrete rubble left over after the cleanup period is to be used toward the future development of the property as a residential subdivision.
In February, the council had rejected Tankersley's application for a special-use permit for AR Trison Farms that would have allowed the crushing, storage and sale of concrete on the property within an R-2 residential zone. A motion to approve the permit failed for lack of a second.
Despite the council's decision, Tankersley's operation continued, City Attorney Jason Carter wrote to the council Aug. 14, in a letter distributed just before that evening's meeting. The business is a subcontractor for a highway construction company that is contracted with the state Department of Transportation to rehabilitate Interstate 440 north of the Arkansas River.
The council granted Mayor Joe Smith's request for a voice vote Aug. 14 to authorize him to inform the Transportation Department that the city would allow Trison Farms to fulfill its contract to provide the materials from the property to allow the highway project to move forward. Smith informed the state agency of the decision in a letter Monday.
In an interview after that council meeting, Tankersley said the operation had continued because city officials had told her it was what the city "wanted us to do."
"We thought we were doing what we were supposed to do," Tankersley said.
Trison is to sell the recycled concrete -- originating from old pavement -- to the contractor, which will use it to build up the grade on the outside of the interstate shoulder, said Danny Straessle,spokesman for the Department of Transportation.
"Our only contractual obligation is with the contractor," Straessle said Friday. "Their relationship is with the suppliers. They're responsible for having the proper licenses and permits."
Trison's operation resulted in "an accumulation of unsightly concrete rubble on the property" in North Little Rock, Carter wrote in his Aug. 14 letter.
City code enforcement officials issued a citation, which is to go before North Little Rock District Judge Randy Morley on Sept. 21.
The city's permission will let the "significant amount" of recycled concrete rubble be removed from the property through Nov. 30 in order for Trison to fulfill its contractual relationship, Carter said.
"We're not rewarding them," Smith said after the Aug. 14 council meeting. "I'm trying to fix a problem. We've got to get that crushed concrete out of there. I'll let the judge decide what kind of penalties are imposed."
Tankersley said that despite the council's original refusal to grant the permit in February, she believed the business could proceed because of the planned residential development at that site.
"When we left here [in February], the impression I got from the mayor and other city representatives was that we needed to move forward with our development plan," Tankersley said. "What isn't sold to the Highway Department was to be for that subdivision. So the mayor was always for this.
"By the actions and intentions of city representatives, we were doing what they wanted us to do," she said.
Smith denied he was complicit in allowing the company to disobey a City Council decision.
"What I told her was we would work with her to find another location," Smith said, referring to other Tankersley properties. "They just chose to ignore the council.
"We certainly think one should pay the price when they break the law," Smith said. "But we're not wanting to delay construction on I-440. I'm able to stand down on any punishment to move that forward."
Metro on 08/27/2017