LOWELL -- Issues surrounding a FedEx Ground terminal almost fully constructed will go before the Planning Commission again Thursday.
Lowell planning
The FedEx Ground terminal project will be presented at Lowell’s Planning Commission on Thursday. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 216 N. Lincoln St.
CORRECTION
The building project at 400 N. Goad Springs Road in Lowell is a FedEx Ground facility. The FedEx operation that will use the facility was reported incorrectly in a previous version of this story and the headline.
Engineers and attorneys who represent The Westmoreland Co., the developer of the property, and Lowell continue to dispute the cost of road improvements surrounding the property at 400 N. Goad Springs Road.
The property's zoning was changed from agricultural to commercial in March 2015. The 250,000-square-foot building was approved for large-scale development in March contingent upon the developer paying $512,000 for road improvements near the property.
The city won't issue a certificate of occupancy so FedEx can begin operation at the facility until payment for road improvements is made in full, Kris Sullivan, Lowell planning and economic development director, said Thursday.
"It's the developer's responsibility to improve the road for the frontage of any commercial development," Sullivan said. "Metro Builders and the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors across (from FedEx) were responsible for their frontage."
Fayetteville attorney Robert Rhoads, who represented the project for Westmoreland, said Monday afternoon he wasn't authorized to discuss the project further.
Developers typically look at the Lowell future street map to see what the improved road will be to determine the cost by measuring lanes starting from the center of the road and going toward the intended property, Sullivan said. Improvement to Goad Springs Road will expand it from two lanes to five. The presence of the Razorback Greenway in relation to the FedEx property confused interpretations of that measurement, Sullivan said, despite being on the opposite side of the road. The developer was concerned the trail would be included in the cost if it had to be uprooted and rebuilt or it might take up space on the property, she said.
Westmoreland issued a $393,806 check to Lowell in December, which is $118,193 short of the agreed-upon balance. In response to an inquiry about whether the sum was still outstanding, Sullivan said the road improvement issues haven't been worked out, but she expected the matter to be resolved soon.
Rhoads addressed the Planning Commission earlier this month hoping to settle the cost dispute before the final payment is made while also requesting the developer be allowed to make the guardhouse on the FedEx property larger.
Rhoads felt the two issues -- road improvement costs and change in size to the guardhouse -- were linked.
"Who on Earth would want to go through the trouble, time and money to build a warehouse without (an agreement)?" Rhoads asked the commissioners. He urged them to consider the changes so the FedEx facility could be completed. "The company did submit and tender a sizable check as a good faith payment. We're truly trying to work out whatever issues we have."
The Planning Commission during its Feb. 6 meeting maintained no further changes would be allowed for the facility as long as the road cost was unpaid. No formal vote was taken since Rhoads withdrew the request, but commissioners made their stance clear.
Commission Chairman Mitch Wright didn't feel appropriate measures had been taken by the developer.
"We're almost a year into this project and still don't have any good faith efforts to get with (Lowell) engineers to work out an agreed upon price," Wright said to Rhoads at the meeting. "Our city staff has been more than accommodating toward you and your folks to move your project along. In no way do I see this as a city problem, I see this as a Westmoreland problem."
"To undercut city estimates by 22 percent, and after a year to ask to go on faith that they'll take care of that (cost) before completion and to change the plans after the fact ... " actions speak louder than words, Commissioner James Milner said. "A year later, the work is not completed. Things haven't been done."
Most planning projects aren't allowed to begin construction until all city-related fees are paid, but a FedEx terminal was too large to pass up and the city was excited to have it, Sullivan said. The commission allowed the project to move forward thinking there would be plenty of incentive for the developer to get road improvements taken care of as soon as possible, she said.
Two previous discussions with two Lowell engineers resulted in varying cost estimates for the road improvements surrounding the FedEx property, which differed from Westmoreland's project engineer's cost by $10,000, Rhoads said.
NW News on 02/21/2017