Fayetteville council, mayor outline plans for this year

FAYETTEVILLE -- The city will take up two major initiatives this year as council members tackle their own pet projects.

The city committed $470,700 toward economic vitality that includes hiring a program director and contracts with local business Startup Junkie and the Chamber of Commerce. Startup Junkie will focus on bringing in new business while the chamber remains responsible for business retention.

Fayetteville City Council

Position 1 (term expires Dec. 31, 2018)

Adella Gray, Ward 1

Mark Kinion, Ward 2

Justin Tennant, Ward 3

John La Tour, Ward 4

Position 2 (term expires Dec. 31, 2020)

Sarah Marsh, Ward 1

Matthew Petty, Ward 2

Sarah Bunch, Ward 3

Alan Long, Ward 4

The council will return to discussions on the Solid Waste Reduction, Diversion and Recycling Master Plan. The first round of public comment became heated at the Dec. 7 meeting, and aldermen voted to delay further discussion to the council's second meeting in February.

The city set a goal in 2013 to divert 80 percent of waste from landfill to recycling, reuse or composting by 2025. Its rate has hovered from 16 to 20 percent over the past 10 years and sits at 18 percent now. Florida-based Kessler Consulting devised the plan that includes three main sections on recycling, food waste and bulk waste.

Mayor's vision, new face

Mayor Lioneld Jordan plans to keep five long-term goals in mind this year. The economic development strategy is one. Jordan also wants to keep paying off the city's debt. Jordan hopes to pay off $68 million of the $92 million debt by the end of 2019.

"The most important thing you do as an elected official is properly manage the taxpayers' money," Jordan said. "You don't get a lot of headlines and you don't get a lot of awards for doing that, but at the end of the day, you make the government run smoothly and you keep the costs down on the citizens."

Jordan also wants to continue work on the "Mayor's Box," which has the northwest corner to finish connecting Rupple Road to Van Asche Drive. He also wants to streamline some of the city's workflow and processes and come up with a number of technology improvements, including affordable Wi-Fi across the city.

"I'm trying to get the whole city to where you can go anywhere in town and have a hot spot, but that's a pretty broad brush," Jordan said. "That'll have to be done in phases."

The first steps of the economic program should start soon after Jordan's State of the City address Jan. 17 by hiring an economic vitality director. Crews also will complete Clabber Creek Trail in west Fayetteville and finish trails connecting to Mount Kessler Regional Park.

Improving the west side of College Avenue between Maple and North streets also should wrap up by the end of this year. City crews widened the sidewalk, added lights and trees and made other adjustments to the east side in 2016.

Alderwoman-elect Sarah Bunch will replace outgoing Ward 3 Alderman Martin Schoppmeyer Jr. on the council. Bunch, a real estate agent and former planning commissioner, has spent the last few weeks sitting in on meetings, taking notes, meeting with people and generally getting acclimated at City Hall, she said.

"Right now, I am just in the process of starting," Bunch said. "I feel like I don't even know what the questions are that I'm going to need to ask yet."

Constituents already have started calling the city office asking for Bunch. Having more people stop and approach her or otherwise reach out to her will take some getting used to, she said.

"That's part of the territory when you run for city office, and that's what you're there to do," Bunch said. "You're there to listen to people and try to help them negotiate the system and work through issues they may have and make the city a better place."

South and midtown Fayetteville

Alderwoman Sarah Marsh of Ward 1 in south Fayetteville wants an economic vitality director to be hired as soon as possible and get the initiative rolling. She also wants to pass the solid waste master plan to start a number of its directives. Making the city more walkable as part of the city's 2030 master plan is always on her mind, she said.

South Fayetteville has a high population density, numerous businesses, the high school, the university's Art and Design District and a lot of potential, Marsh said. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and South School Avenue in particular could stand to be more pedestrian-friendly, she said.

"There's so much opportunity with people who want to walk and businesses that need more walk-in customers," Marsh said. "We've really got to shift our thinking down there and build that as a place for people and not just cars."

Alderman Matthew Petty of Ward 2 in downtown and midtown Fayetteville has been working closely with city staff members to update the city's Transportation Master Plan. The revised plan should be unveiled this summer, he said.

The plan will address east-west transportation needs, trails, transit, spending on sidewalks, and improvements to College Avenue and other major arterial roadways in relation to the city's growing population.

Petty also will look to do away with the lottery for mobile vendors. Food trucks can set up on private property zoned for commercial use, but getting on public property requires submitting a name into the lottery.

"We haven't had anybody apply for more than a year, maybe two years," he said. "That'll be a no-brainer."

Petty made the motion to move further discussion of the solid waste master plan to the second week in February. He suggested reducing the goal from 80 percent diversion to 60 percent and amending the plan's timeline.

"I think we've got everything we need to make a real decision about what goal we should have, which was the whole point," Petty said.

East and west Fayetteville

Alderman Justin Tennant of northeast Fayetteville's Ward 3 said he has pushed to improve the intersection at Old Wire Road and Mission Boulevard since taking office in 2010.

The city partnered with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department on the project. Construction includes an intersection with traffic lights and a crosswalk and 5-foot sidewalks, and it should wrap up this year.

Tennant said he has heard grievances from constituents about the construction and delays in traffic but said he assures everyone the improvements will be worth it.

"I keep telling people if we'll just wait, 2017 will give you what you've wanted for the last 30 years over there," he said. "Hopefully, we can get that completed. That's a really important thing."

Improving connectivity with wider sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes along neighborhoods around Root Elementary School and Gulley Park also is among Tennant's priorities this year.

"It's always kind of shocked people why we have this great park and all these great schools together and no connection other than some roads, and not even great roads," he said.

Tennant said he's excited to work with Bunch, his Ward 3 counterpart.

"She already knows the history of the area. She already knows the people," he said. "Now, she just has to get involved in the City Council part, although she's also been in the wheels of City Hall before being on Planning and other things."

Alderman Alan Long of Ward 4 in west Fayetteville said he wants to come up with a neighborhood plan for areas along Mount Comfort Road near Rupple and Salem roads and Shiloh Drive. Developers and landowners in 2016 frequently brought proposals to the City Council to build in that area, often amid much public concern. An overhaul of the intersection of Mount Comfort and Rupple roads should be completed in late 2018.

"A lot of people do want some type of development and accessible services in the area, but at the same time they're concerned about the lack of infrastructure," he said. "I think that if we really want to focus on that area and have it developed appropriately and thoughtfully, a complete neighborhood plan would be the best idea for that area."

An infrastructure improvement study for the whole city would help officials prepare a future bond package, Long said. Jordan has said his administration plans to bring a comprehensive list of improvements to the voters once the current bond issue is paid off.

Long also said the solid waste master plan requires a steady approach. He suggested improving the city's existing recycling plan and looking into the possibility of a dual-stream, rather than single-stream, system.

The current plan calls for single-stream, meaning all recyclable materials would go in one bin that would get sorted at a facility rather than at the curb. Concerned residents at the Dec. 7 meeting said the method leads to higher contamination rates of materials that otherwise could be recycled and bring in money for the city. Separating glass from other recyclables could reduce contamination, for example.

"I think we should definitely take it very slow," Long said. "I'm definitely not ready to vote on approving it."

The City Council and Jordan will take their oaths of office at their next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The council also will select a vice mayor, a position Marsh has held for a year.

NW News on 01/03/2017

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