Holiday leak floods City Hall basement
The City Hall staff received an unwanted Christmas present of sorts when returning from the four-day break last week.
When City Hall reopened, the basement had 4 to 5 inches of water from a broken tank in the women's restroom on the second floor, city spokesman Nathan Hamilton said.
An undetermined amount of City Council records, financial records and documents from the city attorney's office stored in the basement were damaged or destroyed, he said.
Some staff members were recovering damaged files late in the week, so the extent of the loss isn't yet known. If there are certain records that must be retained, even though damaged, the city will hire a company that specializes in restoring documents, Hamilton said.
The leaking water heater is estimated to cost about $200 to replace, Hamilton said. A sump pump in the basement that is meant to extract water in the event of flooding also stopped working. A new pump and blowers used to dry the room will cost about $450.
City employees receive days off for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Because both fell on a weekend, City Hall was closed Friday through Monday, so the leak could have been undetected for four days.
Parcel's buyers get another extension
A contract for the $2.53 million sale and potential development of city property at 632 Riverfront Drive has been extended for 45 days, until Feb. 2, the City Council unanimously approved last week.
The one-year "option to buy" agreement between the city's Public Building Authority and H3RE LLC was approved by the council Dec. 14, 2014. The city later extended the contingencies period to June 19 of last year, then again until Dec. 19, when the extension period lapsed. The buyer paid the city $50,000 for the two extensions.
Mayor Joe Smith said he is assured by H3RE representatives that they are prepared to close on the purchase within the next month, so he asked the City Council to grant the new extension at no further cost to the buyer.
The property, 5.8 acres along the Arkansas River and on the former Smarthouse Way industrial site, is envisioned as a mixed-use development to include residential properties, J. Fletcher Hanson III told the City Council in December 2014.
Hanson, chief executive officer of Newmark Grubb Arkansas, is leading the partnership that has proposed to purchase the property.
The city has listed the property for sale since 2005.
Two property deals reach conclusions
City officials closed on the sale of one property and the purchase of another in downtown in December.
The city sold the historic, 121-year-old E.O. Manees House at 216 W. Fourth St., the former home of the Junior League of North Little Rock, to Allen Engstrom for $427,122, according to the finance department. Engstrom's financial consultant company, CFO Network at 321 Maple St., is adjacent to the east side of the property. The company will use the property to expand its business.
The North Little Rock City Council approved the sale in May but delayed the closing date until December to allow the Junior League time to relocate and to hold its annual fundraiser in November. The city paid $36,000 to the Junior League to help with its moving expenses.
The Manees House, built in 1895, is named for Elmer Olonzo Manees, owner of the house from 1908-41. The city bought the home in 1941 for $12,650 and had leased it to the Junior League since the 1960s.
The property the city purchased is a nearly 1-acre strip that contains a Union Pacific railroad spur right of way that runs through city and private property between Main and Magnolia streets and Bishop Lindsey Avenue and East Fourth Street.
Metro on 01/04/2017