North Little Rock's plan to add a ropes adventure course in Emerald Park is being delayed by restrictions on how the public park land is used for recreational activities and a requirement to accept bids on the project, city officials said.
The state Department of Parks and Tourism has approved a request for the ropes course, which would include zip lines and climbing structures, and has forwarded the information to the National Park Service for further review, North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Director Terry Hartwick said last week.
While awaiting the final approval, the city will request bids from high-ropes adventure businesses for the right to lease the public property. Any bid contract would need final approval from the North Little Rock City Council.
"We had to go through a procedure to make sure there would be no adverse effects [on the property]," Hartwick said. "We want to start immediately on putting out for bids. I feel like because the state had no objections that the federal government will not either. When the federal government comes back and says it's a go, I'll already have somebody lined up."
Bid proposals should be ready to be advertised by the end of the month or early April "if everything goes well," said Jeff Caplinger, special projects director for the city Parks Department.
The city designated the former Big Rock Quarry that lies below Emerald Park as city park land in 2013, in an exchange that removed similar-sized parks property on the eastern edge of Burns Park from any use restrictions. The quarry is along the Arkansas River east of the Burns Park Golf Course. A ropes course at Emerald Park would incorporate part of the quarry property that the park overlooks, according to an earlier proposal.
The North Little Rock Parks Commission approved a lease last April with an Arkansas-based company that operates a high-ropes adventure course in Mountain View, agreeing to a 21-year lease to build and operate a ropes course in North Little Rock. At the time, plans were for the course to be operating by this month. The project would have included a building for offices, lockers, equipment storage and merchandise sales.
City Attorney Jason Carter said Friday that the Parks Commission didn't have the authority to approve such a lease. Only the City Council can give that approval, he said. The plans never reached the City Council.
"Legal got involved and said because we were leasing park property, even though the commission said that's what it wanted to do, that we would still have to put it out for requests for proposals," Hartwick said. "Legal said we have to go out and entertain multiple bids. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a better deal."
Arkansas Code Annotated 22-4-503, Carter said, requires that "any sale or lease" of public park property "must follow an advertising and bidding process."
The concept of a private company creating such a recreational use inside a city-owned park "presents a few legal hurdles," Carter said.
"One, being bidding," Carter said. "Another is compliance with federal Outdoor Recreation Grant restrictions. We have Outdoor Recreation Grant funds that pertain to that park area. It seems like [a ropes course] would comply with the restrictions, but it's still a matter that has to be verified before it can move forward."
The Parks Department has worked on the details for a while, Caplinger said, adding that staff "thought we were good to go."
"We had to submit some stuff to the state, and we knew that," Caplinger said. "But when we thought we had that done, they needed additional information. It took a while to get all of that completed.
"We're still hopeful that everything will come about," Caplinger said. "Every once in a while I'll get asked about [the ropes course]. It's kind of dropped off of people's radar, I think. We just have to go through the motions, get through the process first."
Metro on 03/13/2017