Rogers sees storm damage estimates

NWA Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER
Rogers City Hall is seen in a 2016 file photo.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER Rogers City Hall is seen in a 2016 file photo.

ROGERS -- Damage costs are rolling in now that the storms are over.

The City Council on Tuesday approved spending up to $20,000 to repair the Rogers Police Department's radio system and up to $70,000 to buy an emergency generator to be used at the airport.

Council action

The Rogers City Council met Tuesday night and approved:

• Extending the closing time of city parks by one hour, from 9 p.m. to now 10 p.m. Parks Director Jim White said the move should provide consistency around the city.

• Mayor Greg Hines’ appointing John Schmelzle to the Planning Commission to fill the vacant seat.

• Annexing five parcels of land bordering Rogers. The 80 acres is on the west side of Haxton Road and intersects with Morning Star Road, with Scissortail to the east.

• Rezoning 3501 W. Hudson Road from agricultural to industrial. Tina Ford, who represented the project, said the area around the property is industrial. Ford requested a rezone so she could bring more business to the area.

• Rezoning 0.85 acres at the southeast corner of West New Hope Road and South 17th Street from residential single family to residential multifamily at 10 units per acre. John Carney, who represented the project, said the intent is to put three or four duplexes on the property.

Source: Staff Report

The repair needed on the radio systems were caused by recent storm damage, said Capt. Jonathan Best.

Aldermen discussed the cost of the radio system. The expense will come from CMRS fund reserve, which is about $283,000 and will be about $262,000 after the purchase.

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Councilman Clay Kendall said the city didn't have another option but to do the repair. The need is immediate since the system serves critical public functions to maintain public health, order and safety, according to documents provided at the meeting.

The repair will be done by Radiophone of Northwest Arkansas in Lowell.

The airport generator was struck by lightning, said David Krutsch, airport manager. The city already budgeted replacing it this year, but the event sped up the purchase, said Mayor Greg Hines.

Krutsch said the airport was able to secure a 9 percent matching grant from Arkansas Aeronautics to cut down on the cost. An ordinance was passed for the item to speed up the purchase, which will be made from Cummins Mid-South of North Little Rock. Krutsch said the wait time for this type of generator is two or three months.

The council also approved buying concrete box culverts with flex gaskets and plugs for a drainage ditch and for a manhole at Fourth and Persimmon streets, where a galvanized pipe started to rust. City officials said two houses nearby were flooded, which pointed to the problem.

Other purchases approved Tuesday were the result of hazards not related to storms.

The Rogers Recycling Center will buy a mower for $13,000 from Bobcat of Northwest Arkansas in Rogers. Manager Jerrold Haley said the mower the center was using was a hand-me-down from the Parks and Recreation Department that reached the end of its life and experienced an electrical fire.

The expense will come from the city's general reserve fund.

About $35,466 will go to a cardiac monitor for a city ambulance. Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said the ambulance was damaged in an accident more than a year ago. The fire crew didn't realize the monitor had also been damaged until assessing its performance later.

The expense was covered by insurance, Jenkins said.

Two sections of city code were amended Tuesday to more accurately reflect city processes and make it easier for city employees and residents to navigate.

Changes made to code enforcement investigation procedures removes the requirement the Community Development Department to first be involved, said Director John McCurdy. Now all investigations will be through Code Enforcement.

Jennifer Waymack, senior staff attorney, said the change involved removing a lot of unnecessary language and cutting out middlemen for a more efficient process.

Changes to the code concerning conditional use of land clarifies the requirements that should be met in each zone, McCurdy said.

The way it was "led to a lot of confusion," McCurdy said. "People tended to zero in on a list of considerations rather than zone in total. This cleans up the code and our practice."

NW News on 05/24/2017

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