Northwest Arkansas Community College close to land deal with Bentonville

BENTONVILLE -- The city has offered Northwest Arkansas Community College $1.12 million for land it needs to extend Eighth Street east to Water Tower Road.

The college is prepared to accept the offer pending approval by the Board of Trustees, according to officials who spoke during the college's Land Use and Facilities Committee meeting Friday.

The project involves extending Eighth Street across the north side of the college's property and connecting it with a roundabout to Water Tower Road, which runs along the east side of campus. The city also intends to widen Water Tower Road.

Utilities -- including water, sewer, electric and gas -- must be moved to accommodate widening Water Tower. Black Hills Energy will go first as it moves its high-pressure gas line, probably by early July, said Jim Lay, the college's director of facilities and construction management.

Dennis Birge, the city's transportation director, said the Eighth Street extension won't require moving utilities. He expects that project to start this summer and take about 18 months, he said.

Widening Water Tower Road is considered phase two. Birge estimated early 2024 as the completion date for that part. The city is still acquiring property for that phase, he said.

Meanwhile, the college has two more property deals awaiting board approval.

One involves a strip of property bisecting the campus. It once was owned by the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad and contained part of a rail spur.

The college tried several years ago to acquire the property, but backed off because the railroad was unable to convey a clear title for the land, said college President Evelyn Jorgenson. The railroad stored rail cars on the property. College officials deemed that hazardous to students, who sometimes walked between the cars.

In 2016, however, the state Department of Transportation acquired the railroad's property from Water Tower Road west to P Street as it prepared to widen Interstate 49 and build the Eighth Street interchange. That included the section across the college's campus. The rails and ties were removed from campus.

The department bought the property using a federal grant. Grant rules stipulate if the department decides to sell the property, it must do so for the exact amount it paid for the land, Lay said.

College administrators have reached a deal in which the college will pay the state $621,000 for the section bisecting its campus, Lay said. Lay said he's been trying to obtain the property for the college since 1993. Doing so allows the college to create a more cohesive campus.

"And now we have the opportunity to do that, and I just think it's fantastic," he said. "For me it's probably one of the most important things the college can do."

The college also has struck a deal with Mercy Hospital to acquire 3.9 acres adjacent to campus and just west of the National Child Protection Training Center for $450,000, according to Jack Thompson, the college's director of operations.

That land would be used for a new physical plant building. The current physical plant would be converted to space for the college's workforce development programs.

The college originally looked at moving the physical plant to the far north side of its property. That would have been costly because it would require a septic system and running fiber optics one-fourth of a mile, he said.

Thompson said the college has been eyeing this particular land for two years. Mercy originally wanted nearly $1.2 million for it, but eventually agreed to the college's offer of $450,000. An appraisal of the land came in at $850,000, he said. The college is still awaiting official acceptance of the offer from Mercy, Thompson said.

Administrators plan to present the details of all three property deals at the board's meeting Wednesday. They'll seek the board's approval next month.

NW News on 05/24/2020