City moves toward removing battered Lake Bella Vista dam

BENTONVILLE -- The city's Committee of the Whole on Monday voted 6-1 to bring a resolution to the City Council tonight in favor of removing the Lake Bella Vista dam.

David Wright, Parks and Recreation director, gave the committee three options to consider: dam removal, dam reconstruction or continuing to hold as a court case involving the battered dam plays out.

It could take at least 90 days to find the right qualified firm to remove the dam, Wright said. Design work also would include any necessary stream bank restoration.

The anticipated cost for dam removal and stream bank repairs ranges from $300,000 to $500,000 plus design fees and permitting, according to Wright's presentation.

If the resolution passes, the city could begin to work on amenities outside the footprint of the dam, which includes a parking lot, restrooms, a playground and trail enhancements. Much of that design work is 90% complete, according to Wright's presentation.

An agreement with a qualified firm would see work done in two area phases. Area one would be the footprint of the dam and any required stream restoration within the lake area. Area two would be relocation of the current stream farther south, according to Wright.

Councilman Bill Burckart, the lone vote against dam removal, said the dam should have been rebuilt years ago. One council member, Cindy Acree, was absent.

Councilman Octavio Sanchez asked if there would be a way to save the gates or spillways to the current dam as some sort of historical reference. Other council members agreed that would be a good idea if it could be done.

Floodwater washed out a new area of the dam April 28. The dam was first damaged during flooding in 2008. It was topped by flooding in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

There is more damage at the 135-acre Lake Bella Vista Park than just to the dam, Wright previously said. He pointed to the bridge on the south end of the property where stream bank erosion worsens each time there's a heavy rain.

The park's hard surface loop trail remains closed, but the playground, pavilion and mountain bike trails are open, Wright said.

A lawsuit regarding the dam is before the Arkansas Court of Appeals. City Attorney George Spence has said he doesn't expect the Court of Appeals to render a decision this year.

Wright gave the committee an overview from when a task force was formed in 2017 through the April flooding event.

The lake master plan included a lake-only plan, a stream-only plan and a stream with a side channel lake, according to the presentation.

The city Parks and Recreation Advisory Board in June 2018 voted to remove the dam and Little Sugar Creek be restored without a side channel lake. The dam in on the park's north end.

The city in June received approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start work on the parking lot and park trails, city officials said.

The committee also discussed the Bentonville Together DEI Roadmap.

Mayor Stephanie Orman launched Bentonville Together in June 2020 to build diversity, equity and inclusion among city staff and the community.

Listen, Learn, and Lead are the themes of the city's vision. The goal is for Bentonville to be "a welcoming and diverse community that embraces its increasingly diverse and culturally rich population and prioritizes quality of life, equality and inclusion for all," according to the Bentonville Together plan.

The city has had more than 20 community listening sessions, said Debbie Griffin, city director of administration.

Burckart, who grew up in Bentonville, attended a few of the sessions and called them "enlightening."

"It was open and friendly," he said. "There was great discussion on how we move ourselves forward."

DEI Roadmap key objectives include building a workforce that is broadly reflective of the community the city serves; attracting and retaining a talented workforce skilled at inclusion and working together; creating processes, policies, plans, programs and services that meet the diverse needs of those the city serves; creating and maintaining a space for community conversations and action around diversity, equity and inclusion; and helping identify and address barriers within the organizational systems.

Under each objective was a series of bullet points of things being done now and what will be rolled out in the future.

"This is a process we will continue," Orman said.