By Joel Phelps | The Arkadelphian

The Arkadelphia Board of Directors will have plenty to discuss when it meets Tuesday evening.

Airport board vacancy

Derek Franklin is being recommended to fill a vacancy on the city’s airport advisory committee. Franklin, the owner/appraiser of Compass Real Estate Consulting LLC, wrote in correspondence with City Manager Gary Brinkley that he had met all the other members of that committee and is looking forward to aiding committee chair Michael Sellers.

If directors approve Brinkley’s recommendation, Franklin will replace the late Hank Wilson who served on the committee for several years. 

Public hearing to be set

Directors will likely approve a resolution calling for a public hearing at its next meeting to abandon platted city streets that were never developed. “This is exactly the same process as before when closing the street along the 10th Street extension to the bypass,” Brinkley wrote in a memorandum to directors.

Update on drainage project

The city has received a “favorable bid” from Mar-Von Corp. for the installation of a concrete swell on the east side of North 18th Street. Work should be completed by the end of the month, Brinkley is telling directors.

AFD could add assistant chief

Brinkley says it’s “time to update the command structure” for the Arkadelphia Fire Department. “It has been a number of years since the last update.” In a memo to directors, Brinkley also included a job description and a graphic showing both the current and proposed command structure.

If approved, the addition of an assistant chief would “serve the dual role of being the person in charge of his company and assume the additional role of assistant chief.” 

According to the correspondence, the assistant chief would be a stipend position for the remainder of the year at a cost of $450.

Extending water, sewer lines to Super Site

The Economic Development Corp. of Clark County recently approved the idea of spending $1.2 million for the water/wastewater extensions to serve the south end of the 1,000-acre Super Site located west of the existing Clark County Industrial Park on US Highway 67. 

“Now that we have received an acceptable bid for the proposed water/wastewater extension lines, it is appropriate for us to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the EDCCC to formalize the services provided and the funding,” Brinkley wrote to directors.

The EDCCC is scheduled to formally approve the construction budget in a special-called noon meeting Tuesday. If approved, that budget will be presented to directors for board approval on Tuesday night. Total cost of the project is $964,215.

In a separate action the city is expected to consider approving the bid. The city placed for bids twice in August for the extension of the service lines. The lowest qualified bidder was J.R. Fox Company, Inc., for $752,015, which is included as part of the overall cost of the project. Awarding the bid to that company was recommended by Crist Engineers Inc., an engineering firm hired by the city.

New police cars for APD

Directors discussed at a recent budget retreat that the city did not receive two of the four police vehicles ordered this year. 

That order will be resubmitted later this year, Brinkley said, and is asking the board for authorization to order three vehicles for the 2023 budget once that window opens. 

The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, in the upstairs Board Room of Town Hall. City Board meetings are open to the public.