SPRINGDALE — City plans to shuffle its department locations can go forward after the City Council voted to purchase three buildings on Spring Street.
The council approved spending $380,000 Tuesday to buy the buildings at 128 and 130 Spring St. The property was appraised at $445,000 but the owners accepted the city’s offer. The property would be paid from the city’s Capital Improvement Program fund.
The council approved the purchase 6-2, with Mike Overton and Kathy Jaycox voting against it.
Mayor Doug Sprouse proposed buying the buildings to allow city departments to move into larger quarters closer to City Hall. The proposal was tabled three times as council and committee members sought more information.
Aldermen asked about asbestos in the buildings. The owner paid for a phase one environmental audit, at the committee’s request. The property showed no evidence of environmental problems, said April Mitchell, with CEI Engineering, who did the audit.
However, the buildings were not inspected for asbestos because that is not part of a phase one audit. Mold was not found in the building, but testing for it also was not part of the audit, Mitchell said.
Asbestos would have to be removed or sealed before renovation, Mitchell said. Mitchell attended the committee meeting at its request.
Alderman Jim Reed asked for asbestos testing to be made following the city’s purchase.
Plans all for moving the Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division into one of the buildings, with Building Inspection and Code Enforcement going to Investigation Division’s site at 206 S. Blair St. The Information Technology division would move into a the building, with the Arkansas Department of Correction offices moving to the old technology building at 210 Spring St.
The Department of Correction runs a work-release program based in the city jail. Workers from the program clean city buildings and cook meals for city prisoners.
The work-release program could expand, with some trusties moving to sleep in the old inspection building. Additional work-release prisoners could be allotted to the city’s Landscaping Division, saving $110,000 per year. The city hires additional workers for landscaping in the summer.
The old work-release offices are not in good repair and could be torn down, said Sprouse.
The city plans to turn Shiloh Square, in the same block as the purchased buildings, into a trailhead for the city’s trail system. The proposed Razorback Greenway trail which would connect Fayetteville to Bella Vista also would run through the block.
Sprouse noted a $15 million federal grant the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission received could be cut by Congress. The cut, if it happens, would not change the commitment of the city to the trail, Sprouse said, only delay it.
Sprouse gave his state of the city address at the meeting, saying the city needs to make development of the downtown area a priority. Sprouse said he has created a Downtown Development Task Force to iron out issues associated with development. The task force plans to bring a report to the council within two months, he said.
Sprouse also suggested the city should honor some of its notable residents, such as Gene George, Harvey Jones and Willard Walker, by renaming some of its east-west corridors. The city’s southern corridor is named Don Tyson Parkway, after the longtime head of Tyson Foods.