Storm Destructive

5-Inch Rain Deluge Does $180,000 In Damage

BENTONVILLE — A storm that dumped about 5 inches of rain in Bentonville last week caused roughly $180,000 in damage to city infrastructure, Mayor Bob McCaslin told City Council members Tuesday.

The total has been reported to the state to help in County Judge Bob Clinard’s effort to have Benton County declared a disaster area, McCaslin said.

“It’s hard to handle 5 inches of rain in five hours,” McCaslin said. “But your team has done a good job of getting everything back together.”

At A Glance

Council Action

Bentonville's City Council met Tuesday and approved:

• A plat for Willowbrook Farms Subdivision on Southwest Shell Road

• Appointing Robert Apple to the Advertising and Promotion Commission through Dec. 31, 2016

• An amendment to the design contract for work to Northwest Second Street

• A bid for three utility vehicles from Da Kawa Cycle Center for $39,336 for the Parks and Recreation Department

SOURCE: Staff Report

He commended the city’s Street, Public Works and Parks departments for their work in repairing and opening city streets and trails. City Engineer Ben Peters gave an update on the dam at Bella Vista Lake, which had been damaged twice previously by floodwater and is awaiting replacement. He said the dam is in “pre-repair condition.”

Council members approved an agreement with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission to continue studies on water quality issues on the Illinois River. Bentonville joins Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville and Benton and Washington counties in paying $40,000 a year for a stressor response study on the Illinois River.

Mike Bender, director of the Public Works Department, said the study will cost the group $600,000 over three years.

The stressor report comes in the wake of a second agreement between attorneys general for Arkansas and Oklahoma to lower the phosphorus level in the Illinois River. Oklahoma previously set a standard of 0.037 milligrams per liter, a number McCaslin said was unreasonable and not based on science.

The study aims to identify a standard that is scientific, achievable and economically feasible, according to agenda documents.

“This is critical,” McCaslin said. “I’m mildly optimistic. We’re in a better position than we were two years ago. I hope it leads to a positive conclusion.”

The study will be overseen by the Intergovernmental Work Group, a group formed in 2010 to address the water quality issue. The budget for the group is $280,000 for 2013.

The group has hired consultants to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s model for phosphorus loads in the Illinois River and ensure the model’s accuracy, according to a memo from Bender.

The council also approved a budget adjustment and bid award for a connector trail between the Downtown Trail and the Town Branch Trail. The $95,000 project will add a 10-foot-wide trail between Southeast B Street east of the Bentonville Public Library and Southeast E Street. The new trail will run south of Southeast Fourth Street.

The project will be paid for through a $45,000 grant from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department’s Transportation Enhancement Program and $50,000 from the Community Development Block Grant.

The project was awarded to low-bidder General Solutions Group.

The plans are contingent upon approval by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

Upcoming Events