The (Bentonville) school board has spoken again.
They agreed 7-0 to build a new high school in Centerton as opposed to southwest Bentonville.
That idea failed in last year’s millage attempt. So they eliminated athletic facilities and “other components” and are asking for 2.91 mills as compared to 6.7 mills last year.
The owner of a $100,000 home will pay about $5 per month in additional taxes (probably will be closer to $10).
G. Lightle supported a survey of the people to see what they preferred but later withdrew his suggestion.
W. Cheatham supported a survey but said she could support either idea, but “at the end of the day” (an oldworn-out cliche used only by politicians) she liked the idea of a survey.
T. Riggs thought a survey would open up a “popularity contest,” that it might help transparency but would “disengage” the board as they would have to go with the majority and the people just “don’t have all the information” the board has.
Fantastic! Maybe we would be better off to just disband the board - they still haven’t figured out from last year what happened. They are slow learners.
W. Cowgur said the people he talked to “in the past month,” who didn’t live in south Bentonville, favored Centerton. Go fi gure what this is supposed to mean.
R. Powers said she didn’t feel good about building in a growing area, wasconcerned with traft c and the idea made her stomach hurt. Taking a laxative might help but traft c is bad everywhere.
It is noted the Centerton site would cost about $700,000 more - just tax dollars.
The board’s vote on location and millage amount happened in the basement of the administration building, due to the storms. From the smell, had to be near the restrooms.
In summary, you can see the thought that went into their decision - short on thought. When this comes up for a vote in September, maybe the “uninformed” folks can enlighten them one more time.
JOE W. CONNER
BentonvilleKUDOS TO BUSINESS Iwant to commend the staff at Clubhaus Fitness in Fayetteville for offering the Natural Movement Series as part of 2013 Artosphere. I participated in the Urban Challenge that was designed to provide modern exercise methods in an outdoor urban environment. The staff did an outstanding job planning and equipping the different stations, which included rowing machines on the library rooftop and stationary cycles atop the Dickson Street garage!
Thank you to Clubhaus Fitness for this free, public event and for promoting the health of our community.
MILDRED ROGERS
Fayetteville
Opinion, Pages 5 on 05/24/2013