Pulaski County notebook

Watershed zoninghearing scheduled

The county Planning Board will hold a public hearing on an amendment proposed for the Lake Maumelle zoning code at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Jeffrey Hawkins Conference Room at 501 W. Markham St. in Little Rock.

The amendment was submitted by a 25-person task force created by an add-on to the zoning ordinance to review the code during a year-long pause on most development in the watershed.

Lake Maumelle provides the drinking water for about 400,000 central Arkansans, and property owners have been in dispute with county and Central Arkansas Water officials about the extent to which zoning regulations were needed to protect the lake.

The task force comprised property owners, environmentalists, engineers and ratepayers who reviewed the code through the lens of protecting water quality and property rights.

The amendment modified some inconsistencies in the code and lessened some of the restrictions on activities in certain zones in the watershed. The text of the amendment can be found on the front page of the county's website: www.co.pulaski.ar.us.

JPs to consider 3city jail contracts

The Quorum Court will consider an ordinance Tuesday night allowing County Judge Buddy Villines to sign three separate contracts with three cities to fund the county jail for the next five years beginning Jan. 1.

North Little Rock, Sherwood and Maumelle have all received approval from their city councils to execute the contracts, worth just under $1 million next year. The cities would pay $37,988, $6,352 and $2,440 more, respectively, next year and their allocation would be subject to a consumer price index adjustment for the four years after that.

Little Rock and Jacksonville have not approved contracts yet.

The county's five largest cities, until Aug. 1, were bound to a 20-year, $2.9 million contract to fund the $25 million county jail operation.

Cities with law enforcement officials operating in Pulaski County that are not in contract with the county are subject to a per-day, per-inmate charge for each person held for them in the jail, but Pulaski County officials have said they do not plan to enforce the payments until Jan. 1. The charge is $245 for the first day and $44 for each day afterward, a cost the county said is higher for the cities than the contract the county is proposing.

Tax-incentive nodfor firms on agenda

The Quorum Court will consider Tuesday night endorsing state tax incentives to help two companies expand.

Ben E. Keith Co., a distributor of food and alcoholic beverages, plans to add $60 million in facilities and equipment in North Little Rock, hiring 74 employees at an average hourly wage of $30 within five years of completing the project. The expected annual payroll for the new hires is $4.44 million.

Davis Rubber Co. at 1800 E. 14th St. in Little Rock, is improving its facilities and adding equipment at a cost of $1.2 million. It expects to increase its workforce from nine to 13 as a result of the project, paying the new employees an average of $11 per hour. The expected annual payroll for the new hires is $125,000.

The company expects to increase the volume of tires it recycles.

Local governments must endorse companies that wish to participate in the Arkansas Economic Development Commission's tax incentives program.

Villines advancesarchitect for board

Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines has appointed architect Gary Dean to the Pulaski County Bridge Facilities Board, and the Quorum Court will consider approving the appointment Tuesday night.

Dean is a partner at Williams & Dean Associated Architects in Little Rock and founded his first architectural firm 43 years ago. He received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1967.

Dean's appointment would be five years.

Metro on 08/10/2014

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