Fayetteville Mayor Hosts Town Hall Meeting

FAYETTEVILLE -- Mayor Lioneld Jordan and Fayetteville department heads briefed residents on ongoing and upcoming city projects during a town hall meeting Monday.

More than 30 people showed up to the meeting at the Boys & Girls Club of Fayetteville.

Attendees heard presentations about street projects, snow removal, fire safety and upgrades to the city's website before the mayor opened the floor to questions.

Jeremy Pate, Development Services director, told residents a municipal park deck project at Spring Street and School Avenue is well under way.

The city broke ground on the $10.9 million construction project in October. Pate said more than 1,200 truckloads of dirt and debris have been removed from the site on the south end of the Walton Arts Center property. He said contractors working for Little Rock-based Baldwin & Shell Construction have begun pouring concrete piers for the parking deck. He expected the parking deck's walls to begin taking shape in January and February. He said the project should be completed by October.

"It's going very well," Pate said.

City Engineer Chris Brown said construction is under way on an extension to Van Asche Drive between Garland and Gregg avenues. Widening work on Huntsville and Happy Hollow roads, in southeast Fayetteville, should be completed this spring, Brown said. The projects are part of a $65.9 million transportation bond program voters approved in 2006.

Brown also detailed several projects on tap in 2015. They include historic bridge restoration on Lafayette and Maple streets; a new traffic signal at the Mission Boulevard-Old Wire Road intersection; and new turn lanes, sidewalks, bike lanes and curb and gutter on a 1-mile stretch of Zion Road, between Vantage Drive and Crossover Road.

"We're going to finish the job, what we did there in front of Lowe's several years ago," Brown said.

Terry Gulley, Transportation Services director, said his crews are gearing up for winter weather. The city added several snowplows to its fleet and will be rolling out a GPS system, so drivers can track in real-time which streets have been treated.

Connie Edmonston, director of Fayetteville's Parks and Recreation Department, said the city is set to receive bids for the first phase of a regional park, off Cato Springs Road, in January. The first phase of the estimated $28 million project will add six soccer fields, three or four baseball diamonds, a "great lawn" and associated infrastructure. Edmonston said she expects construction to begin in March and take 14 to 16 months to complete.

Several residents mentioned proposals from Alderman Matthew Petty and City Attorney Kit Williams to reintroduce a revised version of an anti-discrimination ordinance voters repealed in a Dec. 9 special election.

"All of us have been through kind of a heavy-duty four or five months," Duncan Campbell, president of the group Repeal 119 said Monday. "What we're asking is to give everybody a break. Give the citizens of Fayetteville a rest. It's time to enjoy the holidays, not talk about more ordinances. What we're asking the mayor and the City Council to do is next year, let's sit down and talk -- not necessarily about an ordinance, but about issues."

Jordan said he would be happy to meet with Campbell and any other Repeal 119 representatives.

"I want to hear from everybody," the mayor added. "I think that reasonable people are always going to find a reasonable way forward."