SPRINGDALE -- Residents will have a new park with sports facilities to use in about a year, because of a vote from the City Council.
Aldermen approved a construction contract and $10.8 million budget for a new park at Tuesday's meeting. The park will be built on the southeast corner of Don Tyson Parkway and Hylton Road, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.
At A Glance
Council Action
Springdale’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:
• A resolution recognizing Bikes, Blues & BBQ as a city-approved special event.
• Buying two fire engines and extrication equipment.
• Spending $4,300 to treat trees on Don Tyson Parkway for pests and fungus and to fertilize them.
• Spending $5,000 to update city flood maps.
Source: Staff Report
The layout of the park on the city's website shows four baseball fields, a track with a football field in the center, six soccer fields, four tennis courts and a trail around the park. There will also be two parking lots.
It'll be the first large park in that part of the city with sports fields, Sprouse said. The baseball fields will also have synthetic turf, which drains easier after rain.
Jim Reed, alderman, said the park is near Lakeside Junior High School and will help students by giving them a place to spend time outside of class.
The lowest bid, by Milestone Construction Company, originally came in at $13.6 million. The park will be built with bond money, and the bid came in higher than the city could afford.
Some amenities were cut from the project to lower the cost, Sprouse said. Officials removed the track around the football field and the press box from the plans. They also decided to use less and a different type of fencing.
The cost will not exceed $14.9 million without approval from the City Council.
A northwest city park was also supposed to be built with bond money, Sprouse said. This won't happen because there won't be any bond money left for parks once the one on Don Tyson Parkway is built. City officials will have to wait until there's money available to build the other park.
Officials hope to break ground on the park within the next month and have it completed by this time next year, Sprouse said.
Aldermen also approved a mutual aid agreement between the Springdale and Tontitown fire departments. Response is discretionary, meaning firefighters from either city have a choice of whether to respond.
This comes after Tontitown officials asked the Tontitown Area Fire Department to stop answering calls within the city. The area department stopped answering those calls July 1.
Brad Bruns, alderman, explained he doesn't want any politics in Tontitown to affect the safety of the firefighters. Springdale Fire Chief Mike Irwin said that won't happen. He expressed confidence Springdale firefighters know what they can do and what they are trained for.
NW News on 07/23/2014