BRYANT -- Bryant officials voted Tuesday to use eminent domain in securing the property necessary to widen a road connecting the city with Benton.
Bryant City Attorney Chris Madison, along with attorneys from Benton and Saline County, have negotiated with the owners of the 52 tracts needed to expand a 2-mile stretch of Alcoa Road. Thirteen property owners in that stretch have yet to settle on a price for their land, said Saline County Judge Lanny Fite.
The project, which has been in the making for a decade, will cost an estimated $13 million, 80 percent of which will be paid for with federal reimbursement funds, according to the interlocal agreement. However, if the land is not ready to go by September, the federal money will be reallocated to other projects, said Jim McKenzie, the executive director of Metroplan, the regional metropolitan planning organization.
"We're in a time crunch," Madison said Tuesday. "We're on the gun. This needs to get done."
After nearly a year of negotiating through Briggs Field Services, a Houston-based consulting firm retained to talk with property owners to settle on a price for their land, Madison presented in May an ordinance to use eminent domain to secure the handful of tracts still needed.
Under eminent domain, the city government could take private property for public use after providing fair compensation to landowners, Madison said. The value would be set by appraisers, and if the owners were unhappy with the price, they could fight it in court.
"This is to make sure the city is paying a fair price and the person is receiving a fair value," Madison told the Bryant City Council on Tuesday. "What I'm asking is to move this process forward. We don't want to be in a situation where we lose reimbursement funding because we don't do what we said we would do."
Councilmen Adrian Henley and Steve Gladden voted against the measure Tuesday night, saying it wouldn't allow the property owners to negotiate fairly. Several property owners affected by the expansion of Alcoa Road were in attendance Tuesday, and the three who spoke during the meeting said they were unhappy with the negotiations initiated by Briggs Field Services.
"I told them I was ready to negotiate, and they told me Arkansas was a one-offer state," said Ardyn Grinstead, who has owned his property along that road since 1978.
Bryant Mayor Jill Dabbs encouraged the council to pass the ordinance to allow "neighbors to talk with neighbors," instead of having an out-of-state firm negotiate with landowners.
Now that the city will be able to use eminent domain, Madison said, he and Fite will talk with property owners, and the matter will be taken to court if they can't agree.
"I don't want one or two property owners holding back a project that is critical to our community," Madison said.
Fite said widening Alcoa Road is critical because of increased traffic along the corridor since the early 2000s. The project will add an extra lane in each direction, he said, as well as a pedestrian and bike trail and two roundabouts.
Bryant, Benton and Saline County will be responsible for the funding not reimbursed by the federal government. According to the interlocal agreement, Benton is taking on the biggest amount, about 70 percent of the remainder, because most of the land included in the project falls within its territory.
On Monday, the Benton City Council looked at a similar ordinance to the one Bryant passed Tuesday night. Councilman Charles Cunningham presented the ordinance and said the rest of the council will consider it before the next meeting.
"We think many of the people who live along the area recognize the need for the road to be improved," Cunningham said. "Hopefully using eminent domain will not have to happen."
If all the property is secured by September, the local agencies can hire a contractor to relocate utilities to the site, Madison said.
Metro on 06/12/2014