SPRINGDALE — City officials filled one more blank line in a list of costs for road improvements by approving a condemnation lawsuit settlement Tuesday.

The City Council approved a settlement for land condemned for the Don Tyson Parkway right of way. The city will pay an additional $899,041 to Valley Harvest Ministries for the land where southbound Interstate 540 traffic will enter and exit the interchange. The city already paid $468,000 to Valley Harvest.

"This falls in line with our other settlements," said Mayor Doug Sprouse. "I think that is the reason the council was comfortable with it."

The council approved the settlement 6-2, with aldermen Eric Ford and Mike Lawson voting against. The interchange work took all of the 6.3 acres except for a small sliver of 0.4 acres. The city bought the remainder since it would be almost unusable, said Ernest Cate, city attorney.

City officials filed seven condemnation lawsuits for right of way, with all but two now settled. The money for the right of way comes from a bond sale that raised $42.71 million for street improvement. The bonds will be paid by a sales tax.

A list of projects included extending and improving 56th Street from the interchange to Elm Springs Road, widening Don Tyson Parkway between Carley Road and 40th Street and extending the parkway from Hylton Road to Habberton Road.

The cost for all the projects, however, is $6.89 million more than money available, said Alan Pugh, director of engineering. The contracts haven't been bid, but additional money spent will leave that much less for the other street projects, Sprouse said.

"What we don't spend on right of way will go back into the pot for streets," Sprouse said.

The city spent almost $7 million for right of way on the interchange before the latest settlement, Pugh said.

The remaining lawsuits are with The Rock of NWA and Victory Church. The city paid $57,000 to the Rock when condemnation was filed. A counterproposal for $610,000 was made by The Rock, said Ernest Cate, city attorney. The council turned the proposal down. If no settlement can be reached, the lawsuit would go to trial Sept. 29, Cate said.

Victory Church is the biggest landowner affected. The city has settled on a condemnation case for property on the west side of I-540 but the lawsuit over its property on the east, which included the church building, hasn't been settled. The city paid $2.45 million when it filed the condemnation. A counterproposal hasn't been offered by the church, Cate said. That lawsuit will go to trial June 10 if not settled.

Both The Rock and Victory Church could come back with a counterproposal, said Stephen Lisle, the attorney that represents them as well as Valley Harvest Church.

The council also approved buying software for the Springdale District Court for $100,000. The software will allow the court to track payments better, according to Judge Jeff Harper. The court technology fund will pay for the software. The technology fund can only be used for technology items used in the court, Harper said.

NW News on 03/12/2014