VA to open bidding for vets-home project

The $24 million project to build a new veterans nursing home in North Little Rock will start the bidding process next week, Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs officials told their oversight commission Tuesday.

Bidding can begin after a public comment period expires Friday and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald signs documents transferring land from the federal VA to the state Veterans Affairs Department.

The bidding process will start about two years after the Arkansas Legislature amended state code to allow the state to establish a new veterans home after the closure of the old Little Rock Veterans Home.

"It's all looking good," said Charles Johnson, acting director of the state department. "We're excited about it."

Johnson also told the 15-member Arkansas Veterans Commission, which serves an advisory role to the state department, that he is forming a long-term strategic plan for the department's future, including the addition of more state veterans homes.

"We've been cleaning up for the last few years, and we need to start thinking about the future and where the agency needs to go," Johnson said. "Some of the things we need to look at are new homes -- there's a lot of talk that we need more."

Bob Schoenborn, chairman of the commission, said the Arkansas Veterans Coalition will go to the Arkansas Legislature this session to ask "that significant attention be paid to veterans homes in the state." The coalition consists of representatives from more than a dozen veterans service organizations in Arkansas.

"The Arkansas Veterans Coalition is not at all pleased with the long-range plan for veterans homes," Schoenborn said.

Since the Little Rock Veterans Home closed in 2012, the veterans home in Fayetteville has been Arkansas' only state-run home. No state surrounding Arkansas has fewer than three homes, according to the National Association of State Veterans Homes.

Johnson proposed assembling an informal committee of Arkansas Veterans Commission members, representatives from the Arkansas Veterans Coalition and other interested parties to look at the future need for state veterans homes and where they should be located.

"We need to study that," Johnson said. "I don't think this agency has ever had a strategic plan."

While the department plans for the long-term future, it's also on a strict timeline to submit the final application to the federal VA for the new Central Arkansas Veterans Home.

The Central Arkansas Veterans Home will be built on a 35-acre parcel near the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center, formerly Fort Roots. The proposed cottage-style design consists of eight residences that would house 96 veterans.

Johnson said the agency wants to give companies bidding on the new home enough time to complete "good, quality, thoughtful" bids. However, to stay on track to receive federal matching grants, bidding needs to be complete in March.

The total budget for the project is $24.1 million, which is a combination of federal and state dollars.

The federal VA announced last March that the proposal for the new home would be funded through the agency's 2014 budget. It will pay 65 percent of the cost.

The Arkansas Legislature voted in February to appropriate $7.5 million in state surplus funds, and the state Veterans Affairs Department added approximately $500,000.

To receive federal matching funds, the state agency must secure a contractor and submit the project's budget and a complete design to the federal VA by March 30. Johnson expects that if everything is approved, the agency will receive grant money in April or May, and construction is estimated to begin in late summer.

Some of the funds going toward the new home came from the sale of the property on Charles Bussey Avenue where the Little Rock Veterans Home used to be, Johnson said.

The governor's office paid about $120,000 to demolish the building before the state Veterans Affairs Department, with approval of the governor's office, sold the 4 acres to Little Rock and the city's Metropolitan Housing Alliance for $50,000.

The agency also recently sold a small home once used for administration at the Little Rock Veterans Home, Johnson said. The home was appraised at $34,000, but it received only one bid, of $17,000.

The agency gained approval from the governor's office and the Legislature to sell the home for the bid price to a private purchaser.

"I hope this is the last time I'll brief you about the old home," Johnson told the commission. "It's good to get that off our books."

Metro on 01/21/2015

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