FAYETTEVILLE -- The City Council enacted a law prohibiting parking in front of mailboxes Tuesday.
Aldermen also rejected a proposal to end term limits for resident board and committees.
Council action
In other business Tuesday, the City Council:
• Approved an expedited system for doing background checks for companies that hire door-to-door solicitors.
• Agreed to spend $682,000 on an excavator and two dump trucks for the Transportation Services Department.
• Adjusted its 2015 street paving and sidewalk plan by delaying improvements to Maple Street, north of the University of Arkansas campus, and, instead, focusing on Stadium Drive, Bulldog Boulevard and Leroy Pond Drive, near Fayetteville High School, this year.
Source: Staff Report
But the topic that drew the most discussion at Tuesday's meeting was a plan to develop a policy for combating invasive plant species.
"Why do we need a policy?" asked Pete Heinzelmann, former chairman of the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, after passing out sprigs of bush honeysuckle to City Council members. "We need it to protect our natural and native environment."
Bush honeysuckle is thought to have been brought to Northwest Arkansas in the mid- to late 1800s from east Asia. It can be recognized this time of year by its white or yellow trumpet-shaped flowers. In the fall, the plants, which can reach heights of 6 to 20 feet, produce bunches of small red berries that carry multiple seeds.
According to the National Park Service, bush honeysuckles are some of the first spring bloomers and some of the last plants to lose their leaves each fall. They block sunlight to native species, choke off other plants and compete for available moisture in the soil.
In Fayetteville, they can be found almost anywhere: on trails; in parks; and along creek beds.
"These creeks can hardly be seen because of the green barrier that bush honeysuckle has created," Heinzelmann said.
It may be the worst, but it's not the only, offender. Other plants the city may target are privet, English ivy, multiflora rose and Bradford pear trees.
"The time to try to stop these things is now," said Don Steinkraus, chairman of the Urban Forestry Advisory Board. "They're going to cover up our landscape."
Ultimately, City Council members passed a resolution, 6-1, expressing their intent to develop an invasive plant species policy.
"We clearly need a comprehensive, community-based approach," Alderwoman Sarah Marsh said.
John La Tour, who cast the lone "no" vote Tuesday, questioned how much staff time would be devoted to developing a policy.
According to Peter Nierengarten, Fayetteville sustainability and resilience director, staff could spend between 300 and 400 hours on the plan: examining other cities' policies; taking public input; and designing an educational campaign. Nierengarten said he expects to bring a plan back to the council for consideration by the end of the year.
La Tour said he could support some kind of policy related to invasive plants. But, he added, "I cannot support something that would be coercive. I want something that would be educational, something that would be persuasive, but nothing that will impose some sort of sanction or criminal penalty if someone plants the wrong kind of plant in their front yard.
"If I were to go plant kudzu in my front yard and it takes over my whole neighborhood, yes, I should be stopped. That's criminal. My kudzu is trespassing on somebody else. But if I plant something and I contain it -- it's not invading anything but my own private property -- I would think that's a matter for the private landowner to decide."
Aldermen also approved the prohibition on parking in front of mailboxes by a 6-1 vote, with La Tour opposed. Justin Tennant wasn't present at Tuesday's meeting. The new law is set to take effect next month.
Violators will be subject to a $15 fine, a change from an earlier version of the ordinance, which would have set a $70 fee -- the same amount violators can be charged for parking on a sidewalk or within 30 feet of a stop sign.
There was some discussion Tuesday about whether even that amount was too punitive.
But, Police Chief Greg Tabor assured the council, "An officer is going to give a lot of warnings in this situation. I don't think their first reaction is going to be to write a ticket."
The council's rejection of another proposal by Alderman Alan Long means two-term limits will continue for more than two dozen boards and committees, such as the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Environmental Action Committee and Fayetteville Planning Commission.
Long said his proposal was an effort to remove an "arbitrary" restriction on City Council members, inhibiting their ability to select the best candidates for positions, no matter how long they have served.
The other six aldermen at Tuesday's meeting disagreed.
"By having this restriction in place, it does prevent cronyism and it does allow individuals the opportunity to have new ideas come forward," Mark Kinion, chairman of the council's Nominating Committee, said.
NW News on 05/06/2015