BENTONVILLE -- The city is one step closer to seeing activity at the new utility and maintenance complex as City Council approved a $7.5 million contract for site work at its meeting Tuesday.
Council approved 6-0 the agreement with Flintco that includes work for earthwork grading, utility -- minus electric -- and stormwater construction, street construction, asphalt and concrete paving, landscaping and general site work, according to meeting documents. Chris Sooter, Ward 2 alderman, was absent.
Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:
• Rezoning land at Southwest Windmill Road and Southwest Nomad Road to planned residential development.
• Lot split at 610 S.W. O St.
• A $40,000 agreement with Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission to continue in the Intergovernmental Work Group to assist with regional water quality issues.
• Spending $57,500 on a drainage study for the southwest downtown quadrant.
• A $67,966 contract with Diamond C Construction for sidewalk improvements along Southeast 22nd Street, Northwest Second Street and Been Road.
• The 2016 budget.
Source: Staff Report
The cost doesn't include building construction, Mike Bender, public works director, wrote in a memo to the council. The building design is about 90 percent complete and should be ready to bid in early 2016.
The complex will be on 37 acres on Southwest 28th Street, south of the municipal airport. It will include the Street, Electric and Water departments as well as the inventory warehouse, traffic sign and signal shop, a fueling facility, a vehicle wash facility. There's the potential for fleet maintenance and auction facilities to be added in the future.
"It's the first visual of what we're doing," Mayor Bob McCaslin said after the meeting. "This is the first real, big step for the new campus."
The $7.5 million includes the construction on Southwest Municipal Drive, which will run along the east side of the complex, and the extension of Southwest F Street. Southwest F Street will connect Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard to Municipal Drive, which will connect to Southwest 28th Street.
"(That) will be a nice connectivity point for some folks," McCaslin said.
It's likely construction crews will be able to set up on site this year but not start work until January, city officials said. It will depend on if there's any time left after they're set up and what weather is like, McCaslin said.
The city hired Flintco for $95,600 for pre-construction services in February. There was a provision in the contract that the city could keep them as construction manager and general contractor for construction services, Bender said.
Flintco has worked with Hight-Jackson Associates to prepare the plan and final construction drawings, Bender's memo states.
Plans for the complex show seven structures totaling 112,286-square-feet of industrial, warehouse and office space. The current project estimate is $27 million, which the city has set aside, Bender said.
The 2016 budget includes $1.5 million for it. Another $5.4 million was set aside in the 2014 budget and another $3.5 million in the 2013, according to meeting documents. Additional money has come from the Water and Electric departments, the sale of land and the general fund.
Council also approved a budget adjustment for the $7.5 million Tuesday night.
NW News on 11/25/2015