Vote OKs restroom at Big Dam Bridge
Little Rock will enter into a $230,048 contract with AMR Construction LLC to build a restroom at the Big Dam Bridge.
An 8-0 vote by the Board of Directors on Tuesday night authorized City Manager Bruce Moore to finalize the contract. City Director Brad Cazort and City Director at-large Gene Fortson were absent.
City staff members have been publicly discussing the amenity for the Big Dam Bridge, which has only portable bathrooms, since June 2014.
AMR won the contract for the project out of nine bidders and was the "lowest acceptable bidder," according to the city.
Open-data project cleared for takeoff
Little Rock can begin implementing its proposed Open Data Policy after the Board of Directors voted 8-0 Tuesday night in favor of the initiative.
The open-data policy, under which city data will be released online in searchable formats, is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies' What Works Cities initiative that Little Rock was selected for earlier this year.
Only information that is publicly releasable under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act will be released online.
City Manager Bruce Moore has established a Governance Committee composed of city staff members that will evaluate the data maintained by each city department. Moore will also create a process for prioritizing which data sets will be released first that will take into account public interest in the information.
Annexation OK'd for 14-acre tract
About 14 acres of Pulaski County adjacent to Kanis Road are now in Little Rock's boundaries and will receive city services.
The Little Rock Board of Directors approved the annexation of 13.68 acres northwest of the Pride Valley Road and its intersection with Kanis Road at its Tuesday night meeting with a vote of 8-0.
The land surrounding the tract is already part of the city. It is mostly undeveloped and wooded, but there are plans for development.
To the west of the area lies a miniwarehouse with plans to expand into the area to be annexed, and to the south are single-family homes.
Nearby areas were annexed by the city in 1987, 2006 and 2012.
Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde previously signed off on the annexation, and the city Planning Commission unanimously approved it.
A planned commercial district approved for the area calls for expansion of the miniwarehouse and the development of 15 single-family lots. The developer has agreed to extend water and wastewater services to the site. Various wastewater mains near the area could accept a link.
Parking-deck sign for library allowed
The Central Arkansas Library System can now place a digital sign at the Main Library's downtown parking deck, after an 8-0 vote on the issue at the Little Rock Board of Directors meeting Tuesday night.
The city needed to rezone the parking deck from Urban Use District to Planned Commercial District to allow the library to place the sign on the east side of the parking deck at 333 President Clinton Ave.
The River Market Design Review Committee and the city Planning Commission approved the request, despite the request not fully complying with the provisions of the River Market Design Overlay District or the city's sign ordinance.
The double-faced sign is proposed to be 50 inches high and 75 inches wide. It would be on the former Rock Street right of way and would display parking information, as well as information advertising library events and other things pertinent to the campus.
Zoo to seek grant to improve trails
The Little Rock Zoo will apply for $384,000 in federal grant funds administered through the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, after the city's Board of Directors voted 8-0 Tuesday night in favor of the zoo's application.
The grant application is through the Transportation Alternatives Program and the Recreational Trails Program.
If selected, the zoo will spend the money to revise and resurface the trails at the zoo to make them more accessible for people with disabilities.
Metro on 05/05/2016