BELLA VISTA -- The City Council voted to enter a cost sharing agreement with the Bella Vista Property Owners Association for a flood study of Little Sugar Creek and its tributaries.
The agreement has the city is splitting costs with the association to examine Little Sugar Creek, meaning of the $144,000 bid the city will be responsible for $72,000.
Mayor Peter Christie said this would give the city a much-needed update.
"The reason that we're doing this, which is not quite the same as the POA," he said, "is we have really, really old flood plain maps."
Additionally, he said, the city has been talking with the Corps of Engineers about doing a more comprehensive study.
Chris Suneson, director of the Community Development Services department, said the corps would be studying the whole watershed. The scope of work, he said, is being negotiated, but the corps agreed to accept the cost of the project as a down payment. If all goes well, he said, the city may be able to use the whole $144,000 for that purpose, not just its own contribution.
Council member James Wozniak voted in favor of the agreement, but said he had reservations.
The city should have a good idea of what's going to flood, he said, thanks to the decades of history, and he doesn't see much that can be gained with the study. Additionally, he said, a lot of the land the study is looking at is owned by the POA, and $72,000 is a significant amount to spend studying land not owned by the city.
The council also approved an easement for an extension of the Razorback Greenway into Bella Vista, building a crosswalk for that extension, easements for the paving of Suits Us Drive, easements for the Back 40 Trails, appointments to the Bella Vista Arts Council, an renaming two streets.
NW News on 08/29/2017