Fayetteville council wants TV show to film in city

NWA Democrat-Gazette/STACY RYBURN Chris Crane, Arkansas film commissioner, speaks Tuesday to the Fayetteville City Council at City Hall. Crane said the state has been working on an incentive package to get an episodic network TV series to film in the city.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/STACY RYBURN Chris Crane, Arkansas film commissioner, speaks Tuesday to the Fayetteville City Council at City Hall. Crane said the state has been working on an incentive package to get an episodic network TV series to film in the city.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The city has a 50-50 chance of serving as a host site for a major TV show.

The City Council approved expressing support Tuesday for an episodic network series to film in the city. A separate measure later would commit $500,000 over two years to the project as part of a larger incentive package with the state.

Next meeting

When: 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17

Where: Room 219, City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St.

Chris Crane, Arkansas film commissioner, said he couldn't disclose the name of the project because of a nondisclosure agreement. But, he said, one of the pre-eminent production companies in the world would be portraying the area in a positive light.

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"This particular project -- I don't know any other term to use -- is pretty sexy for this community," Crane said. "It is a project where Arkansas is a character and not a caricature."

Chung Tan, director of economic development at the Chamber of Commerce, said the production company has narrowed its preferred filming location to either Fayetteville or another, unnamed city in another state. The University of Arkansas and Fayetteville High School also will play a role as far as community collaboration, she said.

"This is one project I think every state in the union would like to have a hand on," Tan said.

The potential $500,000 investment would come out of the reserve fund, which has about $5.5 million in it, city Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker said. With a nine-month production schedule, the city could feel the economic impact almost immediately, he said.

Devin Howland, the city's economic vitality director, estimated the city could make more than $899,000 in sales tax revenue. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission has estimated total economic impact for the state at $177 million.

The series has a production budget of $70 million over eight episodes. More than 200 crew members, consisting of a mix of residents and nonresidents, would live in the city and spend money on food, drinks and just about anything else, Howland said. An estimated $19 million would be spent on materials, he added.

Kerri Elder with Rockhill Studios said filming a major TV series would serve as a springboard for creating permanent jobs in the city. She used her studio, which opened in June, as an example.

In other business, residents living in a public housing apartment complex will have to wait at least two more weeks before knowing if a plan to move them to another property will take a step forward.

The council voted 5-0 to table an appeal of a development plan to expand Morgan Manor, 324 E. 12th Place. Council members also tabled the item Sept. 19.

The Housing Authority operates Morgan Manor under a form of Section 8 called the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. The program mixes public and private equity to provide rental assistance to low-income residents.

The plan the council considered Tuesday would add 58 units to the 52-unit complex so residents at Willow Heights, 10 S. Willow Ave., could move there. Housing Authority officials have said the deteriorating buildings and hilly terrain at Willow Heights, combined with waning federal dollars, prompted the decision to make the move.

The discussion focused on whether the expansion would create or compound a dangerous traffic situation. The vote was delayed to allow the three absent council members a chance to weigh in and to get more information on traffic accidents and flow in the area.

The engineer on the project, Jorge DuQuesne with Blew and Associates, said the plan includes taking out three dead ends and replacing them with streets that better-connect the neighborhood. Wood Avenue also would be widened with an additional access point, he said.

Council Member Sarah Marsh appealed a previous Planning Commission decision to approve the Morgan Manor expansion's development plan. She did so on behalf of neighbor Melissa Terry, who owns about 10 acres in between Willow Heights and Morgan Manor and has led an effort to stop the Housing Authority's plan.

The council also appointed Terry to serve on the Housing Authority Board. The board selected Elizabeth Stinnett, an architect, to serve instead, but the council's Nominating Committee said the board didn't make its selection within the required 45-day window.

NW News on 10/04/2017

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