BENTONVILLE -- City officials will soon be looking to sell City Hall and the adjacent former bank building, Mayor Bob McCaslin told the City Council Tuesday.
He made the announcement after the scheduled published agenda concluded.
Council action
Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:
• A $25,000 donation from Walmart to buy 450 trees for the city’s annual Tree Planting Blitz on Nov. 2.
• Appointing Brian Burke to fill Art Formanek’s unexpired term on the NWA Airport Authority Board.
• Buying two utility beds from Davis Trailer & Truck Equipment for $22,900.
• A $160,312 grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics for the airport runway project.
• A $40,600 budget adjustment for the Trib 2 Drainage Project.
Source: Staff Report
McCaslin said he and city staff had discussed the long-term plan for the three story building at 117 W. Central Ave. It needs a new roof and has other "significant needs," he said.
McCaslin told the council in June the need for a new roof and for mold to be removed were discovered after minor repairs were made to fix a leak in the roof in the lobby area of the Mayor's Office on the third floor.
He explained Tuesday the investment to repair it wouldn't be the best use of taxpayer money in the long run as the city planned to eventually move out of it.
The plan is for a new City Hall to be built just north of the Community Development Building at 305 S.W. A St. where the council meets, McCaslin said. The city owns the land.
The council previously convened in the old bank building, which the city owns, just east of City Hall on West Central Avenue. That building will also be for sale.
Bill Burckart, council member, asked if there were estimates on what a new building would cost.
There aren't any yet, McCaslin said.
There also isn't a determined timeline on when the city will take sealed bids, he said.
After the meeting, McCaslin said the city would work with the buyer on a time frame in which city employees would need to vacate the building. It would be a similar situation as when the city continued to operate out of the utility buildings on Southeast Fifth Street after they were sold and while the new maintenance facility on Southwest Municipal Drive was built in the city's southwest, he said.
No action was required by council.
The council approved hiring General Construction Solutions for $33,394 to realign an intersection where two trails meet on the Razorback Greenway.
The adjustment will put Wishing Springs Trail behind the artwork Sunkissed, according to meeting documents. It currently connects with the North Bentonville Trail south of where North Bentonville Trail curves hard to the east, in front of the artwork.
About 160 feet will be demolished and 150 feet will be constructed, according to Crant Osborne, parks operations manager.
The realignment will create a safer intersection, he wrote in his memo to council.
"There are approximately 20,000 cyclists/walkers/runners that enter this intersection each month," Osborne wrote. "The current alignment does not have clear control on who has the right-of-way. The proposed improvements will create a T intersection with proper signage."
The project will be paid for with a Walton Family Foundation grant for Razorback Greenway Improvements.
NW News on 08/15/2018