SPRINGDALE — City leaders have another location to consider for a new animal shelter.
The 10-acre site is along Don Tyson Parkway, just east of its intersection with Old Missouri Road, said Mayor Doug Sprouse. The land in the southeastern part of town is next to the Walnut Grove Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Preliminary engineering surveys of the land are under way and won’t be available for tonight’s City Council meeting, Sprouse said Friday. Discussion likely will be tabled until the July 30 committee meeting.
The city would look at building the shelter on 4 acres and using the other 6 for a park. Dean’s Trail is under construction and would connect with the park, Sprouse said.
The accessibility and visibility of an animal shelter can increase visitors and the number of pets adopted and returned to owners, according to Shelter Planners of America of Arlington, Texas, who did a needs assessment last fall for a new Springdale shelter.
“It’s a nice location, and there’s easy access, and it’s right on the trail,” said Rick Evans, the councilman who represents the area.
Evans said he’s unsure how the families in the surrounding subdivisions will react, noting the homes along Don Tyson Parkway are separated from the site by the road and a large drainage ditch.
“You never know until the word gets out and they start calling,” he said. “We need to get started as soon as we can, but we’ve got to give everyone who lives here the same chance to comment as everyone else has.”
Shane Clark, a spokesman for Walnut Grove Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, said the center is licensed for 102 beds.
“We are especially concerned about the potential risks and impacts to the health and safety of our residents,” according to a statement from center administrators. “We anticipate that the animal shelter will contribute to noise pollution that will disturb our residents that are in need of rest; will increase traffic in and around the nursing home that may impair ambulance and other emergency response; and will be a specific risk of injury to residents, employees, and visitors at the nursing home. We expect that the animal shelter will have dangerous dogs and other animals that upon escape may attack.”
A corporation named One Springdale has owned a 12-acre tract on Don Tyson Parkway since November 2004, when the company bought the land for $724,000, according to county property records. Phillip Taldo of Springdale, a Realtor with Weichert, Realtors, the Griffin Co. and a member of the Arkansas Highway Commission, is listed on the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website as president of One Springdale.
Taldo confirmed he had been approached by a couple of council members considering the land for the animal shelter.
Council member Colby Fulfer said Friday he remains concerned about the amount of money it will cost to purchase land and build the shelter at the Don Tyson Parkway site.
“The voters set a budget for the cost of the animal shelter when they approved the bond,” Fulfer said. “We need to stick to that.”
Springdale voters on Feb. 14 approved spending $4.7 million to build a shelter as part of the city’s 2018 bond program.
Price negotiation for the Don Tyson Parkway site is ongoing. “But it will be a lot less purchase price. And it looks like there will be minimal development costs for the land,” Sprouse said.
The Don Tyson Parkway site is the fourth council members have considered since the election. Two of the proposed sites had costs above the $4.7 million.
The initial proposed site was in J.B. Hunt Park, but area residents objected soon after the vote and council members turned their attention to land the city owns at McCollough Drive and Ford Avenue in the industrial area. Nabholz Construction estimated the site would cost an additional $475,000 to $550,000 for site work.
Sprouse on June 18 presented the council with a third possible site — on Huntsville Avenue, just west of Central Junior High School. Brian Moore offered to sell the 12 acres owned by BJM Rentals for $750,000. The council voted to abandon the Hunt site.
Washington County Property Records show BJM Rentals bought the property from Dewitt Bank and Trust Co. in June 2017 for $340,000. Dewitt Bank purchased the property for $750,000 in December 2012.
Council members meeting in committees July 16 reviewed a report from Brad Place with SCM Architects in Little Rock, saying work at the Huntsville Avenue site could cost an additional $195,000 to $270,000 to prepare the land.
Council members rejected the Ford site and forwarded the Huntsville site to the full council without a recommendation to pass.
Council member Mike Lawson voted against both sites July 16.
“I just got a gut feeling that this whole deal was not exhausted, that there were other options,” Councilman Mike Lawson said Friday. “I personally have looked at several 2- and 3-acre sites that might work. We need to do our due diligence for the taxpayers.”
Both Lawson and Fulfer said initial information about the Don Tyson Parkway site sounded good, but they were going to reserve judgment until hearing the engineers’ reports.
The mayor and council members said they are hopeful a decision can be made soon.
Sprouse said he would prefer to move forward with a site that didn’t cause a deeply divided vote of the council.
“It’s taking longer, but we would prefer to go slow and do it right, rather than make a quick decision that’s not good,” Lawson said.
Laurinda Joenks can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWALaurinda.