SPRINGDALE -- Improvements to existing streets could do as much or more to relieve traffic congestion as a new road, the Springdale City Council was told Monday.
The council, meeting as a Committee of the Whole, agreed to recommend spending up to $359,850 for a transportation study by the Garver LLC engineering firm of Fayetteville to find options. Colby Fulfer, city chief of staff, told the council that right-hand turn lanes at the city's most congested intersections, for instance, could help traffic flow more than other options.
The study would also identify exactly what projects should go first for design work to proceed, allowing the city to get right to work on those projects as soon as any money is available, Fulfer said. This is a major consideration at a time of rising costs, he said.
"We estimate we could have saved 20% to 30% if the last round of projects had been shovel-ready," he said. The council recommended the study, which would have to be approved at a regular council meeting. The council will take up its own recommendation at its next regular meeting June 28.
In other business, the council recommended acceptance of a settlement offer from First Presbyterian Church of Springdale in a property condemnation matter. The city wants to extend Har-Ber Avenue from 48th Street to Gutensohn Road, which would require taking some of the church's property. The city originally appraised the value of the property to be taken at $51,800. A private appraisal commissioned by the church valued the property at more than twice that.
The church's offer of $91,800 splits the difference between the two appraisals, city staff told the council. Staff recommended the city take the offer since property prices are rising rapidly and the city's first appraisal is already out of date. Prices will keep rising as the matter awaits trial. Trial is set to begin in August, barring delays. Accepting the offer will also take formal action of the council at a regular council meeting.
The committee recommended, without debate, accepting the state's offer of a one-time $5,000 stipend to law enforcement officers approved by the state Legislature.
The council also explored the option of either reducing or capping the costs of city building permits on projects to repair or rebuild from damage done by the tornado that hit portions of the city on March 30. One city resident rebuilding his house had to spend $1,300 for the necessary permits, the council was told. The original proposal was to reduce permits issued on such projects by 25%, but the council decided any such measure would have to define precisely what would qualify for a cost reduction. City attorney Ernest Cate was assigned to research the matter and have a recommendation ready for the council at its next committee meeting in two weeks.