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2021-12 Meeting Minutes

Street Committee Meeting

December 21, 2021 - 12:30 p.m.

 

Before the meeting, Arnie passed out a printout to the Committee, of the possible signage that will be part of the Wayfinding Program the City will be using in the future.  He told the Committee the color of the signs was suggested by the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce, and the architects designed the signs. There was a brief discussion on the style, design, Chamber logo, and approximate cost.  Arnie speculated the cost would be around a half million dollars.

The meeting was called to order at 12:30 p.m.

Present were Arnold Knox, Director of Streets; Jim Bodenhamer, Susan Stockton and Jennifer Baker, Committee members.

Arnie began the meeting inviting the Committee to the Street Department's luncheon tomorrow, 12 noon at the Street Department shop. 

He asked the Committee if they had any Budget questions that needed to be answered; all members said they did not.  Arnie passed out a graph of the State and County revenue to date and what it meant for the City.   The County turnback is up over 3% which comes from the property assessments.  The State turnback, from the highway bonds that come up during the election, is up over 10% from last year.   He added, we hit over $1 million for the first time.  Another page he had printed out, showed the sales tax income for the Street Department which is up over 2.5% of the amount from last year, and added we are trending around 11 to 12% for the year.  A far as cash on hand, there will be just under $2.5 million dollars carrying over into January 2022.   

The Street Report for November 2021 was reviewed.  Arnie told the Committee the only big project that is current is the Cooper/Louann/Demetree Streets rebuild.  He said the crew is working on driveway aprons and pouring curb on Cooper and will be moving to Louann next.   Culvert pipe and concrete have been completed on Demetree and that second concrete crew has moved over to complete some small projects needed to be completed.   The cost to this project as of November 30 is $175,346.37 with new asphalt projected to be put down by summer. 

Overlays for 2021 have totaled $532,724.95.  He said the normal cost is $150,000 to $200,000 yearly, but since there were no overlays last year, this amount includes what was scheduled for last year. 

Susan asked when the striping would be done on the newly asphalted streets.  The company that was scheduled to do thermo plastic striping said it was now too cold to use that type of product, and after rescheduling with actual street paint, they are unable to get this completed due to state contracts they hold.  Arnie said he will have a few guys using the paint machine to get them striped for now.   Jennifer asked if Dyer Street would be overlayed after the sewer work has been completed.  Arnie said Dyer Street along with Hickory, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th, and a small part of Elm are scheduled to be overlays through the State Aid project ARDOT does.  He added they are scheduled do be completed in 2023. 

The Arkansas State University Christmas Light drive through has an average traffic count of 150 to 200 vehicles per night.  Arnie told the Committee the lights will start coming down January 3, and they will be stored at the Street Department.  The cost of this display project, which includes putting lights up and working the overtime at night is $8,852.17.

Maintenance for November is at $12,028.61.  This amount includes working on putting up the Christmas lights. 

The Budget Summary was reviewed.  Arnie reported two line items, Office Supplies and Administrative Fees were over and will be adjusted in January. 

Work has been done at the Cobblestone Ridge development off 5 South.  Arnie told the Committee that the Plan Commission had accepted a bond to insure completion of the street, from the developer, Jeff Magness.  The bond came due at 6 months and the street had not been completed.  After meeting with the developer, a check was issued to cover the face value of the bond, and it was agreed the Street Department will complete the street.  This cost totaled approximately $30,000.

The crew that had been working at Demetree Street has moved over to Keller Park Ballfield to put in footers for the new AstroTurf.  From there, they will start a rebuild project at Russell Lane, behind Baxter Lab.   Arnie said they had just completed a portion of sidewalk at McCabe Park, near the new senior living complex.  He said the residents of Sycamore Springs Senior Living utilize McCabe Park and it was found they had no sidewalk connecting to the existing sidewalk.   It was agreed that the Street Department build approximately 30 feet of sidewalk from the walking trail to connect to Sycamore Springs, and they will reimburse all costs to the Street Department.  There was brief discussion about the walking trail eventually connecting to Arkansas State University's walking track. 

The mountain bike trail at McCabe Park has been completed.  This is the first grant from ARDOT.

Jim asked if the Street Department will be starting on the parking lot at Hickory Park.  Arnie said yes, and after this meeting he was going over there to meet with the Mayor and get a start date.  He said grant projects cannot begin until the grant has an actual start date; any work and materials put in before the specified date will not be counted toward the grant and will not be reimbursed.  Arnie thinks January 19th will be a start date. 

Susan asked if the intersection at 1st Street and Leatherwood can be looked at and possibly changing it to a four way stop, from a 2 way.  She said there is so much more traffic in that area, and there have been many close calls that she has seen.

Arnie said he would get some traffic counters out there.

The meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m.

 

 

Wide view of downtown Mountain Home