During a public hearing in February a small contingent of Alexander officials, including Mayor Crystal Herrmann, heard from Leanne Poole. Poole is a representative from the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program (ACEDP).
The purpose of the February 20 public hearing was to identify Alexander's needs and match them to grants available from the ACEDP. City residents were also present to discuss their issues.
Poole was already familiar with some of the city's needs. The wish list includes the purchase of emergency "Extraction" equipment for the fire department, the construction of a metal building next to the former Pathfinder, Inc. office to establish a new firehouse, and a grant to fund a city-run daycare center.
What was the Pathfinder, Inc. complex is located in the southeast corner of the former Alexander Human Development Center (AHDC) along Hwy. 111. The plan is to connect the metal building to the office with a breezeway and convert the office building into fire department offices and sleeping quarters. At least one fire truck and other emergency equipment will be kept in the added-on metal building.
When it comes to the daycare grant the one requirement that is usually the hang-up is, "The city has to own the building," Poole said. "They (city) can contract out the (daycare) services."
Alexander actually owns two community centers. The first was the location of the post office, which then became city hall; on Main St. between E. 1st and E. 2nd in the Pulaski County portion of Alexander. The most recent is the large metal building located on the property of the former (AHDC), labeled Alexander Community Center No. 2.
Herrmann also brought up Alexander's ever-present flooding.
"We have the storm water issue because we don't own any of our utilities," she said. "So we don't generate any funds for storm water."
The utility in question is water and sewer. The Pulaski County portion of Alexander and portions of the city in Saline County are served by Central Arkansas Water (CAW) and the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority. Most of the remainder of the city in Saline County is served by Saline County Water and Sanitary Sewer. St. Joseph's Glen receives water from CAW but the sewage is processed through an onsite package sewer plant.
The street department can provide some flood relief as long as the repairs are street related. The department has been concentrating on cleaning ditches and cleaning or replacing culverts under the streets. A plan has been implemented to replace smaller culverts with larger ones.
Herrmann has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning grants for flood control. FEMA grants are available to fund flooding studies, flood control projects and to the buyout of property that has a history of damage from floods. The ACEDP can provide another source for storm mitigation grants.
A resident asked about adding sidewalks along one of the more dangerous areas on Highway 111 near St. Joseph's Glen.
Noting that it is Highway 111 Mayor Herrmann asked, "So you think ArDOT (Arkansas Department of Transportation) has anything with their safe street program as well?"
Poole said, "I was just thinking, can we go that route?"
One issue, which would involve an entity not connected to Alexander government, would be to help the Saline County Water and Sanitary Sewer Public Utilities Board acquire a grant to repair the sewer lines in the Lindsey Dr. area.
"They have some pretty major repairs they need to do off of Lindsey," Fire Chief Ryan McCormick said. "They're requesting that they work through the city's ability to get the grant to repair a bunch of sewer lines in the Lindsey, on the Lindsey road area."
"[W]e're going to be working on updating (our) hazard mitigation plan," Poole said. "I'll be sending an invitation to the mayor. Anybody that wants to have their two cents put on some of the challenges that you guys face, please attend those planning meetings."
The public hearing was held before the Alexander Council held its February council meeting.
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