Alexander council members were provided a list of new, or one-time,
expenditures to be included in the 2027 budget. The list includes
items for the General Fund, the Street Department, and Parks and
Recreation.
Listed under the
General Fund are proposed expenditures for, “HVAC Units for the 3
remaining cottages, HVAC unit at Community Center #1, New roofs for
cottages, Brownfield grant expense of $500,000.00, Design plan
expense of $100,000.00, Property signs,” and “Increase community
engagement (classes, etc.).”
Mayor Crystal
Herrmann told council members the HVAC units listed in the proposed
budget are the same age as the ones that needed to be replaced this
past summer.
“So we've already
replaced two units this year,” she said. “So we're looking at
three more units that are the same age of the ones that we just had
this year that completely gave up. ... And then we're looking at the
small community center.”
The “small
community center.” referred to is Community Center #1. It’s
located along Main Street in the Pulaski County portion of Alexander.
About the roofs
needed for the cottages at the former Human Development Center (HDC)
Herrmann said, “We're losing shingles every time the wind blows.”
Moving on to the
burned out hospital building on the former HDC property, Herrmann
said there’s been a rule change involving the funding. The grant
applicant must now provide a 50/50 match and there is a funding cap.
“But the deal is,
is now they've changed the funding for the Brownsville (Brownfield)
cleanup,” Herrmann said. “Prior it was a zero match. And now the
federal government is requiring a match, 50/50. 50/50 match and the
only thing that they will supply is $500,000. So we would have to be
able to match the $500,000. Meanwhile, the abatement, the abatement,
the amount, I believe it came in close at like $900,000 just to abate
the whole building.”
Herrmann and the
city council have been attempting to acquire a Brownfield Grant in
order to make the HDC property safe for development. The grant
program is funded by the EPA. According to the EPA website, "A
brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of
which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." The
expectation is the hospital building contains asbestos, lead paint
and potentially other unknown hazards.
The HDC property,
along Highway 111, was originally built as a tuberculosis sanitarium
for African-Americans. Eventually it was converted into a home for
adults with special needs that required care and training from
professionals.
When the Arkansas
Department of Human Services no longer had a use for the property it
was deeded to Alexander in 2018. Under state law the property could
not be sold to an individual. It could only be taken over by another
government entity such as a municipality or county.
“I just want y'all
to understand, that's not fixing it,” Herrmann added. “That's
just cleaning out all the asbestos and the materials that are
considered toxic.”
The goal is to
eventually have it demolished and removed so the property can be
developed for commercial use. The city failed to be approved in the
2026 cycle. Herrmann says the next submission cycle begins January,
2027.
Explaining what she
means be, “Increase community engagement (classes, etc.)”
Herrmann said, “And then I would like to put some funds aside for
our general funds for increased community engagement. I think it's
very important in my opinion that the citizens have alternatives in
our own city, which they don't have to draw some of our ills for
different activities. Maybe some senior classes or maybe some dance
classes or that extra. Yes, some activities maybe for the kids this
summer. Maybe a couple of art classes in the big community center. I
mean, maybe we could host a good night. Yeah, and the night or we
could give a lot of negative coverage and for the business stuff.”
Moving on to streets
and parks the Mayor lumped two wish lists into one. The list
includes, “Replacement of Dump Truck, Stormwater Expense/Planning,
Overlays of streets, Replacement of corrected culverts, Street sign
replacements, Benches and trash cans,” and “Comm(unity) Center #2
upgrades.”
“And then we've
got stormwater expense and planning,” Herrmann began. “So we did
receive our grant and had the flood study done on the West County
fund. And we do have some suggestions for improvements as far as the
flood study goes.”
Herrmann also wants
the city’s unspent revenue to start earning interest.
“But for us to do
the best that we can with our cash dollars, I think we need to make a
little different for some of the funds and next month we'll have one
of the representatives from over the First Security (Bank) because we
have options if we go to put back a million dollars while we wait to
see if we get this grant, or if we're being proven, we need to put
that into a CD or something,” she began. “It needs to be, it
needs to not just be sitting in that, that account. ... Yes, so where
we have six months of our payroll, sitting there in case of
emergency, we can walk that six months of payroll into a CD or money
market account. Those are things that they put in the bank or the
resident comes over. I think y'all would be interested in possibly
what we would for me because I was thinking about the capital
improvement line out of and we want to build that in this seems like
an event while we are saving for the capital improvement. I was
talking about the plan on what capital improvement we want to do
first. Well then at least the money's not just sitting and
depreciating in the bank account.”
Subdividing
lots facing 3rd Street and Alexander Road approved
Also at the October
19 council meeting, council members approved a request to subdivide
property located on the north side of 3rd St. (Hwy 111) between
Alexander Road, Main Street and an alley. According to the written
request the new owner, Zuleima Hernandez, wants to combine existing
lots 7, 8 and 9 into two lots labeled 7R and 8R. A variance request
for an existing building, which is eight feet from a boundary line
instead of the now required 20 feet was also approved.
Each of the three
lots had homes located on them. With the redrawn property lines, the lot that faces Alexander Road
(8R) now has two residential structures on it. The plan is to sell
that lot so a single home can be built there.
Next
Meeting
The
next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, November 16, at
6:00 PM in the courtroom of the Alexander Municipal Complex (City
Hall). Meetings are open to the public.