2020 Census shows 16.7% growth in Alexander

The 2020 Census results are out and they show an additional 484 residents have moved into the City of Alexander since the 2010 Census. Alexander’s population has grown from 2,901 in 2010 to 3,385.

The 484 new residents represents a growth rate of 16.7%. The increase is not due to any annexations, as it did in 2010, and does not include any homes built in the new Meadow’s Edge Subdivision since the census was taken. As a comparison, the entire population of Bauxite in 2010 was 487.

Alexander is located in both Pulaski and Saline counties. Based on percentage of growth Pulaski County grew by 4.3% from 2010 to 2020, whereas Saline County grew by 15.2%. Three of Alexander’s four wards are in Saline County.

Compared to the other cities in Saline County, when it comes to percentage of growth, Alexander is fourth from the top. Shannon Hills grew the most at 42.9%, from 3,143 in 2010 to 4,490 in 2020 (up 1,347). Bauxite is second with a growth rate of 29.2%, from 487 to 629 (up 142). Bryant and Hot Springs Village are in a statistical tie for third at 23.8% each. Bryant went from a population of 16,688 to 20,663 (up 3,975). Hot Springs Village grew from 12,807 to 15,861 (up 3,054). Then Alexander at 16.7%. Fifth is Benton at 14.1%, growing from 30,681 to 35,014 (up 4,333). Both Haskell and Traskwood showed negative growth. At sixth Haskell went from 3,990 to 3,956 (down 34).

Of the 3,385 population, Alexander’s racial breakdown is reported as follows; White Alone 1,396 (41.24%), Black Alone 694 (20.50%), Native Alone 68 (2.0%), Asian Alone 28 (0.82%), Pacific Islander Alone 0 (0%), Other Alone 853 (25.19%), Hispanic Latino 1,272 (37.57%), and Non-Hispanic Latino 2,113 (62.42%). Compared to Saline County as a whole, Alexander’s ethnic breakdown does not follow that of the county. Saline County’s diversity breaks down as follows; White Alone 90.53%, Black Alone 4.66%, Asian Alone 0.87%, Other Alone 3.93%, Hispanic/Latino 3.81%, and Non-Hispanic Latino 88.96%. The county census report did not include Native Alone and Pacific Islander Alone.

Other categories reported include age and housing units. Of those living in Alexander 2,113, or 68.62%, are over the age of 18. In the category of Housing Units 1,185 are listed as occupied, while only 82 are unoccupied.

Alexander Planning Commission schedules Special Meeting for Tuesday

The Alexander Planning Commission has scheduled a Special Meeting to vote on a zoning request from My Ample Storage. A vote on the request was to take place at the commission’s regular August 10 meeting following a public hearing. The public hearing was held but the meeting was canceled due to the lack of a quorum.

The request asks to rezone approximately 1.73 acres of land from Open Space/Recreational to Highway Commercial. The property was annexed into the city in 2018. My Ample Storage is located along Highway 5 west of the intersection of Highway 5 and North Alexander Road.

Other items listed on the agenda include, “Metroplan request for survey information” and a, “Verizon Cell Tower.”

The Special Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24, 6:30PM to be held in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). The public is invited to attend.

How much of the Alexander City Park does Alexander already own?

After a report given by Alexander City Attorney Lana Fraser, it is going to take a land surveyor to determine the location of the city park’s boundaries and how much of it is already owned by the city. Based on a warranty deed issued to the city in 2004 and a quitclaim deed issued in 2016 Fraser says it appears the 2004 deed has more acreage than the 2016 deed.

Currently, the city park is made up of two parcels of land. The western parcel makes up about three-fourths of the park and was deeded to the city by Douglas W. Loftin Jr. and his wife Cindy Loftin in 2004. It was also deeded to the city by the Arkansas Land Commissioner for unpaid taxes in 2016.

According to the Saline County Assessor’s Office the smaller eastern portion is owned by David W. Jacks. Saline County records show the Loftins sold the eastern portion to Jacks in the year 2000.

“It’s quite possible you may have a color of title,” Fraser said. “The Loftins could by accident deeded both to Mr. Jacks and the city the same little spec of land.”

This discovery was brought about while researching a solution to a property dispute between the city and Jacks. The eastern end of the park is the location of the gazebo and water fountain. Based on the Saline County property map this parcel starts at Highway 111 and ends between the last two rows of the parking lot. The remaining three-fourths of the park follows Crooked Creek and ends at the city boundaries to the west.

The city had been mowing the grass on the eastern parcel for many years. As far as anyone knew it was city property. The improvements made to that area were done from 2015 to around 2019.

That’s when Jacks contacted Mayor Paul Mitchell asking about the now completed improvements on his property. According to Mitchell he tried to negotiate a resolution with Jacks but they were all basically one-sided, due to Jacks’ refusal to respond to any offers. Mitchell had even hired a real estate lawyer to no avail.

The previous city attorney was attempting to negotiate a purchase of the property before she resigned her position. Fraser believes Eminent Domain is the more viable option.

Her research has also uncovered documents that show Jacks had lost ownership of the property twice due to non-payment of property taxes. He then regained ownership twice after paying restitution on the overdue taxes.

“It’s understandable you thought it was city property,” she said.

Fraser was given permission to hire a surveyor to determine the true location of the boundary lines and to do a title search. Surveying the property, based on the 2004 warranty deed, and conducting a title search will provide the city a legal starting point.

Also at the August 16 meeting:

City property tax remains at 1.5-cents

The Alexander City Council approved the annual resolution establishing the city’s real estate and property tax rate for the next taxing year. The tax rate will remain at 1.5-cents. What would normally be a tax rate of 5-cents was gradually reduced in exchange for a one-cent sale tax increase, which was approved by voters in November 2017.

Planning Commission report:

No vote on zoning ordinance needed

Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck told council members they won’t be voting on a zoning ordinance at this meeting. Huck said the zoning hearing for My Ample Storage was held prior to the commission’s regular meeting on August 10. No one from the public attended the hearing, either for or against, the request for a zoning change to Highway Commercial for a 1.73-acre piece of property annexed into the city in 2018. My Ample Storage is located along Highway 5 west of the intersection with North Alexander Road.

Since there were only two commission members present, Huck and commission secretary Tonya Prowse, Huck said they did not have a quorum to hold the follow-up planning commission meeting. A quorum is three.

At that meeting the commission would have voted on the recommendation to send the zoning request to the city council for final approval. Huck added he had the city attorney pre-approve the ordinance in expectation of having it on the agenda for the council’s August meeting. He said he will attempt to schedule a special meeting of the planning commission, hopefully for August 24.

Having the quorum wouldn’t have done any good, however, since there were only four council members present at the city’s August 16 meeting. Attending the meeting were Joe Pollard, Joy Gray, Juanita Wilson, and Lonny Chapman. Mayor Paul Mitchell served as the quorum and was required to vote on all motions.

The mayor could have done a first reading of the ordinance, but that would have been all he could do. It’s required an ordinance be read at three separate meetings. To override the second and third reading requires a two-thirds vote of the council. In this case at least six council members would have had to be present. It also requires a two-thirds vote to pass an emergency clause to allow an ordinance to go into effect immediately. A mayor cannot vote as part of the two-thirds. Either way, the next chance to vote on the ordinance would have been the council’s September meeting.

Verizon cell tower coming to Alexander

In the next two years a Verizon cell tower should be going up in Alexander if the site recommendation makes it through the communications company’s own approval process. Huck says he was contacted by a representative who says they found three acceptable sites in the city. The A-choice is in the woods at the end of Mountain Circle. Mountain Circle intersects with Mountain Drive which is possibly the highest point in Alexander.

Huck noted the property is zoned AG-1 (Agriculture) and transmission towers are allowed under conditional use. He said once Verizon approves the site they will have to go through the Conditional Use Permit process.

Survey preliminary version released

Council members received the preliminary version of a survey, written by Metroplan, to review before it is distributed to city residents. Surveying residents is the next step in the writing of a master development plan.

Council member Joe Pollard was impressed with the comprehensive nature of the questions.

“It will be a big help to the city,” Pollard said of the survey.

Once Metroplan puts the survey into a final form the process of distributing and collecting will have to be organized. Once that is completed Metroplan statisticians will tally up the results based on survey answers.

Mayor given sole control of BigRed project

At the request of Mayor Paul Mitchell, the city council gave Mitchell approval to make all final decisions concerning the construction of a BigRed on the north corner of Cornerstone Road and Hwy 111 in order to “expedite” the project. This means the normal process of architectural drawings being approved by the planning commission and then the city council giving final approval will be bypassed.

At this year’s January 25 council meeting Mitchell told council members he met with the engineer assigned to build the BigRed. He said they have calculated the property’s dimensions and are in the design phase of the project. Even though the property is zoned for that type of business, it was understood at the time the design will still have to come before the planning commission with final approval from the city council. So far no plans have been brought to the commission.

“I don’t want to aggravate these people and have them move someplace more friendly,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell asked for, “The authority and the power, from the council, to make sure it gets done, gets expedited.”

He says they can have it built in two-and-a-half months.

Joy Gray made the motion and Lonny Chapman seconded.

Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck then asked if the commission was being bypassed.

“We’re not holding things up because they haven’t brought us anything,” he said.

“The city council has the final authority on that (whether projects get approved),” Mitchell said. “If anything comes up we want to make sure I can solve the issue.”

All four council members and the mayor voted to approve the motion.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, September 20 at 6:00 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.

Alexander Planning Commission holds zoning hearing, no decision made

The Alexander Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on a zoning request made by the owner of My Ample Storage. The request asks to rezone approximately 1.73 acres of land from Open Space/Recreational (OS/R) to Highway Commercial. My Ample Storage is located along Highway 5 west of North Alexander Road. The property was annexed into the city in 2018.

Engineer Jacob White, of Bond Consulting Engineers, Inc. in Jacksonville, Arkansas was present at the public hearing representing My Ample Storage owner Terry Bean. No one from the general public attended the hearing to oppose or support the zoning change.

The public hearing was held Tuesday, August 10. The Planning Commission’s regular August meeting was to be held following the public hearing. However, due to the lack of a quorum the regular meeting was canceled.

Without a quorum the planning commission couldn’t vote on a recommendation to the city council concerning the zoning request. Commission Chairman Michael Huck said he will either have to schedule a special meeting, or wait until the regular October meeting.

Huck said he had a zoning ordinance, already approved by the city attorney, added to the city council’s agenda for next week’s meeting (Monday, August 16). That will now have to be put on hold until the planning commission can vote on a recommendation.

Zoning hearing for My Ample Storage Tuesday

The City of Alexander Planning Commission will hold a public zoning hearing August 10 on a request by My Ample Storage to zone approximately 1.73 acres of land from Open Space/Recreational (OS/R) to Highway Commercial. My Ample Storage is located along Highway 5 west of North Alexander Road. The property was annexed into the city in 2018.

This specific parcel will be used to construct indoor storage units for boats and recreational vehicles. The planned construction on this site is only part of a much larger ongoing renovation of My Ample Storage.

At a July 20 special meeting, held by the planning commission, Engineer Jacob White, of Bond Consulting Engineers, Inc. in Jacksonville, Arkansas and My Ample Storage owner Terry Bean gave a presentation explaining how the property will be used. Along with an adjacent 3.27-acre parcel, which was annexed in January 2017, additional regular storage units have already been built with more to come. That parcel is already zoned Highway Commercial.

Much of this construction is due to a plan by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDoT) to widen Highway 5 from North Alexander Road to Highway 183 in Bryant. According to ARDoT’s plan, the widening project includes four lanes of traffic (two lanes in both directions), a center left turn lane, with bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides. Construction is slated to begin in 2024.

The widening will require the removal of My Ample Storage’s brick wall that borders Highway 5. To move it at least one row of storage sheds must be removed. Eventually the office building will also have to be relocated.

The zoning hearing is set for Tuesday (August 10) at 6:30 PM in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex along Highway 111. Following the public hearing the planning commission will hold its regular August meeting, at which the decision will be made whether to recommend rezoning the property to the city council.