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Saturday, February 26, 2022

Approval of new Alexander ward lines expected Monday

The third and final public reading of an ordinance to redraw the boundary lines of the four Alexander wards is on the agenda for the City Council’s Monday night meeting. Also on the agenda is a request to purchase a diesel generator.

The redistricting ordinance will redraw the city’s ward lines to provide a more even balance of the number of residents living in each ward based on the 2020 Census. Under state law the population of the wards must be plus-or-minus five-percent of each other.

Mayor Paul Mitchell will ask council members to approve appropriating $9,000.00 for the purchase of a diesel generator. The generator is needed to power the police department’s new command center trailer, which was recently acquired at no cost.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 28, 6:00 PM in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). The public is invited to attend.

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Alexander PD acquires Police Mobile Command Center, for free

The Alexander Police Department has once again snagged a freebie. This one, however, can’t fit inside city hall. It will have to stay outside.

Two city officials traveled to North Carolina and returned with a trailer, which will serve as a mobile command center and first aide station. Mayor Paul Mitchell posted photos of the trailer on Facebook, seen below.

In his posting Mitchell said it will need “some modifications” and it will be a, “[G]reat addition for our Police Department.”

Mitchell expects the mobile unit, “Will be set up for functional use as (a) Medical Center and for other functions in the park,” and anytime a disaster occurs in the city.

Police department staff are constantly looking for deals, especially free ones. During his report to the city council at the January meeting, Police Chief Robert Burnett said the department acquired $28,000.00 of free equipment in 2021. It seems the department is off to a good start in 2022.

Exterior of Mobile Command Center


















Interior of Mobile Command Center



Friday, February 11, 2022

Little Rock food truck opens café in Alexander

A familiar food truck in Little Rock has brought its unique cuisine to the City of Alexander. Big Munchies Food Truck has opened Big Munchies Café at 13420 3rd Street (Hwy. 111).


Big Munchies Caf
é provides both indoor and take-out. They’re open from 10AM to 8PM.

Their main menu items are three burgers; Big Munchie, Mama Munchie and Baby Munchie. The Mama Munchie (see photo) is thick and looks to be about half-a-pound of beef. The Big Munchie is twice that made with two patties. Both come with all the toppings you can handle.

Mama Munchie.

Other menu items include chicken dinners and baskets, Pork Bits, Tacos, Quesadilla, the Munchie Taco Salad, Pork Chop Dinner, and catfish.

They’re also looking for someone to take orders and work the cash register.

To learn more go to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=big%20munchies%20cafe.


Thursday, February 10, 2022

Alexander planning meeting becomes meeting of all talk, no action

SEE UPDATE IN BOLD: 02/11/2022

Most of the time a meeting of the Alexander Planning Commission consists of members either talking to an empty room, or dealing with the occasional rezoning or development issue. This time the courtroom wasn’t empty but there weren’t enough commission members present to hold a meeting.

The lack of a quorum kept the only two planning commissioners present from holding a regular meeting. The required number for a quorum is three and two out of the four commissioners could not attend. Present at the February 8 meeting were Chairman Michel Huck and commission member Juanita Wilson. Wilson is also a member of the Alexander City Council.

Normally, the meeting would have been canceled and rescheduled for a later date. But, Bernadette Rhodes, Community Planner from Metroplan, was present to give an orientation for members of the newly formed Citizens Advisory Committee. Also present was local businessman Walter Burgess who has offered to join the advisory committee.

The committee was formed to provide planning commission members with opinions to aid in the writing of the new Master Development Plan. The current plan dates back to 1982.

Since everyone else was present, it was decided to have an informal public meeting. Walter Burgess was allowed to speak first to explain why he should be allowed to sit on the Citizens Advisory Committee.

Burgess is part owner and Vice-President of Sales & Engineering at Power Technology, Inc. in Alexander. Power Technology has been in Alexander 22 years and is located along Highway 111 south of the I-30 interchange.

Although he lives in Bryant, Burgess has volunteered to join the advisory committee as a, “Business resident of Alexander, not as a citizen of Alexander.”

“I care about what happens here in Alexander,” he said.

Burgess said he is currently working on his professional certification for economic development through the International Economic Development Council, which he pointed out might be helpful as a member of the advisory committee.

He is the current Vice-Chairman of the Bryant Planning Commission. He emphasized he would not serve, “[I]n any official capacity related to (the) Bryant Planning Commission.”

He also serves on the board of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and is Vice-Chairman of the Arkansas Science & Technology Board where he helps to administer approximately $2 $4.5 million annually to support entrepreneurs, small businesses, growth and job creation.

Since first contacting Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck about joining the advisory committee, Burgess announced his run for the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 81. The district includes a portion of Bryant, the Saline County portion of Alexander and Shannon Hills.

“For clear disclosure, just so there’s no confusion and nothing sinister, I’m also running for House of Representatives to represent Bryant, Shannon Hills and Alexander,” he said. “Conversations (with chairman) about (joining) this committee predate any considerations I had running for office. This is a rather recent development late last year.”

Burgess summarized by saying he feels all of his experiences make him “Uniquely qualified” to serve on the advisory committee.

Huck noted that under the circumstances of not having a quorum, no decision can be made as to placing Burgess on the advisory committee. Huck said he will try to schedule a special meeting in March to make up for the February meeting. The planning commission has regularly scheduled meetings in February, April, June, August, October, and December.

Besides Huck, Wilson, Burgess, and Rhodes; others attending the meeting were advisory committee members Angela Griffin and Lorinda Peoples; Ward-1 Council Member Joe Pollard; Cheryl Kindervater, Administrative Assistant for the City of Alexander; and Casey Covington, Metroplan Deputy Director and Director of the Central Arkansas Regional Transportation Study (CARTS).

“We are here to support the planning commission and the city,” Rhodes began. “We were requested to assist in the comprehensive plan update.”

Rhodes began the orientation with a run-down of the steps accomplished to date. As required under state law, the first step was the writing of the Planning Studies Report. The report provides details about the city including the type of government, the various city departments, available utilities, amenities, educational opportunities, available employment, what types of commercial and residential housing is available, and a breakdown of the residents based on recent census data.

“It’s an effort to understand where the city’s at right now,” Rhodes said. “And then, the comprehensive planning process is an attempt to look into the future, to get citizens’ involvement. That’s where the Citizens Advisory Committee comes in. Working hand-in-hand with the planning commission to identify some concrete goals.”

The next step was the community survey. The survey was a list of questions allowing residents to provide input on a range of topics including development priorities, traffic and city amenities, among others.

“Step number three is to create a Citizens Advisory Committee,” Rhodes said. “And, step number four is for the commission and that committee to get together; organize, promote, promote, promote. Get people together to do a public involvement meeting.”

The public meeting will involve exercises to draw opinions out of people, allowing everyone the opportunity to participate. Rhodes said the idea is to not allow one person to “Dominate” the conversation.

“It’s not the planning commission’s plan, or the council’s plan, or one neighborhood’s plan,” she said. “It’s the entire city’s plan.”

Where and when to hold the public meeting is the next issue. Since the hope is for a large turnout, and room will be needed to breakup into smaller groups, the two options are the metal building at the former Human Development Center, or a church hall. During the daytime on a Saturday was suggested in order to not have this meeting on a school night.

Rhodes said once all the information and comments are collected they will write a first draft of a comprehensive development plan. That initial draft will be reviewed by the planning commission and the citizens advisory committee for feed-back and possible changes.

Eventually, a proposed final draft will be presented at a public haring. At that time residents will be given the opportunity to comment on the plan.

Metroplan is a quasi government agency dedicated to providing general planning, mapping, and technical assistance to local governments in Central Arkansas. It’s major role is to work with local governments, the Arkansas Department of Transportation, and local transit providers to determine transportation needs and funding priorities for Federal transportation investments. Alexander pays an annual fee to be a member of Metroplan, allowing the city to take advantage of its services.

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Advisory Committee Orientation on Alexander Planning agenda

The Alexander Planning Commission will have its first meeting with the newly formed Citizens Advisory Committee at its regular meeting Tuesday. The agenda item expected to take the most time is an orientation conducted by staff from Metroplan as part of the writing of a new master development plan.

During his report to the Alexander City Council at their January meeting, Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck invited council members to attend the planning meeting. He said the orientation will include a report on the citizen survey taken late last year and will cover the duties of the advisory committee plus the subsequent steps to be taken in the plan writing process.

Huck asked council members to attend the planning meeting as a way to meet the members of the advisory committee and stay informed on the planning process. He also noted that a public meeting needs to be scheduled and this would provide everyone an opportunity to set a date when the most members of the council, planning commission and advisory committee can attend.

The next meeting of the Alexander Planning Commission will be Tuesday, February 8 at 6:30PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.