Live-in guards plan can move forward

After having the lease agreement reviewed by attorneys, a judge and a tax expert Alexander will move forward with allowing some city employees to live in houses previously occupied by Pathfinders. Council members approved the plan in January with some recommended changes and a review of the lease agreement by an attorney. The houses are located in the southeast corner of the former Alexander Human Development Center on Highway 111.

Under the original proposal employees from either the street department or police department would live rent-free in the homes in exchange for the employees, on their own time, maintaining the grounds surrounding the homes and patrol the entire property protecting it from vandalism. Pathfinder’s, Inc. used the homes to house adults with special needs. Their lease expired in August, 2022.

Soon after Pathfinders moved out the vandalism began. Damage to the Alexander Community Center #2 and the homes resulted in over $9,000.00 of repairs and cleaning. The vandalism has stopped after two street department employees were allowed to move-in with their families late last year as a quick stop-gap measure.

At the January 23 council meeting Police Chief Robert Burnett provided council members with a sample of the rental form and other documents to be used. Council members agreed that a $500.00 security deposit should be “Required” and the city attorney should review the rental agreement.

Since Alexander currently doesn't have a City Attorney, opinions were sought from Caleb Alexander and Lannie Richmond from the Arkansas Municipal League (AML), Judge Ford from the City Court, City Prosecutor Margaret Dobson, and Arkansas Legislative Audit. No one saw any legal issues with the plan and they supported the concept. However, some did express concern over how the city providing "Free" housing would affect the employees' taxes.

According to the written report, provided to the council by Burnett, tax professionals stated, "[I]f left at a zero amount for rent the employee(s) living in the housing would have to take a hit on taxes as taxable income for the value of the property or it would have to be reported by the city as a fringe benefit. However, if placed in the lease at $1.00 a year (matching the lease that Pathfinder had with the State of Arkansas) it would forgo the employee(s) having to be taxed for fringe benefits or taking a large hit on taxes for providing services in lieu of rent."

The only other recommendation came from the attorneys with AML. They suggested in Section 38: Additional Provisions, “available on call 24/7” be changed to, "[A]vailable for potential call out (for serious events only)."

There is a concern that making the employees “available on call 24/7” will, "[R]estrict their personal time and (the city will) be liable for paying call out time. We (the City) would be required to pay for overtime if they respond to an incident at the request of a supervisor, which we are already doing."

That portion of Section 38 now reads, "Being available for potential call outs (disaster relief, search warrants, active shooter, etc.)."

The report concludes with a list of the changes made to the lease agreement. "[H]ave adjusted yearly rent to $1, added the requested $500 deposit, changed recommend to required on the renter’s insurance and changed the application fee to $40 to cover costs of credit checks," the report states. "The recommend (sic) change to section 38 was also completed."

Council members also approved a request from Chief Burnett to add Tract-D to the Parks and Recreation Department's jurisdiction. Tract-D is the location of the former Pathfinder's complex. Burnett said the change will allow the city to fund maintenance and repair costs for that area from Parks and Recreation instead of the General Fund.

Tracts "A" and "B" are also covered under Parks and Recreation. The former hospital building, Alexander Community Center #2 and the Alexander American Legion Post 28 are in the two tracts.

Also at the February 27 Council Meeting:

Mayor's Report

Mayor Crystal Herrmann reported on recent and upcoming programs sponsored by the Saline County Library. She said she's also been discussing grants with Metroplan.

"We were invited to do a book walk with the Saline County Library," Herrmann said. "[W]hen you walk around the park, in the path, they lay down a whole story and activities for the children."

"They also have a program coming up, possibly in June for us if interested," she continued. "It's called a Justice Clinic. And, they invite attorneys in for the citizens to visit with and console (consult) with and if they qualify for any assistance, any legal assistance, then they can team up into the small city."

Herrmann said she, "[A]lso worked with Metroplan on laying out some different processes and grant programs. I'm going to be working with the (city) department heads on putting needs and projects put together, gathering some project information for different repairs and needs that we need around the city."

"And then, I'd like to say, thank everyone. I appreciate you all. I'm thankful to be here," she concluded.

Police vehicle totaled?

Police Chief Robert Burnett reported on a head-on collision involving Officer Bailey and another driver in Benton recently. Burnett said the other driver was "DWI." Officer Bailey is already back on-duty and attended the February 27 council meeting. Burnett expects the Dodge Durango to be listed as totaled once the repair estimate is completed.

Decision on subdivision approval tabled

Part way through Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck's report on a special meeting held by the commission February 13, council members decided to table the matter until they can hear from the developer's engineer and be shown drawings of the proposed subdivision. The subdivision, tentatively titled The Cottages at Meadow's Edge, is planned to be built on the 60-acre parcel across from the entrance to Meadow's Edge along Highway 111.

The plan is to build 150 two-story townhouse units grouped into several buildings of two to five joined units. The rented townhouses; along with a clubhouse/rental office, a pool, pickleball courts, workout facility, dog park, walking trails, and general green space; will be located on 20 of the 60 acres.

Although the agenda item was listed as "Approval of allowance for water connection PRIOR to zoning" Huck explained, "There's no use in approving the connection if you don't like the townhouses."

The plan is to allow the subdivision to connect to the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority's (LRWRA) sewer system. The LRWRA provides sewer service to the Pulaski County portion of Alexander and portions of Saline County that border Pulaski County. New connections must be approved by the Alexander City Council, Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority Commission and the Little Rock Board of Directors.

Time study for signing checks

A time study will be conducted for the next few months to determine if there are any occasions when not having someone who works at city hall causes checks to be sent out late. Currently, City Treasurer JoAn Churchill, City Recorder Sharron Bankhead and Council Member Juanita Wilson have the authority to sign checks. Each check must have two signatures.

Since the checks are usually the same payments made monthly, Council Member Joy Gray suggested a schedule be established as to when checks will be signed. She reminded everyone the reason for removing staff from signing checks was to avoid issues that were discovered last year with the previous bookkeeper signing checks to herself.

Mayor Herrmann suggested authorizing the court clerk to sign checks. Herrmann said the judge approved it and she doesn't have the authority to write checks.

Next meeting

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