Bryant Church of Christ coming to Alexander

After working with city officials on requested changes to construction plans, the Alexander City Council voted to allow the Bryant Church of Christ to begin construction on its new home. The church will be built on property at 100 Cornerstone Road, across from the Circle K along Highway 111. The church currently rents a building at 9500 Highway 5.

It was Fire Chief Ryan McCormick who was most involved in requesting changes be made to the construction plans. The changes include having all driving lanes and the parking lot paved with asphalt, rather than the original plan to have the parking lot and church surrounded by gravel leading to the driveways. Other changes include an onsite fire hydrant, rebuilding one of the driveways to have a 25-foot radius matching the other driveway, and a "Knox Box" location to provide the fire department emergency access.

Front of proposed Bryant Church of Christ building.

The proposed building size is 60 feet by 90 feet. The floor plan includes five classrooms, an office/audio video room, library/office/workroom, nursery, rest rooms, pastor room, dressing room, baptistry, preparation room, and a sanctuary with seating for 105.

The parking lot will have 22 regular parking spaces and three handicap parking spots. The front of the church will face Highway 111.

The one issue needing to be solved, outside the control of city officials, was getting approval to connect the building to the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority (LRWRA) sewer system. LRWRA provides sewer service to the Pulaski County portion of the city and that portion of Saline County, that abuts with the Pulaski County line, in north Alexander.

The current contract between Alexander and the LRWRA is keeping the city from requesting new connections. The contract, signed in 2018, required the city to write a new zoning ordinance and a master development plan.

Both of which must be approved by the LRWRA and the Little Rock Board of Directors. The contract stipulates there will be no new connections until those two requirements are completed.

The new zoning was adopted in 2019. The master development plan was sent to the LRWRA in 2023 for approval. After more than a year the LRWRA finally decided the only way to release Alexander from the current contract’s requirements is to adopt a new contract.

Currently, City Attorney Chris Madison is negotiating a new contract with the LRWRA. The new contract will eliminate the zoning ordinance and master plan requirements and tighten other language in the current contract.

The expectation is a contract should be available for approval by January. It must be approved by the Alexander City Council, the LRWRA and the Little Rock Board of Directors.

However, church officials want to get out of paying the high rent at their current location as soon as possible. They were able to get approval for the new sewer connection from LRWRA without having to wait for the new contract. Construction is expected to begin before the end of the year.

Other business conducted at the November 18 meeting

City Treasurer can now be appointed

An ordinance changing the position of city treasurer from being an elected position to appointed had its third and final reading. The ordinance was then adopted with all seven council members present voting “Yes.” Council member Tony Staton was absent.

The council decided to change the position of city treasurer from elected to appointed in order to fill the vacancy when no one, who lives in Alexander, submitted a resume after City Treasurer JoAn Churchill resigned effective December 31, 2023. Also, no one submitted a petition for the recent November 5 election, which was to have the position appear on the ballot. With the new ordinance anyone, or any accounting firm, can be hired as city treasurer without being required to live in Alexander.

Jail Cost Sharing Agreement approved

The Jail Cost Sharing Agreement between the Saline County Detention Center and the City of Alexander was approved. The agreement establishes the cost Alexander will pay to house its inmates.

The monthly cost for the calendar year 2025 will be $3,011.59 monthly; $36,139.04 annually. That's up from 2024's monthly cost of $2,527.85; $30,334.18 annually. The cost for 2025 is based on the actual cost for housing Alexander's inmates in 2024.

Under the new agreement the city will still be charging a fee of $20, "[T]o be paid by each defendant upon conviction, plea of guilty, plea of nolo contendere, or bond forfeiture for all misdemeanors, traffic violations, or other first or second-class fines, to defray the cost of incarcerating City Inmates."

Council receives proposed 2025 budget

Mayor Crystal Herrmann presented council members with the proposed city budget for 2025. Council members are expected to study the budget and send their questions and suggestions to city hall to be discussed at the December meeting.

Council Member reminds others of meeting rules

After what happened during the October 21 meeting, Council Member Joy Gray took time to review the council’s rules on when council members get to discuss topics and how a member of the public can be given more time to speak. Shortly after the October meeting began Council Member Harold Timmerman questioned whether the city attorney is allowed to sit with the council and mayor because he’s not elected. Council Member Juanita Wilson questioned whether any of the city’s ordinances, adopted since January 1, 2023, are legal since she has never seen them posted around the city as required. Neither of these items were on the agenda.

As the first topic under New Business, at the November 18 meeting, Gray quoted and explained passages from the Organization of Council manual.

“So on page 11 of the Organization of City Council, that we voted on and we signed off on to the beginning of this year, it says, ‘Each member will be allowed up to an initial five minutes to debate any issue before the council,’” Gray said.

Timmerman and Wilson were working under the assumption council members get five-minutes to discuss any topic relevant to the council.

“That's not the case,” Gray said. “If there's an issue before the council, each of us gets five minutes.”

“If you want something added to the agenda, it either needs to be added before the meeting or it needs to be added by two thirds vote once the meeting starts,” Gray continued. “That includes your problem with seating charts,” referring to Timmerman’s complaint from last month.

“That includes your problem with how things were posted,” Gray noted to Wilson. “All of that needs to be added to the agenda appropriately. So that is how that works.”

Gray then went on to explain the rules concerning the “Public Comment” section of the agenda.

“’Citizens may address the council during the public comment portion of the agenda for three minutes without interruption,’” she began again reading from the Organization of City Council. “’A timer will be used to ensure that all citizens have equal time. If any citizen would like to address the council longer, the council may extend the time limit once for an additional three minutes by suspension of the rules with a two thirds vote.’”

“So you may not yield your three minutes,” she explained. “No one in here can say, oh, you can have my three minutes. We didn't do it when people that we didn't like were getting up and talking. So we're not going to do it when other people that we're going to follow the rules.”

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, December 16, at 6:00 pm in the courtroom of the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). Meetings are open to the public.