Alexander City Park trail bids received

Bids for a walking trail, to be built through the playground in Alexander City Park, are under review. Mayor Crystal Herrmann announced during the city’s January 21 council meeting, “I'm happy to report that the Richardson Engineering ... received several bid packages.”

“They're going over each bid that we received,” the Mayor continued. “They're going to do an apples and apples check and confirm the pricing. And then once they have that thorough look over, they will return us a name, ... the name of the contractor.”

In June, 2024 the City of Alexander was awarded a grant to build a 1/8-mile walking trail in the City Park. The $96,990 grant will be used to fund a six-foot wide trail, benches and engineering design. The grant will cover 100-percent of the cost of a trail that will encircle the park's playground. The city council approved applying for the grant in 2023. (See proposed trail design below.)

Funding for the grant program was acquired from Arkansas's Tobacco Settlement Fund and funneled through the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. This is part of reviving the Great Strides program, which was stopped in 2017.

Engineer's rendition of proposed trail.

Also in the Mayor’s report:

New Hires

Jamie Jordan has been hired as the new code enforcement officer. The previous Code Enforcement/Animal Control Officer Daniel Wyatt resigned in September, 2024.

Two new police officers have been hired. Officer Myers is making has returned to take on a part-time roll. He'll be helping to fill-in for officers taking vacation and sick leave. The other new hire is Officer Burgess who will be working full-time.

Saline County Library

For those of you who use the Saline County Library kiosk in front of the Alexander Municipal Complex, and find it not working, it’s only temporary. According to Herrmann it’s due for a software update and will be working again soon.

Herrmann also reported on a grant being offered by the Saline County Library. It’s a $2,000 grant program to fund community classes.

English Spanish Classes

Indian Springs Baptist Church has plans to conduct English Spanish classes in March. The classes will be held at Community Center #2. More information will be available later.

Community Closet

Mayor Herrmann announced Gina Littlejohn and Octavia Lance are interested in starting a community closet. “So we'll be having (an) upcoming meeting about that as well.” Littlejohn is the former council member representing Ward-2.

American Legion and flags

“So I've reached out to the American Legions (Alexander Post 28) and they have agreed for (sic) the important task of raising and lowering our flags during holidays and flag occasions,” Mayor Herrmann said “They will be coming to City Hall and the City Park and they will stay on top of our flag schedule.” She also said flags will be replaced when necessary.

Next Meeting

Due to a Federal Holiday occurring on a regular meeting day, the next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Tuesday, February 18, at 6:00 pm in the courtroom of the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). Meetings are open to the public.