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.
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| 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.
