Zoning hearing for My Ample Storage Tuesday

The City of Alexander Planning Commission will hold a public zoning hearing August 10 on a request by My Ample Storage to zone approximately 1.73 acres of land from Open Space/Recreational (OS/R) to Highway Commercial. My Ample Storage is located along Highway 5 west of North Alexander Road. The property was annexed into the city in 2018.

This specific parcel will be used to construct indoor storage units for boats and recreational vehicles. The planned construction on this site is only part of a much larger ongoing renovation of My Ample Storage.

At a July 20 special meeting, held by the planning commission, Engineer Jacob White, of Bond Consulting Engineers, Inc. in Jacksonville, Arkansas and My Ample Storage owner Terry Bean gave a presentation explaining how the property will be used. Along with an adjacent 3.27-acre parcel, which was annexed in January 2017, additional regular storage units have already been built with more to come. That parcel is already zoned Highway Commercial.

Much of this construction is due to a plan by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDoT) to widen Highway 5 from North Alexander Road to Highway 183 in Bryant. According to ARDoT’s plan, the widening project includes four lanes of traffic (two lanes in both directions), a center left turn lane, with bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides. Construction is slated to begin in 2024.

The widening will require the removal of My Ample Storage’s brick wall that borders Highway 5. To move it at least one row of storage sheds must be removed. Eventually the office building will also have to be relocated.

The zoning hearing is set for Tuesday (August 10) at 6:30 PM in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex along Highway 111. Following the public hearing the planning commission will hold its regular August meeting, at which the decision will be made whether to recommend rezoning the property to the city council.

Pafford Ambulance Service selected as Saline County’s EMS provider

In a Facebook post on July 20, City of Alexander Mayor Paul Mitchell announced that Pafford Medical Services has been selected to provide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to both the rural areas and cities in Saline County. Pafford will begin providing services January 1, 2022.

According to their website Pafford has been in business for 53 years. The website also states, “Pafford is home to over 900 full and part-time employees that staff more than 120 ambulances, three helicopters, three fixed wing aircraft, two state of the art communications centers, and one billing center across a four state region.”

Pafford is serving multiple locations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. They also provide air and ambulance service in Dallas, Texas. Based on the map on their website they do not appear to have any operations in Central Arkansas, including Saline County.

In April the Alexander City Council approved an inter-local agreement, joining six Saline County cities and the county in forming a coalition to contract with one EMS provider. The other cities involved are Bauxite, Benton, Bryant, Haskell, Shannon Hills, and Traskwood.

As stated in the ordinance, which established the inter-local agreement, the,”[P]urpose is to ensure that there is increased consistency, transparency, and accountability with the emergency medical services … provider for the citizens of Saline County.”

The agreement established an EMS governing board. The board, “[W]ill be responsible for issuing a competitive solicitation for EMS services and assuring that the terms of any EMS franchise agreement are complied with.”

Near the end of Alexander’s July 19 council meeting Mitchell said the EMS board was meeting the next day (Tuesday July 20) to review the five submissions. He said they were to narrow them down to three. Apparently, by the end of the meeting they were down to one.

This contract will not affect EMS services in the Pulaski County portion of Alexander. That area will still be served by MEMS.

Alexander Planning Commission schedules zoning hearing for August

The City of Alexander Planning Commission has set August 10 as the date for a public hearing on a request by My Ample Storage to zone approximately 1.73 acres of land from Open Space/Recreational (OS/R) to Highway Commercial. My Ample Storage is located along Highway 5 west of North Alexander Road.

The property was annexed into the city in 2018. When the new zoning map was established in 2019 the property was given the OS/R designation as required for all undeveloped annexed property, under the newly established zoning ordinance.

Attending the July 20 planning commission’s special meeting were Engineer Jacob White, of Bond Consulting Engineers, Inc. in Jacksonville, Arkansas and My Ample Storage owner Terry Bean. Plans were presented showing how the rezoned property will be used, along with a 3.27-acre parcel which was annexed in January 2017. That parcel is already zoned Highway Commercial.

The plan is to build additional storage buildings along with units for indoor storage of boats and recreational vehicles. Some of the new storage buildings have already been built.

Much of this construction is due to a plan by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDoT) to widen Highway 5 from North Alexander Road to Highway 183 in Bryant. According to ARDoT’s plan, the widening project includes four lanes of traffic (two lanes in both directions), a center left turn lane, with bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides. Construction is slated to begin in 2024.

The widening will will take out My Ample Storage’s brick wall that borders Highway 5. To replace it at least one row of storage sheds must be removed.

The zoning hearing will be held August 10 at 6:30 PM in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex along Highway 111. Following the public hearing the planning commission will hold its regular August meeting, at which the decision will be made whether to recommend rezoning the property to the city council.

Also during the special meeting, Chairman Michael Huck reported that Metroplan has begun writing the survey that will be used to get opinions from city residents concerning future growth. The survey is the next step in writing a comprehensive development plan for Alexander.

He said Metroplan will send a preliminary survey for review. Commissioners and council members will be given the opportunity to review the survey and make any suggestions to the list of questions.