Texarkana, Arkansas, City Hall and Municipal Building, 216 Walnut St., in April 2019. Photo by Gazette Staff / Texarkana Gazette.TEXARKANA, Ark. — During a regular meeting Tuesday, the city Board of Directors approved a construction contract to improve walking trails, as well as equipment purchases for the Fire Department and a pair of private club applications.
The Board voted unanimously to approve a $457,000-plus contract with local firm Tatum Excavating Co. to improve the city's outdoor trail network.
The trails project will be funded mostly by a $295,500 grant from the Arkansas Department of Transportation. It will include construction along Nix Creek that will extend and connect the existing trail network. Additional trails will be constructed near the city park complex along Roberts Street, and also included is a pedestrian bridge near the former Boys and Girls Club building being rehabilitated as a community recreation center.
The city will pay a 20% match for the grant in the form of almost $73,000 in labor and materials, and local trails advocacy nonprofit Partnership for the Pathway will contribute more than $71,000 to funding the project.
The Board also voted to approve buying vehicle exhaust removal systems for the city's fire stations, to be funded mostly by a federal grant of $143,500. The city will add more than $53,000 in funding for the new equipment.
Also approved was spending more than $109,000 on a new brush fire truck for the Fire Department. The cost was planned for in the city's current budget.
The Board voted unanimously to allow two private clubs to apply for alcohol licenses from the Arkansas Beverage Control Division. State law requires potential licensees to first get local government approval to apply; the Board did not vote to license the businesses. The clubs in question are El Frio Express at 204 E. Fourth St. and Texarkana Hideout at 311 E. Broad St.
The Board also voted unanimously to approve an unchanging property tax rate. The rate will continue to be 5 mills collected for the city's general fund; 1 mill each for firefighters' pensions, police officers' pensions and the Texarkana Public Library; and 2.5 mills to repay bonds. A mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Asked for an update on the demolition of the former Regency House building on East Broad Street downtown, Public Works Director Tyler Richards said proceeding with the project after contractors damaged the adjacent building has been "an extremely lengthy process."
"Right now I'm fighting with insurance," Richards said, referring to the insurance carrier for the contractor, Ward, Arkansas-based Graylee Construction and Demolition.
Richards said the insurers had canceled three scheduled meetings with him and if they again cancel a meeting slated for this week, he will proceed with filing a claim on the contractor's bond.
The Regency House building's roof collapsed last summer. Because its owners have all but abandoned the building, the city must pay to demolish it. Mayor Allen Brown has said the city is considering taking action to recoup the cost from the building's owners.
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Arkansas-side Board OKs spending on trails, fire truck - Texarkana Gazette
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