GENTRY — A new city park along the Flint Creek near Arkansas Highway 59 moved a step closer to reality on Oct. 4 when city council members unanimously approved surveying city-owned property along Flint Creek if sufficient money remains in the 2010 budget for the work.

The survey work was approved to make it possible for the city to apply for grants to build a park there should grant funding become available.

One possible upcoming grant mentioned was in connection with the Ozark Natural Science Center. The grant is a non-matching grant of up to $100,000 per project, according to Bev Saunders, executive director of the Gentry Chamber of Commerce. If the grant funding becomes available, the application period would run from Nov. 1 until March 19, 2011, she said.

Saunders suggested the new park could be both a park and a natural outdoor learning center.

In other business, the council passed a city tree ordinance on its third and final reading. The new ordinance regulates the care and maintenance of trees on public property and was a necessary prerequisite for the city before it can officially become a TreeCity USA.

The council also approved additional lighting for South Gentry Blvd., Fowler Street, Meeker and Brooke Lynn Drives. The additional costs to the city per month for the three additional lights are $13, $12.13 and $11.89 per month. The Arkansas Street Highway and Transportation Department, it was reported, had finally approved the installations along the highway.

A contract document for railroad crossing improvements on Main Street at the Kansas City Southern Crossing was presented to the council for review prior to consideration at the November Council meeting.

The city currently has $50,000 budgeted for the project, but the cost is $101,338, according to the contract. Gentry Mayor Wes Hogue wanted the council members to be able to review the contract and also have time to review the budget and money available before approving the contract, since full payment would be required of the city within 30 days of the date the crossing surfaces are delivered to the site for installation, according to the contract.

The railroad crossing improvement is a part of the city’s plan to connect and extend sidewalks from existing Main Street walks to Arkansas Highway 59.

A two-county imagery memorandum of agreement for mapping which provides detailed color imaging for the city and for all of Benton and Washington Counties was referred to the finance committee to see if the cost could be included in the 2011 budget. Cost for the city to participate in the imaging project would be $4,347, according to the memorandum of agreement.

News, Pages 1 on 10/13/2010