HIWASSE — The future of Hiwasse, a community that has played an integral part in Benton County history for more than a century, may be in doubt if a plan announced by the city of Bella Vista is successful.
The Bella Vista City Council, recently approved a plan to annex three parcels of land into the city.
One of these parcels includes the community of Hiwasse and its surrounding territory.
One parcel involves an area south of Bella Vista alongside Highway 71; the other is property north of Bella Vista which borders Missouri.
The Hiwasse parcel includes the area outlined in the accompanying map. It includes the central community and all areas to the south, east and west. This includes the entire Hiwasse bypass and its interchanges.
The bypass is the first segment of what has been proposed as the Bella Vista Bypass. Although it isbeing constructed as a two-lane highway in the segment which passes through the Hiwasse area, it is proposed to be widened to four lanes to complete a four lane highway around Bella Vista.
Hiwasse History
Hiwasse is an unincorporated community which dates to 1899, the year a railroad was extended from Rogers through Gravette and into Oklahoma. Until that time, the “community” was called Dickson, named after Joseph Daniel Dickson who settled in the area following the Civil War.
Hiwasse was a major shipping point for apples and other agricultural business and flourished for many years. In later years the school closed but Hiwasse still boasts a post office, bank and several businesses, operates its own fire department and has a growing cluster of homes to complement the surrounding rural population.
Bella Vista’s plan to annex the Hiwasse area, according to an article in the Nov. 2 issue of that city’s weekly newspaper, The Weekly Vista, is because of the Bella Vista Bypass that is expected to be built.
Doug Farner, a member of thecommittee which proposed the annexation, told the city council the three areas proposed will generate a positive cash flowfor the city from $250,000 to $300,000.
“Initially we’ll break even or lose a little, but in two or three years we should be making more than it costs us,” Farner was quoted as saying in the article. The revenue expected to come from the Hiwasse area was not defined.
Costs the city will incur for the area include road work and fire and police protection.
If annexed, Hiwasse will be under the jurisdiction of Bella Vista and its governing body. This will include planning, zoning and other city ordinances.
J.D. Shrum was the other council member on the annexation committee.
Incorporation Failed
There have been two attempts in the past to incorporate Hiwasse as a city, the latest being about three years ago when developer Dan Maloney broached the idea. He constructed several homes and a mini strip mall. That plan never materialized.
An earlier attempt at incorporation occurred in 1966 when Hiwasse businessman Tony Rogers and 25 residents petitioned the county court in August of that year to incorporate about 2,400 acres. Attorney Ralph Williams filed the paperwork which was later withdrawn because it was determined several petition signers lived outside the designated area.
A second petition bearing 57 signatures was filed in October of that year. The area involved the “downtown” business area and approximately 840 acres.
Sherman Kinyon, county judge at that time, did not rule on the issue, attorney Williams told the Eagle Observer last week.
An article in the Nov 27, 1966, Gravette News Herald reported, “His (Kinyon’s) reason was based on the fact the county would lose several thousand dollars in road revenues.”
He told the petitioners to appeal to the Circuit Court.
Williams said Judge Maupin Cummins heard the appeal about six months later. He denied the petition because a second petition was presented which “contained the signatures of more people who opposed the plan” than those seeking to incorporate.
Vote Is Proposed
According to the recent Vista article, the motion passed unanimously, 6-0, by the Bella Vista Council on Oct. 24 seeks to put the question to voters in late March or early April of next year.
Apparently the three areas in question will be addressed separately. Voters in the areas and all Bella Vista voters will be eligible to cast ballots. The combined totals will determine the results.
“We have not received anything for an annexation for Bella Vista,” Kris James, election supervisor in the county clerk’s office, told the Eagle Observer Monday of this week.
News, Pages 1 on 11/16/2011