GENTRY - City council members, on Monday, rejected bids for work at the Flint Creek Nature Area because those received came in considerably higher than originally anticipated.
Three bids were received for work and materials to dredge the spring-fed ponds on city-owned property between Dawn Hill East Road and Flint Creek to make the ponds suitable for stocking fish and fishing, but all came in at almost twice the amount the city has available in grant funds for the project.
Bids were as follows: Diamond C Construction - $151,541; Greer Excavating - $218,085; and Prime Contacting - $256,554. The city has just over $80,000 available for the work.
But that does not mean the city is scrapping its plans to convert the property into a nature area.
According to Mayor Kevin Johnston, transportation costs to remove silt and bring in clay to seal the ponds are a considerable part of the existing bids. He said Ron Homeyer of Civil Engineering, the city’s engineer for the project, and a representative of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are recommending taking core samples on the property to see if there is sufficient clay on the site to reduce transportation costs.
Otherwise, Johnston said, the city may just have to scale back the project and take it in steps as additional grant funding becomes available. Johnston spoke of the possibility of working on a smaller area on the lower pond and then doing additional work upstream when money becomes available.
The city has two years to complete the work funded by the grant the city was awarded from the Arkansas Department of Rural Services through its Wildlife Recreation Facilities Grant program, Johnston said.
Word was received in March of 2012 that the city was being awarded an $80,340 grant for the Flint Creek Nature Area project.
Items to be paid for out of grant funding to repair and clean out the existing ponds to make them suitable for fish habitat and fishing include: pond bank area repair, pond cleaning, silt removal and hauling, clay for pond lining, labor to replace and pack clay, water control box, fish habitat, liner, concrete, labor, engineering and design fees.
In other business, the council voiced approval to an annexation petition which would take in the city’s Pine Ave. lift station.
The council also selected three professionals and authorized the mayor to negotiate a contract for services to consider refinancing two of the city’s water department bonds for the purpose of reducing costs to pay off the notes.
The council selected Stephens, Inc.; Crews and Associates; and Merrill Lynch; authorizing the mayor to negotiate with the firms, in that order.
According to David Mc-Nair, Gentry’s public works supervisor, the idea of refinancing existing bonds is the result of other public entities doing the same and saving considerable amounts of money due to the current low interest rates.
Mayor Johnston informed council members that it had been suggested the city not require Randy Bever to mow all of his land along J.R. Bever Blvd. (south of the post office) so that some of the native prairie grasses and wildflowers which grow there can be identified and transplanted to other nature areas, including the Eagle Watch Nature Area and possibly the city’s property along Flint Creek.
He told council members he would only require Bever to mow along the highway right of way and the street if there were no objections from the council. He pointed out that current city code allows undeveloped property to be left in its natural state. He said the rare natural prairie plants could probably be identified and transplanted by late June or July.
Also discussed at the meeting was the desire of some council members to see the city move forward with action to get nuisance properties within the city cleaned up more quickly.
Councilman James Furgason raised the issue because of a fire-damaged home in his ward which, he said, poses a risk because of rats, mosquitoes and debris in the soon-to-be overgrown yard.
He called it “absolutely ridiculous” that the property which was damaged by fire at Thanksgiving time last year still was not cleaned up. He also said a church group had come to him offering to help clean up the property if they could receive permission from the landowner to do so.
The city has had difficulty identifying the landowner and is required by law to take a number of legal steps, including notice to the landowner, before the city can clean up or condemn the property.
News, Pages 1 on 05/08/2013