GRAVETTE -- In a short meeting Thursday, May 25, members of the Gravette city council passed an ordinance rezoning property at 406 First Avenue, S.E., from R-1, single family residential, to C-2, highway commercial. The property was recently purchased by Soldiers of the Cross doing business as Shepherd's Chapel and the vacant home there was demolished and removed.
In the citizen comment period prior to the meeting, Tammy Vigue, who lives in the home just east of the property, addressed the council and expressed her concerns about the rezoning. She said she and her husband Brian care for a young grandchild and they felt it would present a danger to children to have a commercial business operating so close.
Bradley Tucker was sworn in by Mayor Kurt Maddox as a new member of the Gravette Public Library Commission.
Council members voted to approve a vending permit for transient traders who want to come in and do business in the city for only a short time. An application fee of $75 will be required, and the vendor will be charged an additional fee if city utilities are used.
Approval was given to closing bank accounts for FEMA funds and for the fire truck grant since those accounts have been depleted. Also approved were a budget adjustment of $5,000, with funds to be transferred from the general fund into the street fund to pay flooding repair costs and budget adjustments of $500, and $1,000 into the library fund to reflect grants received for the summer reading kickoff and the summer reading program.
Mayor Maddox recommended that the city make an offer of $18,000 for a 2.61 acre tract of land owned by Marvin Kripps at 260 Fort Smith Street, S.E. Maddox said it would be a good location for a retention pond to aid with flood control in the future and it could also be used as a park or other possibilities. The proposal failed for lack of a motion.
Council member Ron Theis said he had talked with Main Street business owners who expressed concern that customers found it hard to tell that half of Main Street is open. Maddox reported that June 19 is the scheduled completion date for the Main Street work, so the problem should not be an issue much longer.
General News on 05/31/2017