Parks gives land issue to council for resolution

Members of the Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission have agreed to let the city attorney and city council resolve the issues around a Green Zone encroachment and the need for a sewer easement.

The garage at 44 Owen St. sits across Dunlap St., a platted, unopened street designated as a Green Zone.

Property owner, Betty Zaboly, asked the Parks Commission in October to grant her a 99-year lease on the property so she can clear the title and sell her house.

The commission took no action on the request, but appointed a Green Zone Committee to try to develop a policy on dealing with such situations. The committee has been meeting almost weekly since.

On Monday, Feb. 9, Eric Torgerson, a former city public works employee, told the council a city sewer line runs under one corner of Zaboly's house.

The city does not have an easement for the line, only a prescriptive easement because the line is there. The city will have to have the property owner's permission to dig to the line to make any repairs.

Torgerson said that because of the way the line is installed and because of the way the property sits, it is not feasible to relocate the line. The new line would be below the level of the main line and a lift station would have to be built nearby to insure proper flow.

The Green Zone Committee recommended swapping the encroached-on land for the easement to the council.

Committee Joel Taylor opposed the recommendation, saying it would not be a land-for-land swap and there were additional issues involved.

In Thursday's Parks Commission meeting, Taylor reiterated the same arguments.

He did say that the committee "might have found a solution" during its Wednesday morning meeting, but would not elaborate. He wanted to wait until the details were worked out.

After considerable discussion, Taylor finally moved to recommend to the city council "that the Betty Zaboly property be deemed a land dispute issue; that the council may use the 1-foot perimeter around the structure to determine the Green Zone on both sides; and that legal counsel should be consulted for the final outcome."

Taylor, Haley Tomlinson and Jerry Martin voted in favor of the motion. David Renko opposed. Chairman Bill Featherstone voted in favor to pass. Two members were absent.

Skate Park Report

Two companies specializing in skate park construction are under consideration by the Skate Park Committee to build a 3,000 square-foot facility in Harmon Park.

Committee member Bill King said the group is looking at the credentials of Dreamland Skate Parks of Oregon and California Skate Parks of California. Dreamland has bid $75,000 on the project and California has bid $80,000.

King said there are no local companies qualified to build the park, so the committee doesn't see the need to put the project out to bid.

"We don't really even have specifications," he said. "Each of these companies does their own design work for the space we have. We really can't write a bid package on this."

He said ramps and jumps would be of concrete for longevity and noise abatement.

The Dreamland company will be in North Little Rock this spring to build a skate park.

King said he hoped to have everything in place so the company could come up here and start when it is finished in North Little Rock.

Funding will be the big challenge. King said there is approximately $6,800 left in an account set up by the Parks Commission for the skate park.

He said Mayor Kathy Harrison had proposed using $25,000 from the city's capital funds for the skate park and another $10,000 for the proposed spray park in Harmon Park.

He said it might be possible to designate part of the parks' quarter-cent tax revenue to the project, or the parks could arrange a loan through provisions of Amendment 68 on a five-year pay back; a grant from Arkansas Rural Development is possible; and private donations will be welcomed.

Funding sources and strategies are still under consideration by the committee.

Leatherwood Fields lights

No decision was made on the bids for the lighting of the parking area, baseball diamond or soccer fields at Lake Leatherwood.

Commissioners are debating two bids: one for steel light poles and one for wooden poles.

The steel poles are twice as expensive to install, but promise at least twice the lifetime of use as the wooden poles.

Parks Director Bruce Levine presented several options within the two bids for lighting only one field and the parking area or the total area.

Taylor said he didn't really want to make a decision without the full commission on hand.

HDC wants concrete out, limestone put in sidewalk

The Eureka Springs Historic District Commission (HDC) has determined that several feet of concrete sidewalk installed between 29 and 27 S. Main St. do not meet HDC guidelines and were not installed within the requirements of the Municipal Code.

Parks gives land issue to council for resolution

Members of the Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission have agreed to let the city attorney and city council resolve the issues around a Green Zone encroachment and the need for a sewer easement.

Call-out plan development slow

In an attempt to satisfy the request of the Western Carroll County County Ambulance District (WCCAD) board for a call-out contingency plan, Eureka Springs Fire Chief David Stoppel reported Friday on his progress at obtaining mutual aid agreements with area emergency service providers.

HIPC grants go-ahead on one permit and stops another

Although the Holiday Island Planning Commission (HIPC) did not issue any new permits Friday, it did take action on two existing permits.