In case you missed it: Dec. 3 Town Hall Meeting

Several department directors speak during the final Town Hall meeting of the year, held Monday night at the Fayetteville Boys and Girls Club.

Photo: Todd Gill, Flyer staff

Mayor Lioneld Jordan held his final Town Hall Meeting of the year Monday night at the Fayetteville Boys and Girls Club.

About 25 people attended the event to hear various department directors discuss what’s been happening in the city over the past few months.

Terry Gulley – Transportation Services Director

Terry Gulley, the city’s transportation services director, outlined his department’s ongoing work to prepare for upcoming winter weather.

Gulley said the city usually applies brine to the streets for melting snow and ice, but that a fairly new method has been used which involves spraying a concoction of beet juice and salt on the streets. The mixture is said to be more effective and kinder to concrete in some cases. The concoction is reportedly getting favorable reviews from a growing number of states and cities.

City engineer Chris Brown discusses the city’s 5-Year Trail Construction Plan

Todd Gill

David Jurgens – Utilities Director

David Jurgens, who serves as project manager for the planned downtown parking deck, provided a brief overview of the project and the recommended building site.

A committee of hired consultants and city staff recently recommended locating the structure on the “Theater site,” located at the southeast corner of the Walton Arts Center campus at Spring Street and School Avenue.

City Council members are expected to make a final decision on where to build the deck during Tuesday night’s (Dec. 4) regular meeting.

Paul Becker – Finance Director

Paul Becker gave a brief update on the 2013 budget which is also set to be voted on at the Dec. 4 City Council meeting.

Becker said although the $134.9 million proposed budget represents an 11 percent increase from last year, it includes the first balanced general fund budget plan since 2007.

Peter Nierengarten – Director of Sustainability and Strategic Planning

Peter Nierengarten presented a review of planning staff’s “work-in-progress presentation” of the Wedington Corridor Plan.

The plan, which will be presented to the City Council for approval in early 2013, is organized under four guiding principals:

1. Redefine Wedington Drive as Wedington Parkway
2. Envision the “heart” of the neighborhood at the Rupple Road intersection
3. Support multimodal transportation connections
4. Support a “green ribbon” of protected spaces to connect people and places

Nierengarten said one of the many ideas included in the plan is a proposal to improve traffic flow west of Interstate 540. If approved by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, he said the area could one day see a roundabout constructed to replace the series of traffic signals at the Wedington Drive/I-540 interchange.

Fayetteville’s 5-Year Trail Construction Plan

Source: City of Fayetteville

Chris Brown – City Engineer

Chris Brown outlined several upcoming road and trail projects.

Brown said the new roundabout near Washington Regional Medical Center should be completed in the next few months and that construction of the College Avenue flyover bridge is still set to begin in January.

Other upcoming street projects include extensions to Van Asche Drive and Rupple Road. Both projects, which are part of the third phase of a $65 million bond program voters approved in 2006, would likely begin in 2014.

Brown said 2013 would probably be the “biggest year in terms of the trails program.”

Several projects are set to be started and completed next year including a 5.5-mile paved loop around Lake Fayetteville which Brown said could be finished by January, weather permitting.

Other upcoming trail projects include a half-mile southern extension to Frisco Trail, and construction of Clear Creek Trail, Town Branch Trail and the Tsa La Gi Trail (more info here).

Video – Fayetteville Government Channel


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