My Goals, if Re-elected:
We need to continue our street department and implement a positive street maintenance program for all the City's streets. Our challenge is the very high cost of restoring developer platted streets that may or may not be in drivable condition due to tree/shrub overgrowth occurring after original sales.
We also need to make changes and improvements in how city streets are maintained. Especially when or what is to “trigger” the need for them to be re-constructed, re-surfaced, or just sealed, rather than just applying a "band-aid" repair that only lasts a relative short period of time. A new properly constructed street should last 15-20 years with almost no maintenance, save for snow plowing and ice removal and mowing.
As the road surfacing 'ages' due to weather and traffic, the degree and type of maintenance is a function of its condition (and subsurface conditions) and its usage or traffic volume. That is, how it was constructed and what deterioration signs are showing, is what needs to be addressed. With over 550+/- miles of local streets in the City, this is no small task and needs to be properly addressed and planned for via addition of City Engineering Dept.
Another important issue is public water service for those 'islands' (non-developer owned lands) within the City that cannot be served by the BVVPOA water utility due to Developer’s recorded covenant restrictions. Each Bella Vista Village POA property owner paid the developer for his costs to construct the POA water system when they bought their lot, however due to the covenants, the POA cannot service non-POA designated parcels, even though the City annexed them into the City. I believe the city should provide consistent levels of UTILITY service to all residents within the city. This would mean creation of a city water utility to service those 'island' areas that the BVVPOA cannot serve. Utilities should be structured to be self-supporting; however, in the early years they may require City Budget subsidy for balanced budgets, much like the annual budgetary allocations made to Street Department to expand the annual O-M & R projects over & above Street Turnback funds from state.
The city has limited sewerage service by a private investor-owned not-for-profit corporation operating as Village Wastewater Utility. Originally started by the Developer, they divested their direct ownership and Village Wastewater operates sewage collection and treatment infrastructure consistent with State ADEQ standards and requirements. They principally serve portions of the developed platted lands in the central and easterly areas of City. They also provide contract sewerage service to the commercial development north of Bella Vista in Missouri. To my knowledge there is no definitive master plan for expansion of their collection and treatment facilities to accommodate full build-out of the city (Developer created lots, unplatted lands and non-developer lands). Future expansion of the sewerage collection and treatment systems may take serious involvement of the city to create a comprehensive plan for complete service to all current and future residential & commercial development within the city. On-site wastewater treatment (Septic) systems will fail over time when soils are marginal or poor and/or when systems are not sufficiently maintained. Poorer soil conditions (unsuitable for Septic System construction) in those areas now served by ‘public’ sewer and additional areas of poor or marginal soils for Septic systems will require ‘public’ sewer system solution to maintain habitable housing and commercial-industrial development in the City. Sewer service around the Developer created lakes in Bella Vista will preserve the water quality for full contact use (e.g., Swimming, etc.)
My Other additional priorities:
There are other priorities that need attention by City Council, including the following:
Continual review, updating when appropriate, and implementation of the Adopted Year 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
The city would benefit from some updating and streamlining of current zoning and land development codes which reflect the City’s attributes and character while maintaining properties and their values.
Creating comprehensive short- and long-range Capital Improvement Plans (CIP) consistent with adopted yr-2040 Plan for development of infrastructure and service plans of the city which include potential border expansion to grow our commercial tax base.
Continue Honing our Pedestrian & Bicyclist (or Trails) transportation plans and working with the BVVPOA, AR-DOT and Regional Planning Commission for implementation. Develop means & methods to implement some of the Yr-2040 Comprehensive Plan recommendations on shared use of streets for vehicles and bicycles for safety enhancement of both. Arkansas Law provides extensive public road rights for bicycle use!
I do not currently favor any tax increases unless the Residents want additional programs or services and are willing to pay for them. One example is the need for a city building to house the City Governance and Administrative Services staff under one roof. Long term rental space has limitations as staffing grows to service a growing population.
