08-29-95182
Board of Directors Room
City Hall - 500 W. Markham
Little Rock, Arkansas
August 29, 1995 - 4:00 P.M.
The Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas,
reconvened from the August 15, 1995 regular meeting with Mayor
Jim Dailey presiding. City Clerk Robbie Hancock called the roll
with the following Directors present: Directors Sharp, Kumpuris,
Adcock, Hinton, Hodges, Joyce, and Wyrick - total 7; Absent -
Directors Mason, Wilson and Keck, - total 3.
With a quorum being present, Mayor Dailey declared the Board
of Directors in session and announced that the purpose of the
reconvened meeting was to consider a Resolution regarding the BFI
Landfill (formerly Worth James Landfill) in southwest Little
Rock.
Consideration was then given to Resolution No. 9,475,
entitled:
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO COMMUNICATE TO
THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF POLLUTION CONTROL AND ECOLOGY CONCERNS
REGARDING THE LANDFILL OWNED BY BROWNING- FERRIS INDUSTRIES, INC.
( "BFI").
(Located in the Fourche Creek bottoms along Mabelvale Pike.)
Speaking in support of the Resolution were Mr. Woodrow Little, 18
Rolling Lane, Mrs. Joa Stafford Humphrey, 5822 West 56th Street,
and Attorney Clay Robinson, 7125 Rockwood. Mr. Little spoke in
strong opposition to having the "dump" in the Geyer Springs area,
stating, "We can't have the neighborhood our community deserves
with a dump in the midst of it." Mrs. Humphrey said this has
been a 23 year fight against the dump. It is in the wrong place.
It is located in the floodway where the water comes down and
flows rapidly to the river. That is the only way water gets out
of two counties - Saline and Pulaski. There should not be
anything there. The dump is not in compliance and has never been
in compliance. In conclusion, she stated, "The dump has got to
go." Mr. Robinson, a retired attorney, said he was representing
Mrs. Humphrey and 45,000 other constituents in this matter.
Unfortunately, the Board of Directors has no jurisdiction of any
aspect about the dump except with respect to the floodplain
ordinance of the City. The dump has been developed over the last
20 years without complying with floodplain requirements. It
became the City's problem in November, 1994, when that area was
annexed to the City. Now the City's floodplain Ordinance applies
and the City has the requirement of assuring that the floodway is
not obstructed. This Resolution asks the Department of Pollution
Control & Ecology not to authorize any more dumping until City
staff has had a chance to complete its work and determine to
issue or not to issue a permit to build in the floodway and to
determine what, if any, conditions to place on that happening.
The Resolution was then read in full. There was a motion by
Director Sharp, seconded by Director Adcock, to adopt the
Resolution. In response to a question by Director Wyrick
regarding the status of this issue, Mrs. Chan Russell, Director
of Public Works, stated the preliminary application had been
review, returned with a punch list, resubmitted, and is being
reviewed by staff and the Corps of Engineers, and should be
finalized by the end of next week. Mr. Robinson stated that BFI
had received interim authority limited to dumping until September
2, 1995. A voice vote was then taken on the motion to adopt the
Resolution, and the Resolution was unanimously adopted.
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Minutes
August 29, 1995
At 4:13 o'clock P.M., Director Dean Kumpuris, Chairman of
the East Markham Street Task Force, made a presentation regarding
the proposed River Market /Riverfront Plaza. Others participating
in the presentation were Bill Bunten, Director of Parks &
Recreation, who spoke on the expansion of Riverfront Park
Amphitheater and its relationship to the River Market and the
River Market District, and provided a historic overview of
Riverfront Park up to its current activities and plans for
expansion; Rick Redden of AMR Architects, who displayed a scale
model of The River Market; and Millie Ward of Stone & Ward, who
revealed the name and emblem for the project - The River Market
and The River Market District. The River Market will be located
in a one -half block area between Rock and Commerce Streets, East
Markham and the Arkansas River. The River Market District will
extend from the Arkansas River tentatively to Capitol Avenue and
from I -30 tentatively to Broadway. Director Kumpuris presented
financing options for the expanded River Market Project beyond
its original scope, and recommended establishing a Board to
oversee the project, consisting of 7 members - 3 voting members
(Bill Bunten of Parks & Recreation, Barry Travis of the Little
Rock Convention Bureau, and a member of the Downtown Partnership)
and 4 non - voting members (one representative each of the Central
Arkansas Library System and the Museum of Science & History, a
citizen, and a business person in the District). He also
recommended that the funds generated in the District stay in the
District. In conclusion, he requested that the approval of the
Project be placed on the Consent Agenda for September 5, 1995.
The anticipated completion date for The River Market is May, 1996
in time for Riverfest. Vice Mayor Adcock requested another
presentation be made at the September 5 meeting.
(Mayor Dailey was excused at 4:50 o'clock P.M. during the
presentation.)
There being no further business to be presented, the
reconvened meeting was adjourned at 5:13 o'clock P.M. with the
Board of Directors to meet again in regular session on Tuesday,
September 5, 1995, at 6:00 o'clock P.M.
ATTEST:
City Clerk Robbie Hancock
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ROVED:
Vayor Jim Dailey
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