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Challenges of growth: Benton officials: Bryant broke promises |
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Sunday, 29 June 2008 |
Bryant wants land said to be Benton’s
Benton resident Frank Large was a member of the Benton Planning Commission when commissioners of Benton and Bryant agreed on particular areas that each city would annex.
Large spoke about this issue in light of a recent dispute over certain land that officials of both cities claim should be theirs. Special elections to settle the dispute are scheduled Aug. 12 in Benton and in September in Bryant.
Benton officials say they have not violated the agreement that the chairmen of both commissions signed in 2005, a position that Large staunchly supports. However, he contends that Bryant officials have not adhered to the pledge.
The current dispute concerns land south of Northlake Road. But even before this dispute, Bryant officials did not live up to the agreement regarding other land, Large says.
“The boundaries were drawn up that night and they (Bryant officials) agreed to all of it,” Large noted, “yet within 24 hours they broke the agreement by taking the property where Dr. Allan Stanford built a clinic, and that area was agreed to be in Benton.
“They are not telling the truth in that whole thing,” Large said. “They took that in and never said a word. They never came to us — they just took Dr. Stanford’s property and put it in Bryant. Nobody knew it until they started building the clinic and found out all the utilities were in Bryant.”
Large gives this account of the negotiations that led to the mutual agreement of the two commissions.
“We negotiated for them to have the north side of the highway where they were going to have the new Bryant school. They wanted that, and we said ‘OK.’ That at one time was in Benton’s jurisdictional planning, but we gave that up and took the south side of Northlake. And then we came down Springhill Road and said that would be the boundary; they would take the east side and we would take the west side where Hurricane Lake was.”
Two exceptions were made there, which Benton officials agreed to, Large said. “Jim Lagrone had property on the west side and so did David McCorkel. They wanted to be in Bryant, but they were on the west side. We cooperated and agreed to let them (Bryant) have the two pieces of property. Then we came down Springhill to where it’s already in Bryant south of there — that was all Bryant anyway, so there was no issue. We just went over to where Hurricane Lake trailer park and Hurricane Lake Estates were and all of that was put into the Benton jurisdiction. Then on the south side of Highway 5, we agreed that would be Benton and on the corner of Springhill and Highway 5 it would be Bryant.”
Large said Benton has never changed its planning area, in spite of claims to the contrary made recently by Bryant officials.
“All of the aldermen from Bryant who are saying we broke the boundaries are wrong,” Large said. “They won’t look at the map. The planning commissions and then both councils approved it.
“None of them (Bryant council members) were at that meeting. They have made up statements and I’m getting tired of hearing it. I said if it goes to court, I’ll be a witness because I know what was agreed upon.”
When statements regarding Stanford’s property have been made, Bryant officials have not been receptive, Large said. “When you say that stuff, they don’t want to talk to you.
“It was very simple. We drew the boundaries ... it was no big deal, then within 24 hours it got broken and not by Benton,” he said.
“Now they’re accusing Benton of redoing a map. We didn’t do that. If they want to stand in front of a judge and say that, let them do it. They will not be telling the truth.”
Large said three meetings were held before the 2005 agreement was reached. “We went over the boundaries, they agreed and both chairmen signed the map.”
Benton has several subdivisions in the general vicinity of the Northlake area with several others planned, Mayor Rick Holland said.
“Operating on the basis of the May 2005 agreement, plans for infrastructure have been made in order to better serve the Benton residents in this area,” he said. “Of particular importance is a water tower planned to provide fire flow to the residents of Hurricane Lake Estates and Quail Valley.”
Marsha Guffey, director of community development for the city of Benton, said Benton’s annexation plan coincides with the 2005 agreement.
Guffey said Benton officials “do not believe planning is a game. We are trying to act in the best interest of the citizens of Benton. We have a large number of residents in Hurricane Lake Estates, Quail Valley and Hurricane Meadows, and we intend to serve their needs effectively and efficiently. When we fill in this area, we will be able to justify building a much-needed fire station in the area. We will be able to loop the water and increase the fire flow.
“Ultimately the issue will be settled by the people who live in this area,” Guffey said. “State law says that when two cities both approve annexing an area, the voters in the area will determine in which municipality they live.”
Holland said it’s important for people to know “what the facts are.”
“We have never tried to mislead anybody,” he said.
“It is my understanding that Bryant is planning to put in a forced-main sewer on North Lake Road, which would be more costly for developers to tie onto.
“Benton has gravity flow sewer in that area that serves the Hurricane Meadows subdivision, which is on the border of the proposed annexed area,” he added.
Benton already has planned to build a fire station in the area of Gregory and Scott-Salem roads, Guffey noted.
“With this area in the Benton city limits, the fire station can be built sooner and enable the fire department to more effectively service existing residents in the Hurricane Lake area as well as residents in the annexation area,” she said.
“Fire flow in the Hurricane Lake Estates area is inadequate,” she pointed out. “With this area annexed, it will ensure that enough new Benton subdivision tie onto the water system to make a planned new water tower cost-effective.”
The Benton city limits in the affected area currently are jagged, making it difficult to determine which emergency responders should be called to the scene, Guffey added.
Holland said it appears that the issue is being turned into “a Benton-Bryant competition when it should be a cooperative, common-sense process for planning our cities as they run together — to decide what is best for both cities.”
Like Guffey, he predicted that ultimately it will be the the voters who decide the outcome.
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