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Council honors baseball all-stars |
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
Also discusses flooding problems
The Bryant 13-year-old baseball all-stars were honored by the City Council on Monday night, just hours after returning home from New York.
The team was presented with a proclamation from Mayor Larry Mitchell for winning the 2008 Babe Ruth World Series.
“We agree [the all-stars] should be named the ‘Comeback Team,’” Mitchell told the team.
The all-stars won the championship with a 13-12 victory over New York’s College Point team in Jamestown, N.Y., on Saturday.
The proclamation notes that the Bryant team was the only team in the 10-team field with a perfect record, and brings the first Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series championship to Arkansas.
Each player and coach was given a copy of the proclamation, and the team was given a standing ovation by city leaders, parents and others in attendance.
In other business, the council engaged in more discussions with residents and Public Works Director Richard Penn about flooding problems in the city. During the public comments segment, Joe Smith of Rodeo Drive told the council he was growing impatient with the lack of progress with preventive flooding measures in his neighborhood.
“I have been a patient person, but my patience is wearing out,” Smith told the council.
“I am tired of flooding. My home was flooded on April 3, April 8 and on July 4th. What is going to happen during the rainy season in the fall? I see that you guys are putting a lot of money into the new Bishop Park and that is great, but that is not helping my home.”
Smith also said he is “tired of coming to meetings” and hearing about how the city will ease flooding problems in his neighborhood, only to see “no action done.” He cited a phrase from a former University of Arkansas Razorbacks basketball coach fired in 2002 after speaking out against the university administration.
“In the famous words of Nolan Richardson,” Smith said, “pay me my money and I’ll be gone tomorrow.”
Penn then updated the council on flooding along Rodeo Drive and other areas of the city under the Operation Flood Relief and FTN watershed project.
Bryant residents have a long history of battling with city officials over flooding problems in the city, and in January 2007 the city took steps to find a solution. FTN and Associates, an environmental consulting firm, was hired to conduct a watershed project designed to help identify problems and determine what should be done to improve stormwater drainage in Forest Cove, Sunset Meadows, West Pointe, Springhill Acres, Springhill Manor, Sherwood Estates and Northridge subdivisions. The objective was to identify specific items that can be addressed without causing additional harm to other points in the watershed.
The completion of the study determined that the best way to control flooding in those areas is to replace the box culverts on the Arkansas 5 bridge near Larry’s Pizza. Penn said all the other projects in the plan are impacted by this bridge.
In April, the city council approved the hiring of McClelland Consulting Engineers Inc. of Little Rock to prepare the plan and representatives said that once a redesign is completed, it would have to be approved by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. However, major storms on April 3 and 4 caused flooding issues in the identified neighborhoods and other areas of the city, sparking citizens to speak out. Citizens said their homes were severely damaged from floods in April and on July 4, a short, but heavy rain threatened to flood their homes again.
“On July 4 we had a thunderstorm that lasted for about an hour that almost came into our homes,” Elizabeth Wisdom said. “What will you do during the hurricane season when the rains last for two or three days?”
Mitchell and the council declared an emergency situation and proceeded with the implementation of certain projects in FTN’s plans. Fire Chief Randy Cox was named the incident commander to oversee Operation Flood Relief. In July, the council reaffirmed the emergency status and told Cox and Penn to use whatever means necessary to ease flooding problems in the city.
Penn and Cox designed a list of projects city employees were undertaking to help rid the city of flooding issues. The list is to inform the council on what projects are in process, what is complete and what projects will soon start.
Penn told the council on Monday night that plans for the Arkansas 5 bridge, including moving a major AT&T cable line that will cost the city up to $60,000, will soon start. He said AT&T expected the process to take from two to four weeks.
Dan Beranek, McClelland project manager, and Penn previously presented a timeline to the council with bridge construction starting in September.
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Razorbacks
