FARMINGTON -- The planning and design firm that helped develop Northwest Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway will work with the city of Farmington to come up with a new master plan for its 61-acre Creekside Park.
Farmington City Council approved a recommendation May 11 to hire Alta Planning and Design of Bentonville for an amount not to exceed $30,000. The city received proposals from five firms and a committee interviewed two companies, Alta and CEI Engineering Associates of Bentonville, before making a recommendation to the Council.
"It was unanimous to hire Alta," said Melissa McCarville, city business manager. "They do park planning and that's all they do."
The park grew by 32 acres in December 2014, when the P.R. Green Family Trust donated land adjacent to the existing park on both sides of Broyles Avenue. In all, the trust has donated 61.54 acres of park land to the city. Farmington officials wanted assistance in deciding how best to use this new land.
Alta's formal proposal shows four major tasks will be used in creating a new master plan for the park. The first phase is to kick off the project and collect data. The city will appoint an advisory committee to work with Alta and information from the committee will be used to form a vision, goals and objectives to guide plan development and steer the city toward implementing a plan.
The process will include two public meetings for local residents to ask questions and give input. Other tasks will be an inventory and analysis of the park, identifying preliminary elements to go in a master plan, developing a conceptual master plan and finalizing the plan.
Alta's team for developing the plan will include Paul Wojciechowski, principal in charge; Erin Rushing, project manager; Tom Tavella, senior design associate; Scott Bzomowski, planner; and Melissa Miklus, designer/planner.
During the interview, Rushing told committee members his passion is parks and recreation. He said the firm would help guide the city in applying for recreation and park grants and would help the city implement a new master plan.
"We plan to implement the process, not to put a plan on the shelf," Rushing said.
The interview committee included McCarville, Jenna Swain, Sherry Mathews and Derric Abrecht.
Mayor Ernie Penn told Council members that he hopes some of the donated land can be used for a new location for the city's public works department. If this happens, Penn said a new facility would be built to fit in with the park's environment.
In other business at the May 11 Council meeting, Penn said Hill Electric would install lights on the walking trail at Farmington Sports Complex for about $6,500. Lights will be attached to the back of scoreboards along the trail. The city also is discussing recommendations to improve lighting along the walking trail at Creekside Park.
City Clerk Kelly Penn reported revenue from the city's 1-cent sales tax was up for May, compared to May 2014, by almost $4,000. The May distribution is based on sales in March. Revenue from the county 1-cent sales tax was down for the same period by about $1,200.
General News on 06/03/2015