Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Progress slow at business park

Progress is being made at the satellite part on Malone Drive in Arkadelphia  albeit slow progress.

At the October meeting of the Clark County Industrial Council Wayne Anderson, superintendent of the construction project, said there have been several surprises along the way.

The majority of the problems, he said, are in how things have been designed. According to Anderson, the manhole height in places had the same elevation drop as did the street, which meant there would have been drainage problems later on. However, he used the mean average from the curb to the entry plaza to try and correct the situation.

The water lines are not only in place, but water is available throughout the park. Now, he said, the sewer line is to be installed  but added there could be headaches with it as well.

Meanwhile, storm drains are being installed and drop inlets poured. "Everything is looking good," he said, "and starting to take shape.

"We'll lay out the circle, put in the curbs and sprinkling system, and hope this is the last grading problem we have."

Brown Hardman, CCIC president, said the water line was extended under the road and tied into the city's system. The city will also be asked to extend the sewer system to the park. Plans are to tie the satellite park's phone system into the fiver optic system going to Arkadelphia High School.

Anderson said there are two routes to get sewer service to the park. One is a lot next to the park which isn't being used for anything. The power lines are on the back side of the property, with the sewer on the front. This, he said, would be the easiest route if the CCIC can acquire easement rights.

The other way would be to tie into the sewer line going to AHS.

"The regulations on street, water and sewer work are getting so extreme," Anderson said, "it's getting impractical to do any developing."

The developed property, he said, usually winds up going back to the city because of the exorbitant costs. The situation with the sewer, Anderson added, is the city wants it done in the manner of a subdivision, which is not economically feasible.

Hardman told the CCIC members to talk to the Arkadelphia City Council to see if it couldn't help alleviate the situation. "Let them know what you think. It's the only way they'll know what people want.

"We all want what's best for the community."

Another problem in trying to do developing, Anderson said, is the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has lowered the regulation from five acres to one acre for those building. Now a person must get permits if they're going to build on one acre.

Getting back to the sewer at the satellite park, Hardman said the Arkadelphia Sewer Department wants the CCIC to absorb the costs, and the CCIC doesn't have the funds.

"I've tried to get a figure on what it would cost," he said, "but they haven't gotten back to me yet.

"This organization," Hardman said of the CCIC, "is here to bring jobs to Clark County."

While Hardman urged CCIC members to address the city council, Anderson pointed out the council seeks input, but because of the way meetings are handled, the public doesn't get the chance to speak because of not being on the agenda.

"The economy isn't in good condition," Hardman said. "Jobs are shutting down and companies aren't expanding. We're doing what we ought to be doing now  diversifying. Times will change and the business park will be part of it."

Hardman informed the CCIC the Goodrich building has been listed with a Little Rock real estate agency. The building has 272,000 square feet, is state of the art and is listed for $4.7 million. It also has 65 acres of land with it.

When the company left, it held an auction and sold most of the equipment. However, some still remains and could possibly be used by a new industry. At this point, Hardman said, no one is looking at it.

Dave Fenocotte, with Scroll Technologies, reported on the lighting for the satellite park.

The committee, he said, voted to spend $11,000 for lighting, thinking it was excessive to spend $26,000 as the architect planned.

While nothing firm was decided, placing bollards at the front gate was discussed, along with having a planter. "We're looking to reduce the cost of bollards to less than $3,000 each," he said. "We only want to spend what we have to for this project."

Hardman said the original plans called for a stainless steel statue in front of the park which would have cost about $150,000. "We only had $300,000. We want to save money, but we also want a class A business park. We want something we can be proud of."

Laurie Pilgreen said the CCIC may be able to get the bollards for about $500 each, and this would leave between $9,000 and $10,000 for the fountain and planters.

The idea of going to an alternate plan, she said, was so the CCIC could buy the materials from Arkansas companies. The original plans called for everything at the entrance to be purchased out of state.

Pilgreen said by the time something was shipped from out of state, the freight charges would equal or exceed the item shipped. Additionally, if something were damaged in shipping, there would be the added delay of sending it back and having it returned.

Hardman discussed the Ouachita Regional Water Project, saying it would help rural areas in Clark County, especially Gurdon.

Business and industry, he said, don't want to locate where they have to depend on well water, as wells can go dry and a reliable water supply is required.

"If the district got started," he said, "it would save money and everyone would have a reliable source of water. It would take less to purify water from DeGray."

According to Hardman, the Ross Foundation spent $50,000 to research the project. The concept is to pipe a specific amount of water from DeGray Lake to cities and communities in Clark County, thus creating a county-wide water system.

However, nothing has been done on it to date.