Mayor Butch Berry presented three Arkansas Trendsetting City 2019 awards at the Feb. 24 council meeting. The first was to the volunteers who created the Native Plant Garden in urban downtown; second was to the CAPC, Arts Council, Eureka Springs Arts Club and local artists for tourism and creative culture; and third was to Dan and Suzie Bell in conjunction with the Mayor’s Economic Task Force for community services offered through ECHO health clinic, thrift store and village.
Following awards’ acknowledgment, Solar Division Business Development Manager of Entegrity Energy Partners, Flint Richter, provided a solar services agreement. Richter said he expects to save the city an estimated $14,000 per year with solar energy.
To mitigate the cost of future electrical needs of the city, council unanimously approved adoption and implementation of solar services in Resolution 773.
The next presentation was from Chris Hall of Olsson, Inc., who said that Carroll-Boone Water District wants to refinance and increase its bonded indebtedness capitalizing on lower interest rates for a similar payment amount extending the maturity date beyond originally intended.
Hall said this notice comes with a Memorandum of Understanding requiring approval of three of the four customer cities, including Eureka Springs. Council unanimously approved the plan update of CBWD with Resolution 774.
The final presentation was from resident Steve Kolb of Cruz’n Eureka who applied for a moped franchise to rent 24 electric scooters during daylight hours.
“Cruz’n Eureka will have a positive impact on the city by offering an affordable way to tour the downtown and historical areas of Eureka Springs,” Kolb said. “This will be accomplished by renting electric scooters which operate without the emission of any pollutants.” Kolb will be operating business at 16 Center Street. Council unanimously approved his application.