Alderman Kristi Kendrick said Monday that in spite of her “devotion to our Eureka Springs parks, I have learned several things that I feel I must share with the public.” She said constituents were concerned the new trails were being built without proper environmental review and without adequate public input, so she investigated the Parks Commission’s enabling legislation and ordinances approving the sales tax dedicated to LLCP. Her conclusion was “the Parks Commission is acting beyond its scope of authority, and not solely in constructing these trails.”
She said the enabling legislation gave Parks authority only over revenues derived from operation of the parks, and it requires the commission to submit quarterly reports and an annual audit to the mayor and council. It also states council “may” appropriate additional funds for operation of the parks. She said she did not recall getting quarterly reports or annual audits, and has not been asked to appropriate funds to Parks or approve its annual budget.
She also maintained that, according to her reading of the legislation, Parks could not spend the LLCP sales tax funds unless it were appropriated by council. She pointed out the ballot which voters approved extending the tax referenced the wrong ordinance. Instead of Ord. 2176, it mentioned Ord. 2178. “This anomaly invalidates the entire tax,” she said.
Kendrick said no one has produced any ordinance or resolution approving the LLCP Master Plan. She asked how the sales tax, which is supposed to be used according to the LLCP Master Plan, can be appropriately applied if the plan was never approved.
In addition, the Master Trails Plan mentions only one downhill trail, which meant to her the new downhill trails project exceeds the scope of the plan. She questioned whether Parks had the authority to enter into an agreement with the company building the downhill trails, insisting only council had that authority.
Kendrick said Parks has accomplished much under the direction of Chair Bill Featherstone, but he has taken the commission “in dangerous directions.” She saw conflicts developed because of Featherstone’s allegiance to the Community Center Foundation that she claimed caused “illegal diversion of government resources to a private entity.” She proclaimed there was “good cause to remove Mr. Featherstone from the Parks Commission,” and presented points for Parks to begin rectifying the dilemma as she saw it.
After her remarks, alderman David Mitchell commented, “That was a lot to digest.” He disagreed with some observations, but suggested they send her remarks to City Attorney Tim Weaver and the Municipal League for review.
Alderman Mickey Schneider pointed out the city is audited every year, and the Parks Department is included in the audit. Alderman Terry McClung said council did appropriate funds properly by approving the ballot for the sales tax.
Weaver told council the Municipal League saw the incorrect ordinance number on the ballot as “a scrivener’s error,” and it could easily be corrected by passing a resolution. He also agreed with McClung’s assessment that council properly appropriated funds to Parks by approving the ballot. He commented Master Plans get revised and updated regularly, and he did not see any inappropriate behavior from Parks.
Kendrick reiterated dissatisfaction with how Parks has been operating, saying council was shirking its responsibility. Mitchell moved to have Weaver and the Municipal League review Kendrick’s statements further, and vote to approve the motion was unanimous.