The Auditorium lobby was packed with people standing against walls and on the stairs at Monday evening’s Eureka Springs City Council meeting, many there to express opinions about recent actions by the Parks Department and the Parks Commission in general.
Director Justin Huss gave an opening statement in which he said he would do his part to improve communication between Parks and council. He acknowledged the downhill trails’ project at Lake Leatherwood City Park, which has garnered much support but has been met with significant criticism, sprang upon them and proceeded at “an unparalleled pace,” but he never intended to withhold information.
He gave a timeline of events starting with the first mention on Sept. 29 of the possibility of funding for downhill trails at LLCP through two quick months of back and forth with Tom Walton of the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) and the Northwest Arkansas Trailblazers to agree on a design, but also clear up matters such as the purchase of land adjacent to LLCP that would make the project possible.
Huss said the land purchase was completed on Nov. 21, and he did not know until that date the project would go forward. As things stand now, just over $1.5 million has been spent by the WFF with Parks putting up $50,000 toward development of the area around Miner’s Rock. The arrangement is for 35 acres of the land purchase to be deeded over to LLCP.
He said the additional mountain biking trails, growing rapidly in popularity across the country, would bring additional steady revenue to the park. He mentioned several groups with whom Parks will partner to assess the inventory of flora and fauna in the area of the trails and throughout the park.
Alderman David Mitchell’s concerns were with a possible overreach by Parks and a lack of communication along the way. He urged Huss to keep council better informed of the activities of Parks, however, he moved for Mayor Butch Berry to bring council a resolution acknowledging Tom Walton for making this benefit to the city possible.
Alderman Terry McClung asked if the resolution should not also endorse the project. Alderman Kristi Kendrick agreed council should acknowledge the benefactor, but said she did not even know what the plan was or if it were part of the LLCP Master Plan, so was not ready to endorse anything.
Quibbling about whether acknowledging without endorsing actually meant anything continued, after which McClung again called for an endorsement. He said he understood Kendrick wanted more information, but in his view the project tied in with green initiatives and low-impact growth and seemed like a good fit for the town, so he encouraged council to get behind it.
Kendrick moved to defer a vote on Mitchell’s motion until it came up later in the agenda, and there was no second. However, McClung had moved to amend Mitchell’s motion to include an endorsement of the project, and vote to approve that motion was 4-2, Kendrick and alderman Bob Thomas voting No. Vote on Mitchell’s original motion to draft a resolution acknowledging Tom Walton for making the project possible was 5-1, Kendrick voting No.