Eureka Springs resident Susie Allen spoke to city council at the Feb. 14 meeting imploring for changes to Mountain St. and German Alley. In September of last year Allen had been one of several residents of German Alley and Cliff St. asking for German Alley to be made one-way, citing large box trucks threatening houses as they attempt to turn onto Cliff.
Allen told council that such vehicles had hit her property twice, including on the same morning as the meeting, and that in January her home suffered $300 in damages. She said that trucks travel through German Alley and Mountain daily and that the incidents with her house were only two of seven within a month’s time.
She said the truck drivers she has spoken to were “appalled” to be sent through those streets by GPS. She told council that the only way she believed to fix the issue would be to change the streets, suggesting No-Truck signage at the bottom and top of Mountain, and turning German Alley into a one-way up. She said that the drivers were only following the routes provided to them and, “It’s a very dangerous situation.”
Alderman Melissa Greene said she had taken time to visit the area where Cliff and Mountain Sts. meet and said that there is a bottleneck there. She said it’s not possible for someone to pull over to let vehicles pass by and the left shoulder of the road was becoming eroded.
Mayor Butch Berry said that making German Alley one-way up with signage may solve the problem, and he would speak with the police and fire departments to make sure there would be no issues.
State of the city
Berry gave a State of City Address at the start of the meeting that reflected mostly positives for Eureka Springs in 2021. With a graph showing sales tax numbers for 2019, 2020, and 2021, Berry said that the more than $2.9 million in sales tax revenue had shown confidence from visitors in coming to Eureka Springs. He also said that it was the largest year-over-year sales tax increase in years. Berry also pointed out a real estate boon in town and that 75 new business permits had been issued.
He said that while the economy has been strong it’s “not to say that everything has been rosy and easy” citing continued inflation, COVID fatigue, and shortage of affordable housing.
City departments received positive review with Berry saying that the police and fire and EMS departments had increased activity in 2021 while staying under budget. Public Works had completed 15,000 sq. yds. of overlay for city streets and received a grant for repair to Black Bass Dam. Berry also said that the transit department had nearly doubled in ridership in 2021 compared to 2020.
Berry also covered city commissions saying that the HDC had begun work with a consultant from The Lakota Group on a complete revision of their design guidelines, and that 2021 had been a year of high revenue for the CAPC, complimenting their fourth quarter marketing campaign.
Other Items
- Motions to draft ordinances to increase the City Clerk’s salary to $48,000 a year and the Mayor’s salary to $35,000 passed.
- Greene brought a concern about animals put into the pound not able to receive suitable long-term shelter. She said that they are considered police property and there was no process for organizations like Good Shepherd Humane Society to step in if the owner of the animal does not relinquish ownership. Berry suggested she investigate how other cities handle the situation.
- Council motioned to allow the acceptance of bids for an empty city lot zoned C-1 across from Eurekan Art.