Little Rock officials describe storm, flood recovery work; say targeted permit-fee waivers may be considered

The mayor told the Little Rock Board of Directors that the city and partner agencies have been working nonstop to clear debris, reopen flooded streets and restore services after recent storms and flooding that left some residents without power for several days and in at least one case resulted in a fatality.

"We all know that we've experienced some damaging storms and floods, the past few days. Many of us have, been without power 3 days and 3 nights and some even still today," the mayor said, and offered the board's appreciation to first responders, the City of Little Rock Public Works Department, the Parks Department and the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority.

The mayor said the city previously waived certain permit fees following the March 31 tornado, but that those waivers for tornado areas are ending after two years. For the recent storm and flood damage, staff and planning will examine maps and cross-reference damage with the local energy provider to determine where fee waivers should be applied. "We want to make certain that the areas that we do waive actually were caused by this storm and the flood as well," the mayor said, noting that electricity reconnection permits require city authorization even though the utility controls power restoration.

City staff signaled that any fee-waiver program for this event will need to be more targeted than prior, broader waivers. The mayor also noted ongoing communications to affected neighborhoods and that staff and partners are coordinating restoration and cleanup work.

The board heard no formal vote on an emergency fee-waiver program during the meeting; officials said they will continue mapping damage and coordinating with the utility before bringing any formal proposal to the board.