Council approves library fees, vehicle purchases, parks and utility contracts in consent votes

The Bentonville City Council on Feb. 11 approved a consent agenda and several other items, including an ordinance establishing 2025 library fees, authorization to purchase 12 police vehicles, multiple parks and public-works contracts, and utility board contract actions.

Items approved on the consent agenda included: appointments, routine awards of contracts for station repairs and vehicle maintenance, and budget adjustments to appropriate funds for those tasks. The city also approved an amended guaranteed maximum price (GMP) agreement for construction of a parks and recreation maintenance facility at Memorial Park and a contract for field improvements at Creekside Park Cricket Field.

Significant dollar figures the council approved or authorized during the meeting included: - Milestone Construction Company: repairs to Fire Station 4, "in an amount not to exceed $43,101.29." (IFB-24-96) - Crossland Construction: amended GMP for new parks and recreation maintenance facility at Memorial Park, "in an amount not to exceed $6,405,195." (Item 14) - Burn and Jones Sports Construction: field improvements at Creekside Park Cricket Field, "in an amount not to exceed $150,000." (Item 12) - BrightView Landscape Services, Inc.: Parks mowing services at a weekly rate of $3,979.61, not to exceed $119,388 annually. (IFB-24-92) - Superior Automotive Group: purchase and upfitting of 12 Bentonville Police Department vehicles, "in an amount not to exceed $950,041.88." (waiving competitive bidding) - Vee's Tree and Landscape: contract to repair fence damage at the Water Resource Recovery Facility, "$36,359.48." (Utility Board Item 1) - JWC Environmental: parts to rebuild the water resource recovery facility bar screen, "$66,877.06 plus applicable shipping costs." (Utility Board Item 3) - Chemtrade Chemicals U.S. LLC: contract amendment extending the purchase of aluminum sulfate on a price-per-gallon-plus-tax basis (amount not specified in packet). (Utility Board Item 2) - Ozark Tennis Academy: amended agreement for tennis and pickleball services, "in the approximate amount of $300,000." (Item 11) - BrightView and other contracts noted above were included in the consent agenda and passed with the rest of the consent items.

Land-use and planning items the council acted on during the meeting included final plats and lot splits (Hope Hill final plat FP24-0016; lot splits LS24-0038 and LS24-0039) and multiple rezoning matters. Two rezoning ordinances (project numbers RZ25-0002 and RZ25-0003) were presented and approved; council discussion for one rezoning included clarification about an address/notice discrepancy (packet listed C Street vs. D Street) and confirmation that legal descriptions in the ordinance were correct.

Most items were adopted with roll-call votes following motion and second; the meeting transcript records affirmative votes for present councilmembers on the listed items. Where exact vote tallies or mover/second names were not explicitly recorded in the transcript, the article lists the council outcome as "approved" or "adopted" per the meeting record.

Votes at a glance (selected items): - Ordinance establishing 2025 Bentonville Public Library fees (Item 1): adopted (emergency clause invoked to avoid affecting meeting room reservations). - Ordinance authorizing purchase/upfitting of 12 police vehicles with Superior Automotive Group (Item 6): adopted; amount not to exceed $950,041.88; emergency clause invoked. - Resolution awarding IFB-24-96 to Milestone Construction for Fire Station 4 repairs: approved; amount not to exceed $43,101.29. - Resolution awarding IFB-24-86 and IFB-24-93 to Banner Fire Equipment for vehicle maintenance and emergency vehicle maintenance services: approved (unit-price contracts). - Resolution authorizing purchase of capital equipment upgrades for the Bentonville Police Department fleet (Item 7 on consent): authorized (transcript phrase: "authorizing $20.25 capital funds"—amount phrasing unclear in transcript; listed here as transcribed). - Resolution authorizing agreement with Burn and Jones Sports Construction for Creekside Park cricket field improvements: approved; amount not to exceed $150,000. - Resolution awarding IFB-24-92 to BrightView Landscape Services, Inc. for parks mowing services: approved; weekly rate $3,979.61; annual not to exceed $119,388. - Amendment to GMP with Crossland Construction for new parks & rec maintenance facility at Memorial Park: approved; amount not to exceed $6,405,195. - Utility board: contract with Vee's Tree and Landscape for Water Resource Recovery Facility fence repairs: approved; $36,359.48. - Utility board: contract amendment with Chemtrade Chemicals U.S. LLC to extend aluminum sulfate purchases: approved; pricing basis noted but not dollarized in packet. - JWC Environmental contract for bar screen parts at McKissick Creek Lift Station: approved; $66,877.06 plus shipping. - Planning: final plat FP24-0016 (Hope Hill) and lot splits LS24-0038 and LS24-0039: approved. - Rezoning ordinances RZ25-0002 and RZ25-0003: adopted (discussion and address/notice clarifications recorded for one parcel; ordinance legal descriptions confirmed correct).

No formal items were recorded as failed or tabled in the transcript. Several items invoked emergency clauses to make them effective on passage. Specific mover and seconder names were not consistently captured in the transcript for many consent items; where that information was not stated it is recorded in the actions array as "not specified".

The council adjourned the public agenda after approving the listed items and moved to committee reports.