Hot Springs council debates park-fee waivers, affirms holiday-decorations support and approves airport contracts

The Hot Springs City Council on Feb. 18 voted to back a winter-decorations program and approved multiple airport contracts and budget supplements, while deferring a decision on a Chamber of Commerce request to waive Centennial Park reservation fees.

The council adopted Resolution 2025-7, titled “support the Christmas in the Hills Committee, Light Up Our Town campaign,” with no direct municipal cash appropriation attached for 2025; councilmembers emphasized the city will continue to provide labor and maintain decorations and that fundraising and a restricted account will be used to buy additional decorations. Council also approved a set of airport contract items, accepted a hangar taxi-lane extension, and authorized a professional-services agreement for AWOS-3 work at the airport. Separately, the council approved a city services request from SHEDCO to support an end-of-construction event and waived related labor fees; a Chamber request to waive Centennial Park fees was discussed at length and is scheduled for a future council vote.

Why it matters: the votes commit city staff time and approve multi-thousand-dollar contracts tied to airport infrastructure, while the resolution and event-support decisions shape seasonal décor, downtown promotion and how the city balances support for community events against limited budget resources.

What the council did and decided

- Resolution 2025-7 (Light Up Our Town): Council approved a resolution supporting the Light Up Our Town effort. The mayor and staff clarified the resolution asks the city to partner with the volunteer group by allowing city staff to place and remove winter decorations and by housing a restricted donation account; the resolution does not ask the council for a direct appropriation this year. Staff said the city has transitioned to LED decorations and the account used for donations currently has a nominal balance. Council discussion centered on consistency, labor costs and the length decorations remain in place each winter.

- SHEDCO end-of-construction celebration (new business B): The council approved a recommendation from the city administrator to allow SHEDCO to use city services and personnel to construct a planned cone “burn” celebration for the end of construction, and the council voted to waive labor fees for that event. City staff estimated total labor value for that project between about $195 and $260. Safety committee members reported they reviewed the plan and raised no unresolved safety concerns; emergency-management staff…