City staff seek MetroPlan grant to finish Arkansas River Trail design; pier protection repairs tied to ongoing litigation

City staff asked the Little Rock City Board to approve a resolution to apply for MetroPlan CPRG funding to finish design work on the Arkansas River Trail in front of Dillard’s, with the formal resolution placed on the consent agenda for the Feb. 3 meeting.

"We applied for some funding through MetroPlan," staff member Manish said, adding the request is to complete the trail design and that "half $1,000,000 could go a long way" toward pier-protection or bridge replacement work. He told the board MetroPlan indicated the work could qualify because it protects a pedestrian facility.

The request is a design-phase resolution that MetroPlan typically requires the board to pass; Manish characterized the city's chances as "slim" but said staff is pursuing the second round of CPRG funding to supplement local work.

Board members raised how a grant award might interact with the city's pending litigation over damage to river infrastructure. City Attorney Tom said pursuing a grant "should not impact anything dealing with the award of damages," though he noted the state might seek reimbursement of grant funds if it funded repairs. "The damage has been done and the cost is going to be what it is," Tom said.

Manish and other staff clarified the application covers design work immediately in front of Dillard’s and a small segment behind a data center, then returns toward Cantrell; the project would finish the portion of trail that passes the Dillard’s headquarters.

The resolution to authorize the grant application was moved to the consent/grouped items list; final approval of any grant acceptance and associated agreements will return to the board in a subsequent meeting.