Mayor outlines staffing changes, snow-response limits and project updates

The Maumelle mayor used the Feb. 2 City Council meeting to report personnel changes, explain why the city struggled during a recent prolonged freeze and update the council on multiple grant-funded projects.

The mayor said the mayor’s office has been conducting skip-level meetings and working on leadership pipelines, and announced that after several rounds of interviews a new finance director has been selected and will be introduced at the next council meeting. “One of the biggest things that I’ve changed…was changing the accounts payable analyst to an accounts payable and financial transparency analyst,” the mayor said, adding that the city will pursue training and certification in OpenGov reporting to make budget information more user-friendly.

On snow response, the mayor and interim Public Works Director James described limits of the city’s equipment. “We currently use floating or non-contact plows where the plows…graze above the asphalt and do not drag on the asphalt,” the mayor said, noting that this protects pavement and road features but can leave packed snow that later turns to sheets of ice during prolonged freeze-thaw events. James said the department is examining options including hybrid plow setups, in-house brine production and an enhanced sand-and-salt mix with a beet additive used by the state for highway pre-treatment, and that contracting pre-treatment services for prolonged events is also under consideration.

Council members pressed for specifics about what can be done to avoid similar problems. Councilmember Booker asked whether equipment or practices could be improved; the mayor said stockpiling additional sand and salt and deploying pre-treatment are options but carry storage and purchase costs. Councilmember Gardner described the recent event as unusually severe: “the last time we had snow on the ground this long was 1918,” he said, while praising the crews’ work on main corridors.

The mayor also reported on organizational changes and community engagement efforts. The city has rewritten most of the employee handbook in coordination with the city attorney and HR; reorganization of the planning and economic development functions continues and new hires are being onboarded. Community outreach efforts include a sold-out eight-week civics academy and a monthly community partners initiative. The mayor announced an upcoming ‘art in the park’ program and a website redesign to consolidate departmental pages.

On infrastructure and grants, the mayor said Maumelle has a pending purchase order for a 100% grant-funded conversion to LED streetlights on Odom Street; the Maumelle Boulevard corridor study has approvals from Maumelle and North Little Rock and awaits final ARDOT funding confirmation; Millwood Station construction is substantially complete with a tentative grand opening March 13; and the Lakewold Path Improvement project has $500,000 in grants and is awaiting a state contract before proceeding. The mayor said a Lake Willastein bathymetric study to measure sediment levels is beginning soon.

The mayor closed by reminding residents of upcoming public engagement — a community meeting and a coffee with the mayor — and encouraged groups to request presentations from city staff.

The council did not take formal action on any of these updates; items such as the Lakewold contracts and Millwood Station openings will return with formal agenda items as details solidify.