City accepts donation of parking lot

A file photo of the front of Hot Springs City Hall as seen from Convention Boulevard. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record
A file photo of the front of Hot Springs City Hall as seen from Convention Boulevard. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record


The consent agenda the Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted Tuesday night included a resolution accepting the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission's donation of a parking lot at Malvern Avenue and Church Street.

The city plans to add the parcel between 420 Eats Food Truck Court and the former location of Habitat for Humanity Restore to its parking inventory. The lot can accommodate 62 parking spaces, according to information included with the enabling resolution.

According to the resolution, the donation was conditioned on the city improving the parking lot for the benefit of city residents. Regions Bank donated the lot to the ad commission in 2016. The deed said the gift was a $450,000 charitable contribution. According to the city GIS map, most of the lot is in the Hot Springs Creek flood plain.

The city hired Walker Consultants of Houston in August to develop a downtown parking implementation plan. The $85,000 contract includes a 12-week program assessing parking inventory and demand, public input sessions, a review of policies and procedures and a parking alternative analysis.

The consent agenda included the following items:

• A resolution hiring FORVIS LLP of Little Rock to audit the city's annual comprehensive financial report for an annual fee of $100,000.

The city ranked FORVIS' statement of qualifications the highest of the two it received, putting it ahead of Alexander Thompson Arnold PLLC's submission. Local accounting firm JWCK, which was acquired by ATA, had been the city's auditor for many years. It gave its report on the city's 2021 financials in August, reporting no issues of noncompliance with accounting standards or control deficiencies.

According to the scoring summary, the city gave FORVIS 76.50 points out of a possible 100. It received its highest marks in the specialized experience category. The city said FORVIS audits the cities of Little Rock and Texarkana's financials.

The city gave ATA 59.92 points, including five out of a possible 20 for past performance. FORVIS received 15 points.

The state code allows annual audits of cities to be conducted by accounting firms in good standing with the state licensing agency.

City Manager Bill Burrough said the hiring of a new finance director/treasurer this summer was one of the reasons the city issued a solicitation for a new auditor. The city hired Karen Scott after Dorethea Yates retired in June.

"The reasoning for a (request for qualifications) for an auditing firm is certainly not a reflection on JWCK, whom has performed the city's audit for several years," Burrough said in an email. "JWCK is now part of the firm Alexander Thompson Arnold PLLC. That coupled with new leadership in the finance department, we felt it was in the best interest to let a new RFQ and have our new finance director have input in the auditing firms."

• A resolution awarding a $115,087 contract to Hoffrogge Racing Inc. of Mount Ida for fencing, gates and privacy slats at the utilities department's Adams Street complex.

Utilities Director Monty Ledbetter told the board black vinyl coated chain link fencing will replace the existing fence. Privacy slats will be added on the backside of the property.

"We've been broken into back there several times," he said. "The old chain link fence has been there a long time, and it looks horrible. It's been run through several times and replaced and patched, and our gates are in really bad shape."

Hoffrogge Racing's bid was the lowest of the two the city received, according to the bid tabulation included with the enabling resolution.

• A resolution awarding an $87,989 contract to All Around Access LLC of Naples, Fla., for a Genie 5519 Telehandler forklift.

Ledbetter told the board the purchase will replace the warehouse-type forklift used at the Ouachita Water Treatment Plant on upper Lake Hamilton. He said the new unit can go off road, lift all of the plant's pumps and motors and unload deliveries of chemicals used to treat water.

The city said All Around Access had the lowest responsive bid.


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