Winter is here

Arctic blast hits state today, Chad Gardner and Maumelle City Council report, Maumelle Planning Commission meets tonight plus sports and headlines

and

Dec 22, 2022

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Death toll drops

The total number of dead Arkansans this past week was 25.

Last week, it was 43, and the week before that it was 39.

The total number of dead Arkansans is now at 12,672.

Covid toolkit
There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.

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If you don’t want to get sick and die, there’s some things you can do:
Get vaccinated
Get boosted
Wear a mask
Avoid crowds

The Headlines

Upcoming meetings: The last meeting of the year is scheduled for tonight when the Maumelle Planning Commission meets. No meetings are scheduled during the Christmas holiday next week.
Upcoming events: City offices are closed Friday and Monday due to the Christmas holiday. Christmas Day is Sunday and plan accordingly.
ICYMI: Get your flu shot!

Maumelle: City Council Report

CHAD GARDNER

This week’s headlines: Council approves 2023 budget with $3 million in capital improvements for the city; All-Inclusive Playground heads towards construction after the city is awarded a $240,000 grant; White Oak Crossing Roundabout takes another step towards groundbreaking.

To start off this week’s meeting, the council reviewed 2022’s financials through the month of November. Our city continues to be in a very strong financial position with revenues exceeding expenditures by arppoximately $4 million dollars through 11 months of the year. Due to the city paying off bond debt in recent months, the city is also due a refund of an additional $2.5 million in the coming weeks. This will push Maumelle’s 2022 surplus to approximately $6.5 million for the current year with $3.1 million of this surplus coming from refunds due to retirement of city bond debt. After several years of belt-tightening to make sure we controlled expenses during an uncertain economic period, the city has come through stronger than ever. As we head into the next few years, this puts the city in a great position to invest in our community and provide facilities and services to benefit our residents.

In unfinished business, the council was unable to make an appointment to the Civil Service Commission for the third straight meeting. With one council member recusing from the vote and another member absent, it’s difficult for the remaining six council members to pull together the five needed votes for an appointment. We will have a new council member join us in January to fill the seat that has been vacant due to illness, so we’ll see if that provides the needed vote to finally make an appointment. The ballots were split 3-3 on multiple votes last night, so one additional vote doesn’t get us to 5 for either candidate unless another council member changes their vote. Either way, these two candidates are highly qualified which has led to the difficulty in making an appointment.

To be continued…

The council approved the establishment of a Municipal Property Owners Improvement District for the Devoe Bend neighborhood. As I’ve mentioned previously, state law compels the council to set up these districts if a proper petition is put forward. This passed by a 6-2 vote.

The council approved a resolution to seek condemnation of .14 acres along White Oak Crossing so that the new roundabout project can move forward along Country Club Parkway and White Oak Crossing. The city has already offered $55,000 for the .14 acres which is approximately $15,000 more than an independent appraiser has said it is worth. This approved resolution moves the case to the court system so a judge can determine a fair value for this small piece of land.

A local business, Plastic Ingenuity, located in our city’s industrial park, has applied for the state of Arkansas Tax Back Program which provides financial incentives for businesses that are expanding their workforce in our state. Plastic Ingenuity currently has 100 employees in Maumelle and will be growing to 140 employees in the next 5 years. To participate in the state’s tax back program, they had to seek an endorsement from the council. This endorsement passed by a 7-1 vote of the council.

Lastly, the council approved the 2023 city budget by a 7-1 vote of the council. The city has budgeted revenues for the coming year to be flat with no growth. This is a conservative forecast but wise considering the economy may enter a recession next year. In terms of revenue versus expenses, the city will have a balanced budget with personnel and operating expenses equaling the revenue we’re forecasting and we’re budgeting $3.1 million in capital items.

A few highlights on the operational side, Maumelle will be adding two new police officer positions, three new fire lieutenant positions, as well as a new city engineer. For capital items in our general fund, these projects include technology upgrades, facility improvements at both the Police & Fire Stations, 5 new police vehicles, a new in-car and body camera system, reporting and station alerting upgrades for both Police & Fire needed for PSAP (911) consolidation, a zodiac rescue boat, vehicle and equipment replacements in Animal Services, Public Works and Parks, Pickleball Courts, and the Gateway Park.

Capital projects in our street department include equipment replacements, a street sweeper replacement, asphalt street overlays & sealing, street striping, a traffic signal at Hwy 100 & Audubon Drive, along with continued drainage & path improvements. Total Street capital expenditures for 2023 are $1,390,275.

In our sanitation department, we are budgeting $280,506 in capital expenditures which include several dumpster replacements as well as a new Knuckle Boom truck.

The last item I’ll mention is something I’m very excited about for our city. We recently received a grant for $240,000 which will largely complete the funds needed to construct our All-Inclusive Playground to be located next to the splash pad along Lake Valencia. This project should begin construction in early 2023 and will complete the playground and splash pad project. This park will be an exciting amenity for our residents and will become a go-to destination in our community for families. More to come on this project as we move towards construction in the coming months.

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Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! Chad 501-529-1336, chad4maumelle@gmail.com

Maumelle: Scooter’s Coffee coming to town

The Maumelle Planning Commission will meet for the last time this year at 6:30 p.m. tonight at City Hall.

The agenda can be viewed by clicking here.

The big news, at least for franchise coffee drinkers, is a Scooter’s Coffee is coming to Maumelle, or maybe two.

There’s two Scooter’s Coffee locations listed as having had plumbing approved by the Arkansas Department of Health.

The first is at 20715 Hwy. 365 N., directly in front of the Holiday Inn Express and across the road from Lake Liquor.

The other is at 9772 Maumelle Boulevard, which is near the Centennial Bank and on the right if leaving Maumelle and heading east.

It isn’t clear from the Planning Commission packet, which location is covered by STP-22-9 that’s listed in the agenda.

Scooter’s Coffee is a chain based in Omaha, Nebraska and has several locations in Arkansas – Harrison and Fort Smith – with at least one new store opening soon in Paragould with more in the works, per the company’s website.

Based on corporate press releases, the Scooter’s chain has been in an expansion mode as it moves from the Plains to midwest and south.

This would be the first location in central Arkansas.

In new business, the commission will hear four items of new business, with the most notable being an extension of the FontainBleau Centre Development Plan Extension Request and the proposed annexation of 46 acres of land, located at 10175 Short Marche Road/10000 Block White Oak Crossing.

Education

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi inducts new members

The following North of the River students were recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Rebecca Carrell of Sherwood, UALR
Gavin Ellis of North Little Rock, UALR
Rebecca Fallen of Sherwood, UALR
Jordan Grice of Maumelle, UALR
Maitlyn Harrison of Sherwood, UALR
Courtney Lowe of Sherwood, UALR
Susan McClain of Maumelle, UALR
Shalonda Michelle Nelson of North Little Rock, UALR
Ayonna Preston of Sherwood, UALR
Guillermo Soto Jr. of Sherwood, UALR

They are among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Deep Freeze: Arctic chill is in the air, but a White Christmas is unlikely

Here’s what we know: It is going to be cold this long holiday weekend.

Like really cold. Cold even by frigid Canadian standards.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock said the temperature will drop below freezing today and will stay below 32 degrees until sometime Monday.

NOTE: At 9 a.m., it was still at 40 degrees locally, but a Wind Chill Warning had been added to central Arkansas.

Temperatures will be in the single digits on Friday and Saturday morning and wind chills will be -10 to -20 degrees on Friday. Possibly extending into Saturday.

Some parts of Arkansas’s hill country could get 1 to 2 inches of snow but central Arkansas, at the moment, isn’t forecasted to get snow.

At the moment because like all weather events, things could change day to day, or even hour to hour.

Regardless, dress in layers and bring your pets and plants inside.

The city of North Little Rock will also open a warming center today at The River House located at 120 Riverfront Park Drive in North Little Rock. It opens at 4 p.m. and will remain open until 8 a.m. on Monday.

NWS Little Rock @NWSLittleRock

Dangerously cold wind chills and bitter temperatures are expected across the state Friday morning in the wake of a strong Arctic cold front. Now is the time to prepare your home, yourself, your family and your pets for these bitterly cold conditions. #arwx

So, what does this mean for Christmas?

Wouldn’t want to be flying but those criss-crossing the state by car to be with family should be fine.

The best chance of snow is Thursday with it clearing out but just staying cold on Saturday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.

For those who celebrate Boxing Day, on Monday, you should also be fine. It will just be cold.

NWS forecast for central Arkansas
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 20 and a low around 12. Gusts as high as 25 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 29 and a low around 17. Gusts as high as 15 mph during the day
Christmas Day: Sunny, with a high near 37 and a low around 26. Calm wind.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 42 and a low around 23.

The lack of forecast snow means the elusive “White Christmas” remains that way for Arkansas.

The National Weather Service has been keeping records in Arkansas since 1875 and the state saw snowfall in just 12 of those years on Christmas, while in three other years, the state already had snow on the ground, so people at least woke up to a White Christmas.

The most recent “White Christmas” was exactly a decade ago when a surprise blizzard hit Arkansas in 2012.

A real blizzard, not the kind you get at Dairy Queen, when the Weather Service issued a “blizzard warning” for northeast Arkansas. Making it the state’s first “official blizzard.”

Little Rock, that day, saw a recorded nine inches of snow, while most other parts of the state saw more than 10 inches of snow. It was even more snow in the higher elevations of north-central Arkansas getting 15 to a high of 17.5 inches that day.

The snow kept falling as 1.3 inches of snow were recorded in Little Rock on the following day, with other portions of the state getting more.

The results from the snow were fairly typical, snarled roads, stranded travelers and more than 260,000 homes and businesses lost power that day, with the state taking a week, or more to recover.

That year was just one of two White Christmases, where snow starts that day and accumulates, with the other happening in 1926.

There’s been a total of 15 times with snow in and around Christmas in Arkansas, with measurable snow seen four times, with flurries or trace amounts falling eight times. The other three times were from Christmas Eve, or earlier, snow.

Past White Christmases

1876: Two inches of snow was on the ground from snowfall on Christmas Eve.
1879: Christmas Eve rain changed to snow, which continued into Christmas morning.
1887: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1897: One inch of snow fell on Christmas Day morning.
1913: Snow started at midnight and continued on Christmas Day. A total of 1.5 inches of snow fell.
1914: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1918: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1926: Sleet turned into snow with a total of 1.7 inches of sleet and 2.5 inches of snow.
1935: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1939: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1962: Christmas Eve snow of 1.5 inches but it melted during the night leaving only patches of snow on the ground Christmas morning.
1963: Heavy snow on Dec. 22 left more than four inches still on the ground by Christmas Day.
1975: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1983: Snow from earlier that week left about an inch of snow and ice still on the ground.
1990: 2.4 inches of snow and sleet fell earlier in the week and most of it remained on the ground through Christmas Day.
2000: A trace of snow was on the ground on Christmas Day but the worst was still to come as a major long-term ice storm developed that day and continued through Dec. 27. It left three inches of ice in Little Rock and more around the state, completely shutting down Arkansas in one of the worst ice storms in recorded history.
2009: Snow fell with no accumulation.
2012: Nine inches of snow in Little Rock, with more around Arkansas for the state’s snowiest White Christmas.

Sports

Football: North Little Rock’s Rhodes signs with Arkansas

North Little Rock All-State and All-American defensive end Quincy Rhodes signed with the Razorbacks on Wednesday.

Rhodes, who is expected to enroll at Arkansas early and participate in spring drills. A strong pass rusher, Rhodes will play on the edge for the Hogs.

NLR Charging Wildcat Football @NLRFB

Congratulations on signing today @QuincyRhodesJr3! We wish you the best as you continue to pursue your academic and athletic education University of Arkansas as a @RazorbackFB player 🐗🏈! #GoCATS #WooPigSooie

Basketball: Razorbacks roll past Bradley

The loudest ovation of the afternoon was when Nick Smith Jr. hit the first three-pointer of the day for Arkansas on Saturday at Simmons Bank Arena.

The second loudest was when Smith, a graduate of North Little Rock High School and a McDonald’s All-American there, was introduced in the starting lineup to the sellout crowd of 16,675.

At least that was the case until the roof blow off with 12:27 remaining in the first half after freshman guard Jordan Walsh flew through the sky for back-to-back dunks as the No. 10 Razorbacks rolled past Bradley, 76-57.

Jeremy Peppas @jeremypeppas

Eric Musselman studies the stat sheet after Arkansas’s 76-57 win against Bradley on Saturday in North Little Rock.

While the game had some highlight reel worthy moments, it was a relatively lackluster effort from Arkansas even though, at points, they played like a second weekend NCAA Tournament team.

Youth was part of the issue. Also, Smith, who was the SEC’s Co-Freshman of the week, went to the locker room early in the second half and didn’t return to the game.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman addressed Smith’s condition in the post-game press conference.

“He got taped back up at halftime and it felt a little off,”: Musselman said. “There wasn’t a need to put him back in.”

That’s partly because Walsh was playing spectacularly well.

Walsh led all scorers with 18 despite fouling out of the game with 7:06 remaining after he was called for a flagrant foul.

He was asked in the post-game presser about the technical.

“Which one,” he asked back?

He had also been whistled for a technical earlier in the game, a fact unaware to at least one teammate.

“You got a techie,” Anthony Black said with a laugh.

The hijinks aside, it was a balanced effort as Black finished with 15, while Ricky Council IV had 16 in the win.

Devo Davis, a Jacksonville product, also had an all-around great effort as the guard finished with 7 points, 7 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

“I thought he was unbelievable,” Musselman said of Davis’s impact on the game. “Just his effort. His energy. How he attacked passes and five steals is a lot of steals for one player.”

As a team Arkansas forced 27 turnovers and that led to 37 points for the Hogs.

Smith finished with five points, and was just one of eight shooting from the field, he still finished with 20 minutes of game action despite missing most of the second half.

The Razorbacks are now 12-1 and rolled past North Carolina-Asheville at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night. Then a week off for the Christmas holiday before heading to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers with new coach Matt McMahon and guard Justice Hill, a transfer from Murray State, and the son of former Arkansas assistant football coach Fitz Hill.

Bradley falls to 7-4 on the year.

Basketball: Christmas break is here

It was everything everyone expected, a classic

North Little Rock and Little Rock Parkview, with quite a few state championships between them played last week in the John Stanton Classic at Conway High School.