Fayetteville City Council Agenda Session – February 10, 2026
Fayetteville City Council Agenda Session – February 10, 2026
The Fayetteville City Council met for an agenda session on February 10, 2026, to review consent items, rezonings, and other business scheduled for the February 17 council meeting. The meeting lasted approximately one hour, beginning shortly after 6:00 p.m. Key topics included a sewer damage claim cap, a tree escrow budget adjustment, a major budget reappropriation, and multiple rezonings.
Consent Calendar
- February 3 Meeting Minutes – Approved.
- Resolution – Tree Escrow Budget Adjustment – Approved a $46,474 transfer to plant mitigation trees in various locations. John Scott from Urban Forestry explained the funds must be spent by 2030 in the same park quadrant (primarily southwest quadrant) from which they originated. Funds can be used for trees on public property or right-of-ways, and the city may consider heat island or accessibility audits when choosing sites.
- Resolution – HVAC System for Yvonne Richardson Community Center – Approved $79,797.50 for a 10-ton HVAC system for the gymnasium. The item was a budget adjustment (not a budget amendment); funding was already budgeted but needed to be moved to the buildings and grounds account.
- Resolution – Budget Reappropriation for Uncompleted Projects – Approved adding $187,993,330 to the 2026 budget for previously committed but uncompleted projects (21% bond projects, 18% grants, 1% operational obligations, 60% capital improvement projects). Staff noted this is an annual process and a second true-up will come in April.
- Resolution – Auditing Services Contract – Approved a fourth one-year contract with Forvis LLP for the 2025 audit for up to $169,756, with an option to renew for one additional year.
- Resolution – Fleet Purchases – Approved three vehicle purchases: a utility body truck ($99,084.40), a jetter truck ($224,609.01), and a skid steer and excavators ($682,012.81 plus surcharges). All via Sourcewell cooperative contracts.
- Resolution – Solid Waste Hauler Agreement – Approved a two-year agreement with GLF Environmental (Waste Corporation of Arkansas) for solid waste hauling and disposal, with automatic renewals for two additional two-year terms. The city currently permits 21–22 private franchise haulers with no cap.
- Resolution – Wastewater Lift Station Cost Share – Approved a cost share with Kalara Land LLC for upgrades to the Owl Creek sewer lift station, with city reimbursement up to $898,746.95 plus a $44,937.35 contingency.
- Resolution – Wastewater Collection System Master Plan – Approved a professional engineering agreement with RJN Group for Phase 1 of the 2026 wastewater collection system master plan, not to exceed $843,610, with a $160,380 contingency.
- Resolution – Sewer Damage Claim – Authorized payment of $100,000 to Chris Skowraki for sewer damage at 516 North Fallon Avenue. City Attorney Kit Williams explained the cap of $100,000 is in the city ordinance and that the city is not an insurance company; paying more would affect ratepayers. Discussion noted the claimant's total estimated damages were $129,988, including items not allowable under ordinance (e.g., 80 days of hotel stay vs. three days allowed). Councilmember Moore questioned whether the three‑day hotel limit is adequate for full displacement. Councilmember Stafford indicated he may pull the item from consent.
- Walk-On – Grant Application for Weddington Corridor – Mayor introduced a last‑minute request to apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation grant to study the Weddington corridor from Garland Avenue to Double Springs Road, focusing on safety issues, signalization, and a turn lane. Staff stated the grant would strengthen leverage with ARDOT for capital funds. Council agreed to place it on the consent agenda for the regular meeting.
Unfinished Business
- West Michael Cole Drive Rezoning (Third Read/Tabled) – The item was tabled from a prior meeting; staff reported that the applicant is working with an engineering firm to address flood study questions and hopes to have answers by the February 17 meeting.
New Business – Rezoning Items (All planned for February 17 council meeting)
- North Crossover Road and East Zion Road Rezoning – The applicant requested a tabling because the primary representative will be unavailable at the next meeting and because drainage coordination with the adjacent Chandler Crossing project is still needed. Staff also need to conduct homework on intersection design and a possible additional traffic study. Councilmember Moore expressed a need to understand the status of the overall Chandler Crossing PCD. Councilmember Stafford asked about the city's ability to require off-site improvements at the Crossover/Joyce intersection; the city attorney noted it depends on impact analysis. Tabling was expected to be approved.
- Lionel Jordan Municipal Annex Naming – A resolution to rename the City Hall Annex to the Lionel Jordan Municipal Annex, introduced by Dr. DeAndre Jones on behalf of his fraternity. Several council members expressed a desire for a more significant venue (e.g., a landmark building) and suggested the council develop a naming process rather than a single‑entity proposal. Discussion was deferred to the regular meeting.
Discussion Items
- Rezoning – 1023 South Morningside Drive – Ordinance to rezone 0.23 acres from NC to UN. Staff and planning commission recommended approval (unanimous 5‑0). No public comment received.
- Rezoning – 416 South Willow Avenue – Ordinance to rezone 1.8 acres from NC to UN (corner) and RIU (rear). Staff did not support the applicant's original request for full UN due to potential intensity; the planning commission adopted the staff alternative. Three public comments opposed, but one expressed support for the amended version. Councilmember Bunch noted a constituent concern about a potential driveway serving multiple units.
- Rezoning – 660 South Crossover Road – Ordinance to rezone 2.42 acres from RSF‑4 and C‑2 to UT. Staff and planning commission recommended approval (unanimous). No public comment.
- Rezoning – 1149 Southwest Avenue – Ordinance to rezone 0.3 acres from RMF‑24 to RIU. The property had a derelict house that has been demolished. Staff and planning commission recommended approval (unanimous). Councilmember Turk asked about an unimproved alley; staff explained that if the developer uses the platted alley, they must improve it to 11th or 13th Street, and fences in the right‑of‑way are the property owner's responsibility.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda – All consent items were recommended for approval at the February 17 meeting.
- Sewer Damage Claim – Approved for $100,000; councilmember may pull from consent for further discussion.
- Weddington Corridor Grant – Placed on consent agenda for February 17.
- Rezonings – All four rezonings (C2–C5) were placed on the February 17 agenda with staff and planning commission support.
- West Michael Cole Drive Rezoning – Scheduled for third read on February 17; applicant hopes to provide flood study answers by then.
- North Crossover/East Zion Rezoning – Expected to be tabled to March by request.
- Board/Committee Applications – Deadline is February 20, 2026, at 5 p.m.
- City Announcement – The State of the City address will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Fayetteville Town Center immediately following the agenda session.
Meeting Transcript
I'm so sorry. I'm 29 seconds late. I know Mr. Wheedaker. But it's really Bob, Bob and Jonathan. It's really there. I'm gonna blame that one on y'all. Um okay. So we are gonna call to order and kick off this agenda session. I hope to see you all um afterwards at the town center for the state of a city, state of the city. Um I first will go through the consent agenda that we'll be hearing next week. Um and for the reason um forgive me, never mind. This is consent. First, we'll approve the February 3rd meeting minutes. Then we will hear a resolution to a vote on a resolution to approve a budget adjustment on the amount of 46,474 to transfer a tree escrow balance for the planting of mitigation trees in various locations throughout the city. This is um not out of the ordinary. We also have John's there. We go. We also have John Scott here uh from Urban Forestry. John, if you'd like to go up, I think I believe Miss Turk has questions. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, John. Hello. I'm just wondering is is this the total balance of the escrow account or is there so a lot of other money in there uh in the tree escrow account? It's the total balance of that account. Okay. Thank you. That's all I was curious about. John How's the statement? Thank you. Oh, I don't uh Minister Jones, Minister Jones, Ms. Moore, Mr. Stafford. How often are these deposits happening? Are they sporadic based on the agreement with land developers that are agreeing to purchase additional trees for the city? How often would you say deposits are made? Um we maybe get like a handful a year of there was for several years we didn't get any best row payments. Once we do receive them, we have seven years to use that money in the part quadrant from which it came before for a tree planting plan. Sarah. Thank you. Um so with this balance, um, are you able to tell us kind of uh where we're planning to plant trees? And then I don't know if you had an update on the type of species that we're looking to plant right now in some of those areas. We have until uh 2030 to use this money. Okay. Um and the the park quadrants that came out of were the there's a little bit that came out of the southeast part quadrant, but the bulk of it came out of the southwest uh park quadrant, which is mostly downtown area and 71 is kind of our dividing line, and then uh Weddington and North. So is it possible to use some of the um triescrow that comes in if that is downtown to be a part of some of the things that come out of like downtown master plan and as we're doing some of the audits around like accessibility and things if we isolate and see like there's um kind of heat islands or areas like that? Can we mitigate in some of those areas or do we have more restrictive um places that we typically are putting the trees? Is it mostly kind of in our parks and other green space where we'd be placing those? Um the money is just for planting trees or the maintenance of trees or any of that. Um it generally does need to be in our right-of-ways or on our public properties.
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