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Record of Proceedings

Fayetteville City Council Meeting - February 17, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, February 17, 2026
BodyFayetteville, Arkansas
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, February 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:35:12

Original source
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0:01

I would now like to call the February 17th meeting of the Fayetteville City Council to order.

0:07

Clerk Paxson, will you please call the roll?

0:09

Ms.

0:10

Turk?

0:11

Here.

0:12

Minister Jones.

0:15

Mr.

0:16

Stafford?

0:17

Here.

0:18

Dr.

0:19

Jones?

0:19

Here.

0:21

Ms.

0:21

Moore?

0:22

Here.

0:24

Mr.

0:24

Wheedaker.

0:26

Mr.

0:27

Berna?

0:28

Here.

0:29

Ms.

0:30

Bunch?

0:30

Yes.

0:31

Here.

0:32

Mayor Ron.

0:34

Here.

0:35

Please join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:47

One mission.

0:48

Under God.

0:57

Okay.

0:58

And I will now go right into the consent agenda.

1:01

And before we do that, I understand we have a requested change from Mr.

1:04

Stafford.

1:05

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

1:06

I'd like to uh pull item A12 off of consent.

1:12

And if we could put that near the uh beginning of the regular agenda, uh I do plan to table.

1:20

By rule, it goes to will be heard immediately after the consent agenda is read.

1:25

Okay, thank you voted on.

1:26

Okay.

1:27

Um that does not require a vote.

1:28

Is that correct, Mr.

1:30

Williams?

1:30

Yes does not.

1:31

His does not.

1:32

Okay, all right, great.

1:33

So we will move on to the remaining part of the consent agenda, beginning with A1, approval of the February 3rd, 2026 City Council meeting minutes.

1:43

A2, recognition of funds paid into a tree escrow.

1:48

A3, a new HVAC unit from elite building solutions for the YRCC.

1:54

A4, the 2026 budget reappropriation request.

2:00

A5, approval of a contract with Forvis Mazars, LLP, to execute our external audit.

2:08

A6, a water and sewer work truck replacement through Rush Truck Center.

2:13

A seven, a water and sewer work truck replacement through River City Hydraulics Incorporated.

2:20

A eight, a water sewer, a water and sewer transportation and solid waste equipment replacements through JA Riggs Tractor Company.

2:29

A9 to approve an agreement with Waste Corporation of Arkansas.

2:34

A 10 Kalara Land LLC cost share agreement.

2:39

A11, an engineering services agreement with RJN Group Incorporated.

2:44

A 12 has now been moved to an item of new business.

2:48

And A13 is an application for a federal aid grant through the better utilizing investments to leverage development program.

2:59

Second.

3:00

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████52%
Community Engagement█████████████████20%
Procedural████████████████18%
Flood Management████5%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Historic Preservation█1%
Parks and Recreation█1%
Tree Preservation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Fayetteville City Council Meeting - February 17, 2026

The Fayetteville City Council met on February 17, 2026, to address routine consent agenda items, unfinished business, and several new items including rezonings and a resolution to rename the City Hall Annex. Key actions included approval of multiple rezonings, tabling of two items to March 5, and unanimous approval to rename the annex in honor of former Mayor Lionel Jordan. Votes were recorded with some dissents.

Consent Calendar

  • The following items were approved unanimously under the consent agenda (all roll call votes): A1 (approval of February 3, 2026 meeting minutes), A2 (tree escrow recognition), A3 (HVAC unit for YRCC), A4 (2026 budget reappropriation), A5 (external audit contract with Forvis Mazars), A6 (water/sewer truck through Rush Truck Center), A7 (water/sewer truck through River City Hydraulics), A8 (solid waste equipment through JA Riggs Tractor), A9 (agreement with Waste Corporation of Arkansas), A10 (Kalara Land LLC cost share), A11 (engineering services with RJN Group), and A13 (federal aid grant application for BUILD program). Item A12 was pulled from consent.
  • Item A12 (resolution authorizing $100,000 payment to Chris Skyrocki for sewer damage claim) was pulled by Councilmember Stafford and tabled to the March 5 meeting by a unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • C1: Resolution to rename City Hall Annex to Lionel Jordan Municipal Annex – Three members of the public spoke in favor: Clifford Nichols (resident, Iota Phi Theta brother) supported the renaming, noting Mayor Jordan’s office was located there. Lance Reed (Fayetteville resident) encouraged support and mentioned other cities with multiple honors. Shaman Taylor (Faulkner County resident, Iota Phi Theta State Director) urged approval on behalf of the fraternity’s national and regional offices.

Discussion Items

  • B1: Rezone 2025-50 – 5901 West Michael Cole Drive (7.67 acres from RA to RI-12 and CCR) – Left on third reading and tabled from the previous meeting. Staff (Jonathan Kurth) and Planning Commission recommended approval. Applicant representative Dirk Chibodeau (Swope Consulting) discussed potential location of detention pond within the CCR zone and the possibility of waiving detention. Councilmembers questioned the precedent of allowing detention in CCR, the need for a drainage report, and floodplain alignment. Councilmember Turk moved to table until a drainage report was available (no second) and later proposed an amendment to redraw CCR lines to exclude the detention pond. The amendment failed 2–5 (Turk and Minister Jones yes; Stafford, Dr. Jones, Moore, Berna, Bunch no). The ordinance then passed on final reading 5–2 (Turk and Minister Jones no; Stafford, Dr. Jones, Moore, Berna, Bunch yes).
  • B2: PCD 2025-005 – North Cross River Road and East Zion Road (approx. 9 acres) – Left on first reading from the previous meeting. Councilmember Kurth noted the applicant’s representative was absent and additional coordination with Chandler Crossing subdivision was needed. Council unanimously tabled the item to the March 5 meeting.
  • C1: Resolution to rename City Hall Annex to Lionel Jordan Municipal Annex – Sponsored by Councilmember Dr. Jones. Representative Solomon Burtsfield (Iota Phi Theta) presented the resolution, highlighting Mayor Jordan’s service. After public comment, Council debated whether to wait for a formal naming policy or proceed. Councilmember Minister Jones moved to adopt the resolution and create a future committee. The motion passed unanimously (7–0).
  • C2: Rezone 2025-74 – 1023 South Morningside Drive/691 East McClinton Street (0.23 acres from NC to UN) – Staff recommended approval; no public comment. Councilmember Moore moved to suspend rules to third reading, seconded and passed unanimously. Final vote passed 6–1 (Turk no; Minister Jones, Stafford, Dr. Jones, Moore, Berna, Bunch yes).
  • C3: Rezone 2025-71 – 416 South Willow Avenue (1.8 acres from NC to UN and RIU) – Staff recommended approval. Applicant Mayor West Bates requested the item be left on first reading to prepare legal descriptions. Council agreed and left the item on first reading without a vote.
  • C4: Rezone 2025-67 – 660 South Crossover Road (2.42 acres from RSF-4 and C2 to UT) – Staff recommended approval. Applicant Philip Davis noted the change from original C2 request per Planning Commission suggestion. Councilmember Moore expressed concerns about use units 17 (car wash) and 18 (gas stations/drive-throughs) in UT zoning. Councilmember Stafford supported the rezone as consistent with the 2040 plan. Councilmember Berna moved to suspend rules to third reading; second passed unanimously. Final vote passed unanimously (7–0).
  • C5: Rezone 2025-73 – 1149 Southwest Avenue (0.3 acres from RMF-24 to RIU) – Staff recommended approval. Councilmember Stafford reported a neighbor supported the request. Council moved to suspend rules to third reading; second passed unanimously. Final vote passed unanimously (7–0).

Key Outcomes

  • Approved (final reading):
    • B1: Rezone 2025-50 (West Michael Cole Drive) – 5–2.
    • C1: Rename City Hall Annex to Lionel Jordan Municipal Annex – 7–0.
    • C2: Rezone 2025-74 (Morningside Drive) – 6–1.
    • C4: Rezone 2025-67 (Crossover Road) – 7–0.
    • C5: Rezone 2025-73 (Southwest Avenue) – 7–0.
  • Tabled:
    • A12 (sewer damage claim) to March 5.
    • B2 (PCD 2025-005) to March 5.
  • Left on first reading: C3 (416 South Willow Avenue) – to be continued.
  • Unanimous consent calendar items approved.
  • Also noted: The city is accepting board/committee applications until February 20; nominations for Environmental Stewardship Award due March 1; Historic Preservation Awards due April 3; next regular meeting moved to March 5.

Meeting Transcript

I would now like to call the February 17th meeting of the Fayetteville City Council to order. Clerk Paxson, will you please call the roll? Ms. Turk? Here. Minister Jones. Mr. Stafford? Here. Dr. Jones? Here. Ms. Moore? Here. Mr. Wheedaker. Mr. Berna? Here. Ms. Bunch? Yes. Here. Mayor Ron. Here. Please join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. One mission. Under God. Okay. And I will now go right into the consent agenda. And before we do that, I understand we have a requested change from Mr. Stafford. Yes, thank you, Mayor. I'd like to uh pull item A12 off of consent. And if we could put that near the uh beginning of the regular agenda, uh I do plan to table. By rule, it goes to will be heard immediately after the consent agenda is read. Okay, thank you voted on. Okay. Um that does not require a vote. Is that correct, Mr. Williams? Yes does not. His does not. Okay, all right, great. So we will move on to the remaining part of the consent agenda, beginning with A1, approval of the February 3rd, 2026 City Council meeting minutes. A2, recognition of funds paid into a tree escrow. A3, a new HVAC unit from elite building solutions for the YRCC. A4, the 2026 budget reappropriation request. A5, approval of a contract with Forvis Mazars, LLP, to execute our external audit.

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