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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Springdale City Council Regular Meeting - July 29, 2026

City Council Meetings — Wednesday, July 29, 2026

BodySpringdale, Arkansas

SessionCity Council Meetings

DateWednesday, July 29, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 45:35

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:09

Just a minute or two away from calling the meeting to order before we begin.

0:13

I would invite you to stand and join me in the pledge, and then I will bring the invocation.

0:33

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this another opportunity to come together and do the business that you've given us to do for our city.

0:42

God, I thank you for each resident that's here, each uh potential future council member that's here for our staff for and for the uh especially for this city council.

0:51

I thank you for the work they do.

0:53

I thank you, Lord, for for how they lead our city, and I just pray that you give us good decisions tonight.

0:58

Uh give us uh ear ears to hear and and uh and and help us to make the right decision that pleases you and we ask these things and trust you for them now in Jesus' name, amen.

1:15

All right.

1:16

All right, let me again welcome you to tonight's uh regular meeting of Springdale City Council.

1:20

This is Tuesday, July 28th.

1:22

And we will start things off by uh uh the roll call, and I'll ask our city clerk, Saber Jeffers to bring the roll call.

1:32

Mayor Sprouse, Brian Powell, Amelia Taldo, Jeff Watson, Mike Overton, here, Mike Lawson, Randall Herman, Mark Fujirus, and City Attorney Garrett Harlan.

1:46

Here all right, thank you, everyone.

1:49

Uh we're at we do have a quorum.

1:51

We're at item four on the agenda, and this is the uh agenda item the council sets aside each regular meeting for to hear comments from our citizens.

2:00

If we have if we have citizens in the audience that would like to address the council concerning an item that is not on tonight's agenda, uh just you're welcome to come to the podium, uh state your name and address, and please keep your comments to no more than three minutes and understand the council will not take action on anything you bring forward tonight.

2:20

Is there anyone that would like to address the council concerning an item that is not already on the agenda?

2:28

All right, seeing none, then we'll move on to item five, the approval of minutes.

2:32

Council, you've had an opportunity to look those over.

2:34

If there are no changes or additions, I'd entertain a motion to accept the minutes as presented.

2:42

Okay.

2:43

Second.

2:43

And we have a motion and a second.

2:45

All those in favor, please say aye.

2:47

Any opposed, same signs.

2:49

All right, council.

2:50

We're at item six, procedural motions.

2:52

What's your pleasure?

2:53

I'll move for both Andy.

2:55

We have a motion and a second for both A and B.

2:59

And I will call for the vote.

3:24

Are we hung up?

3:26

Thank you.

3:27

That's six zeros.

3:29

All right.

3:30

Thank you.

3:31

Item seven Springdale Chamber of Commerce quarterly report.

3:35

Uh Bill Rogers is here and uh he's got he's got uh someone with him.

3:42

That's right, much more important than my report.

3:43

Uh we missed a meal when she came in, but uh just wanted to introduce you to uh our new director of economic development, Anna Bagwell.

3:51

Give her a chance to introduce herself to you, then I'll go through the report quickly.

3:55

Thank you.

3:56

Welcome, Anna.

3:57

Yeah, um, I'll keep it brief.

3:58

Yeah, I'm Anna Baggle.

3:59

I've been at the chamber less than a month now.

4:02

I was born and raised in Conway, Arkansas, and then I moved up to Fayetteville for college like a lot of people.

4:07

Um I got my bachelor's and my master's at the U of A, and then like most people I fell in love with Northwest Arkansas and didn't want to leave.

4:16

Um so after college, I was a ninth grade English teacher for several years out in Elkins.

4:22

Um after I did that, I made a career change and got into chopper marketing, which is very popular up here because of Walmart.

4:30

So I was doing account management for that for a few years, and then I decided I wanted to do something that could help my community a little bit more and kind of make my heart happier.

4:39

Um I live here in Springdale for the last couple of years now, so I applied for the chamber and now I'm working on economic development and gonna do my best, and I'm really excited to be here and to be working with you all.

4:49

All right, great.

4:50

Thank you.

4:50

Thank you.

4:51

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

4:53

I've appropriately warned her about some of you, so just keep that in mind.

4:57

Uh just a few highlights.

5:00

Uh 1838 new jobs uh have been created in uh Springdale this year.

5:05

Current unemployment rate is at 3%.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████25%

Economic Development████████████████████20%

Public Safety█████████████13%

Affordable Housing████████████12%

Parks and Recreation███████████11%

Code Enforcement████████8%

Procedural███████7%

Fiscal Sustainability████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Springdale City Council Regular Meeting - July 29, 2026

Note: The mayor stated the date as "Tuesday, July 28th," but the provided meeting timestamp is 2026-07-29. This summary uses the given date.

The meeting began with an invocation and roll call, establishing a quorum. No public comments were made on non-agenda items. The council approved previous minutes and procedural motions unanimously. Key topics included the Chamber of Commerce quarterly report, planning commission recommendations for rezones and conditional uses, grant applications for Shiloh Square design and a downtown infill infrastructure pilot program, a cost-of-living adjustment for the police pension fund, and a resolution to set a hearing for a utility easement vacation. A council vacancy item was tabled. A council member raised a concern about overgrowth at Hunt Park.

Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Report

Bill Rogers introduced new Economic Development Director Anna Bagwell.
Statistics: 1,838 new jobs created in Springdale this year; unemployment at 3%.
Project updates: Ember House (salon) opened; Gas Constatoria (restaurant) opening soon; Children's hospital grand opening in October; UAMS orthopedic hospital targeting mid-2027; Sundry Hotel early 2027; Homewood Suites by Hilton (99 rooms) advancing.
Opportunity zone nominations (five zones) due at end of week.
No council action taken; report received.

Planning Commission Report and Recommendations

Sharon Tromberg presented five rezones and two conditional uses. All passed with emergency clauses unless noted.

R26-28 (804 Virginia St): Rezone from MF12 to MF16 to allow a duplex. Passed 5-1 (emergency clause).
R26-30 (Pertle Ave & Don Tyson Pkwy): Rezone from C6 (large retail) to C2 (general commercial). Passed 6-0 (emergency clause). Property owner Harold Schwartz Jr. stated no immediate plans but expects within 30 days.
R26-31 (6531 New Hope Rd): Rezone from A1 to SF2 for a lot split. Passed 6-0 (emergency clause).
R26-32 & R26-33 (Ford Avenue Flats PUD revisions): Updated development plan for affordable housing project with minor adjustments (parking, playground, building transition). Both passed 6-0 (emergency clauses).
Conditional Use – Food Truck (1321 W Sunset Ave): Tacaria Manzanillo Mexican Food LLC. Approved with conditions including striping parking and no obstruction of traffic flow. Discussion about the driveway access led to clarification that existing conditions cover motor vehicle traffic flow. Passed 6-0.
Conditional Use – Home Occupation (2105 Tall Tree Lane): Alabaster by KC LLC for blending/packaging essential oils, sold online. Passed 6-0 with ordinance conditions.

Finance Committee Items

Shiloh Square Design Grant: Resolution authorizing application to Walton Family Foundation Design Excellence Program for up to $750,000 (100% grant) for planning and design of Shiloh Square. Passed 6-0.
Downtown Infill Infrastructure Pilot Program: Resolution supporting a $1 million, 12-month pilot program (80/20 match; city staff time counts toward match) to fund public improvements for small-scale residential infill downtown. Passed 6-0.

Police Pension Cost-of-Living Adjustment

Ordinance authorizing a 5% COLA for 37 retirees in the Local Police Pension and Relief Fund. Fund has $9.8 million (as of June 30) with ~$727,000 return. Estimated annual cost ~$50,000, expected to be covered by revenue. Effective October 2026. Passed 6-0 without emergency clause.

Resolution Setting Hearing for Utility Easement Vacation

Resolution setting a hearing on August 25, 2026 for Brightham Construction's petition to vacate a utility easement. Passed 6-0.

Council Vacancy (Item 11) - Tabled

Motion to table the item to the next regular meeting (and place on committee agenda) because a council member (Mike Overton) was absent. Passed 5-1, with one dissenting vote.

Council Member Comments

Council member noted overgrowth at Hunt Park entrance and drainage ditch. Mayor directed staff to address the issue.

Key Outcomes

All consent items and procedural motions approved unanimously.
All five rezones passed with emergency clauses (except R26-31 which also had emergency).
Both conditional uses approved.
Two grant resolutions approved (Shiloh Square design and downtown infill pilot).
Police pension COLA approved, effective October.
Utility easement vacation hearing set for August 25.
Council vacancy item tabled to next meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Just a minute or two away from calling the meeting to order before we begin. I would invite you to stand and join me in the pledge, and then I will bring the invocation. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this another opportunity to come together and do the business that you've given us to do for our city. God, I thank you for each resident that's here, each uh potential future council member that's here for our staff for and for the uh especially for this city council. I thank you for the work they do. I thank you, Lord, for for how they lead our city, and I just pray that you give us good decisions tonight. Uh give us uh ear ears to hear and and uh and and help us to make the right decision that pleases you and we ask these things and trust you for them now in Jesus' name, amen. All right. All right, let me again welcome you to tonight's uh regular meeting of Springdale City Council. This is Tuesday, July 28th. And we will start things off by uh uh the roll call, and I'll ask our city clerk, Saber Jeffers to bring the roll call. Mayor Sprouse, Brian Powell, Amelia Taldo, Jeff Watson, Mike Overton, here, Mike Lawson, Randall Herman, Mark Fujirus, and City Attorney Garrett Harlan. Here all right, thank you, everyone. Uh we're at we do have a quorum. We're at item four on the agenda, and this is the uh agenda item the council sets aside each regular meeting for to hear comments from our citizens. If we have if we have citizens in the audience that would like to address the council concerning an item that is not on tonight's agenda, uh just you're welcome to come to the podium, uh state your name and address, and please keep your comments to no more than three minutes and understand the council will not take action on anything you bring forward tonight. Is there anyone that would like to address the council concerning an item that is not already on the agenda? All right, seeing none, then we'll move on to item five, the approval of minutes. Council, you've had an opportunity to look those over. If there are no changes or additions, I'd entertain a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Okay. Second. And we have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Any opposed, same signs. All right, council. We're at item six, procedural motions. What's your pleasure? I'll move for both Andy. We have a motion and a second for both A and B. And I will call for the vote. Are we hung up? Thank you. That's six zeros. All right. Thank you. Item seven Springdale Chamber of Commerce quarterly report. Uh Bill Rogers is here and uh he's got he's got uh someone with him. That's right, much more important than my report. Uh we missed a meal when she came in, but uh just wanted to introduce you to uh our new director of economic development, Anna Bagwell. Give her a chance to introduce herself to you, then I'll go through the report quickly. Thank you. Welcome, Anna. Yeah, um, I'll keep it brief. Yeah, I'm Anna Baggle. I've been at the chamber less than a month now. I was born and raised in Conway, Arkansas, and then I moved up to Fayetteville for college like a lot of people. Um I got my bachelor's and my master's at the U of A, and then like most people I fell in love with Northwest Arkansas and didn't want to leave. Um so after college, I was a ninth grade English teacher for several years out in Elkins. Um after I did that, I made a career change and got into chopper marketing, which is very popular up here because of Walmart.

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