Arlington’s city board heard an update on fire station renovations, approved a planned development and conducted other business at the March 3 meeting.
Fire station renovations
Interior demolition at Fire Station 71 has been started, but wet weather has postponed some outside work. Fire chief David Franks said the project is still on schedule. The project was awarded to Keystone Construction at the Jan. 5 town board meeting. See architectural drawings of the project online.
Forrest Lake approval
The board approved a resolution authorizing the Master Development Plan for property known as the Forrest Lake Planned Development. It is on the north side of Forrest Street between Cambridge Manor Planned Development and Wilson’s Crossing Planned Development.
This single-family residential planned development has 72 lots with a minimum size of 10,000 square feet; about half are well over that size. The Planning Commission recommended approval of this project at its Jan. 20 meeting.
Summers Road issues
In the public commentary part of the meeting, William Wright of Arlington told the board he was concerned about inappropriate use of the closed section of Summers Road.
He said he has seen a lot of tresspassing and evidence of illegal activity there, including rifle shots through signs and broken beer bottles.
Mayor Mike Wissman said the town will look into the issue, and a sheriff’s department spokesman said officers patrolling the area are aware of this location’s misuse and are keeping an eye on it.
Arlington crime report
A spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) delivered the town’s February crime report and noted that, with the cold weather, crime is down about 21 percent across Shelby County, compared to this time in 2014. Twenty-two incidents were reported, and four of those came from Arlington High School. See the March 5 issue of The Bartlett Express for details of the town’s February SCSO report.
Arlington fire report
Franks delivered the town’s February fire report, which included 74 total calls (41 for emergency medical services and 33 fire calls).
The department gave mutual aid to other fire departments nine times and received it nine times. There were 28 calls from south of I-40. Firefighers performed a dozen fire inspections and also examined smoke detectors for citizens.
Greenprint deferment
The board deferred a decision on whether to adopt the 25-year Mid-South Regional Greenprint and Sustainability Plan, pending further research.
Other business
- Committee appointment: Marlene Houston of Arlington was appointed to the town’s finance committee.
- Budget updates: A second round of routine amendments was recently completed for Arlington’s budget for the current fiscal year. The board approved the amendment ordinance on its first reading.
- Amendments to personnel leave: The board approved the first reading of a routine ordinance to amend holiday, vacation, and sick leaves for town personnel.
- Library services: The board approved an agreement for the sole bidder, Library Systems and Services Inc., to manage and operate the town’s Sam T. Wilson Library. The company has operated Arlington’s library since 2005. The bid is for a flat fee with no projected increase for the current fiscal year. There are increases between years two and three of 2.5 percent, as well as between years three and four of 3 percent.
- Interim appointment: The board approved Catherine Durant, Arlington’s town recorder/treasurer to serve temporarily as the town superintendent. Former town superintendent Ed Haley retired March 1 to accept a new position as Millington city manager. Duran has been an Arlington employee for 18 years, serving for the past 16 as town recorder and treasurer. She has stated that she does not plan to apply for the permanent position.
