Rotary seeks to renovate East Mountain Lookout

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EUREKA SPRINGS -- The East Mountain Lookout will soon have a facelift and an improved view of downtown Eureka Springs, if the Rotary Club has anything to say about it.

Judy Montgomery of the Eureka Springs Rotary Club appeared before the Parks and Recreation Commission Monday night to get its blessing for a new project the Rotarians hope to take on: renovating the gazebo at the East Mountain Lookout, and lowering the tree-line sufficiently to allow viewers an improved view from the site.

Rotary International, founded in 1923, is a non-religious service organization which raises funds for various community projects. Its main local sources of revenue are the Victorian Classic, the Rotary Golf Classic and a biannual auction.

Rotary seeks blessing for survey

Montgomery approached the commission to explain what Rotary wants to do, and to get Parks and Recreation's permission to have a survey done of the property and adjoining properties.

Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Levine asked Montgomery whether Rotary was also requesting a tree cut.

Montgomery replied the Rotary board had already approved money to have a survey done and wanted to know what its next steps should be in going forward with the project.

Tree cut requires public hearing

Commissioner Dan Bennett said ordinarily an applicant would go to the city building inspector for permission for a tree cut, but the scope of the project would mean the request would end up with the commission anyway.

At that point a public hearing would be held on the request, as well as notification of adjacent owners.

"If the trees you want to remove aren't on [city] property, there's nothing we can do about it," Bennett said.

Bennett added he would be delighted to see the survey done but didn't want to commit "to a course of action that might involve" the appearance the commission had given the blessing for tree removal without going through the proper channels.

Cold Spring trail?

One aspect of the survey would possibly tie the project in with the Ozark Outdoor Alliance's work at nearby Cold Spring.

Commissioner David Renko suggested the survey might help determine the viability of a hiking trail connecting Cold Spring to the Lookout.

Vandalism an issue

Chair Bill Featherstone expressed some apprehension about the proposed project due to the high incidence of vandalism at the East Mountain Lookout.

Levine agreed the area had been a tough spot to maintain historically in terms of vandalism.

"The park area below the Lookout probably isn't the best place for a little park," Levine said. "It sort of invites people to go down there out of sight."

Montgomery said she hoped the renovation project might reduce vandalism.

Renko suggested although the area has a lot of traffic, leading to ongoing wear and tear, connecting it to Cold Spring with a trail might increase legitimate use, therefore reducing illicit use and vandalism.

Featherstone suggested increased police activity at the site might help.

Levine said a security camera there, like the one in Basin Spring Park, might be a possibility.

Springs committee requests funding

Barbara Harmony, Chris Fischer and Ken Pownall of the Springs Committee of the Parks and Recreation Commission came forward to ask the commission to approach the Eureka Springs City Council for funds from the city budget.

Harmony said the idea was brought to her by Alderman Rae Hahn.

Commissioner Draxie Rogers asked Harmony how much money the committee sought, and Harmony suggested $5,000.

Renko and Levine both said they felt it unusual for an alderman to suggest the idea, given the city's current budgetary straits.

Renko pointed out the commission's financial requests to council had "thus far not been honored."

Discussion ensued regarding how best to approach council with the request.

One idea was to put a permanent line item in Parks' budget for springs projects.

Rogers asked if it would be appropriate for Levine to go before council with the request, and Levine said he would if the Springs Committee came with him with the commission's blessing.

Funding new line item

Featherstone said the more specific the committee's request, the better chance it stood getting through council.

Renko eventually made a motion the commission send a request to council for $5,000 "to fund a line item, on behalf of Barbara Harmony and the Springs Committee," for a project the committee will determine.

At the suggestion of Bennett, the commission decided to wait until its next budget workshop -- Friday, Aug. 1 at Harmon Park at 6 p.m. -- to go through the formality of putting the new line item in its budget.

The general consensus was the committee should compile a list of projects it wishes to tackle, prioritized and broken down by cost.

That way, regardless of how much money, if any, council designated to the request, the committee could then point to the project it wished to pursue with the money.

Black Bass Dam progress

Levine discussed progress at Black Bass Dam, saying despite the heavy rainfall earlier in the year, much of the major work would be "knocked out" in about two weeks.

Featherstone cited some public concern that the area was open to the public while construction was ongoing.

Levine said he had heard of no unusual problems with the site but no signage directing people into the area would be put in place until all construction was done.

He added signage was in place now warning the public of the ongoing construction.

"It's unfortunate [the project] has taken so long," Featherstone said, "but if we'd hired someone to do it quicker, we'd have gotten a lot less done for the same money."

Job evaluations needed?

In the end, Featherstone asked Levine to prepare updated information on employee structure and job descriptions. He said he would like an ad hoc committee to "take a look" at staff evaluations.

Featherstone hastened to add he was unhappy with neither staff nor director, but "in the real world" the evaluation process serves everyone well, creating accountability.