CAVE SPRINGS, Ark. — Both the Rogers City Council and Cave Springs City Council voted Tuesday, May 28, to officially swap some pieces of land.
The Rogers City Council voted 6-1 while Cave Springs voted 4-2.
The City of Rogers and the City of Cave Springs have been in talks to trade land since April. Cave Springs now gets some land west of Highway 112, which is where a neighborhood called Scissortail sits. Rogers gets 252 acres of the current southwest portion of Cave Springs, including 15 homes.
But now, what's next? Cave Springs Mayor Randall Noblett says they're in a 30-day waiting period now to finalize plans and documents.
"This puts the city back together, and it makes it to where we will be able to be stronger and grow into the future," Noblett said. I just hope everyone does keep an open mind and they see that, the world didn't come to an end."
Noblett says it will be a while until residents see any noticeable changes. Their addresses are staying the same. For emergency services, they're still in a mutual aid agreement where multiple cites answer the call.
What's concerning for some residents is utilities. Rogers utilities will serve the properties for now, but Cave Springs has plans to build a new line out to the neighborhood. Noblett expects the plan to cost $440,000, which he said is relatively low for this kind of project.
"We're currently putting a traditional sewer main line down Highway 264, to NACA, and we will probably build off of that," Noblett said. "The water may be two or three years getting there, and then the sewer may be five to 10."
They're planning for a Cave Springs officer to serve as the SRO for Evening Star Elementary, which got annexed into the city from the swap. Mayor Noblett said they're also planning on hiring three more officers to Cave Springs PD and working to expand the fire department.
"We have worked very hard to be sure that the residents are taken care of, that no break in services occur, that everything is a smooth transition and very easy to go through," Noblett said.
Residents in Scissortail are still not on board, even with plans approved.
"We bought this house with every intention to retire here," said resident Carolyn Akin. "Not only did we choose this subdivision because of the amenities, and the way it looked, and it's a beautiful subdivision, we chose it for the utilities, the library, the community buildings and centers."
She's concerned mostly with utilities.
"How much is it going to cost the City of Cave Springs to get water and sewer to a neighborhood that already has it with a different city" said Akin. "I'm very unhappy that now I don't know what's going to happen to my water rates. Are they gonna up our property tax?"
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