LITTLE FLOCK, Ark. — It's been almost six months since tornadoes tore through Benton County and two weeks since an EF2 tornado hit the city of Little Flock. As residents are still working to rebuild, and some may have lost their progress since May, the city is making paying for these repairs easier.
At Monday night's city council meeting, the council voted unanimously to waive and reimburse storm-related building permit fees, making things much less expensive for residents.
"We'll waive the permit fees, and all in all, inspection fees, as well as the development impact fees for those who happen to lose their homes," Little Flock Mayor Jeff Van Sickler said. "It can be quite an amount of money for people as they move forward to rebuild and I'm just very thankful to have a supportive city council that that has a heart for their citizens."
Van Sickler said these fees can add up, especially if a resident has to rebuild.
"It's maybe thousands of more dollars. And by the time you pay the evaluation cost, the development impact fee is a little over $900 for a new home. And then you've got all the inspection fees to boot," Van Sickler said. "These folks off of 13th Street, they would have to pay a demo fee of $50 plus the inspection fees that ensue after that. So that's probably another $50 to $100 in savings just for the demo permit itself, and then they have to go through the process of getting a building permit, which is valuation-based ... We all know costs are really, really high right now."
They want to encourage reinvestment in the city after tragedy instead of residents moving away. Little Flock also lost its historic city hall building in the May storms.
"Next year will be, hopefully, a rebuilding year for us," Van Sickler said. "It's a great break for our citizens, plus it just really promotes, 'Hey, let's rebuild in our community' rather than take it somewhere else."
There's an eligibility process for those who are interested in getting their fees paid. Residents can start by contacting city hall.
"It'll require an affidavit statement and to show pictures of this pre-storm condition, and then post-storm condition. They'll have to conduct an interview with myself, and then I'll have to do a site visit to make sure that the damage exists," Van Sickler said.
He said he's looking forward to a year of growth and healing in the city.
"No matter how you shake it, it's all about serving our citizens," Van Sickler said.
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