Pea Ridge continues to grow, the Census Bureau has our estimated population of 5,296 as of July 2017. Our location, residential development, business environment and schools continue to be the driving force in our community's growth.
Highlights of 2018
1. Sales and property tax revenue
^a. City sales tax from 2016 to 2017 increased 12 percent
^b. City sales tax from 2017 to 2018 increased 7 percent
^c. County sales tax from 2016 to 2017 increased 6 percent
^d. County sales tax from 2017 to 2018 increased 14 percent
^e. Property tax from 2016 to 2017 increased 10 percent
^ f. Property tax from 2017 to 2018 increased 10 percent (this is due to the continued growth we are seeing in our city; our millage is still the same.)
2. Street Department
^a. Spring Clean Up
^b. Hickman Road, pipe on north side
^c. Pipe under Blue Jay at intersection of Blue Jay and Dove
^d. Curb on Hopkins
^e. Curb and sidewalk repair on McIntosh
^f. Ditch paving on North Davis Street
^g. Gates Lane, pipe crossing
^h. Ford Street, ditch
^i. Ditch between North Curtis and North Davis; North Davis to brush dump
^j. Pipe under Cheeks D/W and asphalt replacement
^k. Undermined ditch paving in Turner Way replaced with rip rap
^l. Eroding by light poles along N. Curtis Ave.
^m. Post widened at City Park, and ditch cut to pipe running under sidewalk near first pavilion
^n. Disaster relief on Weston Street after the telephone pole got dragged down the street
^o. Street signs (documented in one drive)
^p. Police departments "DNE" signs
^q. Mulched play areas at park
^r. Pothole List completion
^s. Ditch from Greenwood Cove to Hazelton Road
^t. Re-striped Library parking lot
^u. North Davis by Cannonball café concrete ditch paving with b-stone
^v. McIntosh curb and sidewalk removal and replacement (east end 40-feet worth)
^w. Fall cleanup
^x. Splash Pad, dirt work and utility ditches
^y. McRae Lane, added base to road
^z. Drew Lane, created proper drainage
^aa. Mule Jump setup and breakdown
^ab. Ryan Road, created proper drainage
^ac. Added base to Green Street
^ad. Carr Street, pipe under road replacement
^ae. Christmas decorations
3. Parks
^a. Received grant to build a splash pad which is now 98 percent complete
^b. Continued the Friday night movies in the park
4. Water Department
^a. Wastewater Treatment Plant, engineering completed, approvals completed with Arkansas Department of Health and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, bidding process completed, and construction began in January 2019
^b. Stone Ridge Subdivision, final phase of Plentywood extension in progress
^c. Receive ADH approval to proceed, March of 2018, began construction April 28, 2018
^d. To date have laid 5,795 feet of pipe which has been tested and approved
^e. Approximately 1,475 feet of pipe remaining to be installed on two more streets in subdivision
^f. Tap fees have been paid and have had services set to date for 27 residences in subdivision
^g. McIntosh Project, deleted old 1.5-inch iron pipe and laid new 2-inch
^h. 380 feet of new 2-inch heavy wall PVC laid
^i. Deleted 1,460 feet of old iron pipe
^j. Connected 15 services to new 2-inch or over to existing 8-inch
^k. N. Gooseberry Road extension off Plentywood Project completed
^l. Installed 1,050 feet of 8-inch C900 PVC and connected three new services
^m. Installed valves at the end of line for future expansion to north (Spanker Creek Road)
^n. Benton Ridge Project, off Ark. Hwy. 72 completed
^o. Laid 2,710 feet of 4-inch C900 off of the 18-inch West to service Benton Ridge and Michelle Lane
^p. Five services paid and connected during installation of Main
^a. Cardin Road Water Relocation Project completed
^b. Laid in 375 feet of New 4-inch C900 out of county road right-of-way and Deleted 365 feet of on class pipe which was laying in existing roadbed
5. Fire/Ambulance
^a. Calls for service^836
^b. Fire calls 2018
^^b.i. Fire^52
^^b.i.1. 19 grass fire
^^b.i.2. 20 structure fires
^^b.i.3. 13 misc.
^^b.i.4. 548 medicals
^^b.i.4.a. 502 medical calls
^^b.i.4.b. 46 MVCs
^^b.i.5. 97 public service/assistance
^^b.i.6. 27 outside EMS assistance
^^b.i.7. 25 false alarms
^^b.i.8. 78 no incident or cancelled
^^b.i.9. 36 misc.
^c. EMS
^^c.i. 595 EMS calls
^^c.ii. 366 transport
^^c.iii. 193 no transports or transports by others
^^c.iv. 25 no patient or cancelled
^^c.v. 11 DOA
6. Police Department
^a. Calls for service approximately 7000
^b. Number of reports generated approximately 1500
^c. $80,000 dollars' worth of computer equipment obtained for police vehicles through a State MDT Grant at a cost of only $8,000 dollars to the city.
^d. Added a 2nd Police K9 (Doc) to the department at little to no cost to the city due to being able to use dedicated Drug Fund monies.
^e. Held the 2nd annual Shop with a Cop and were able to double the number of children helped with Christmas from last year.
7. District Court
^a. We have seen an increase in the number of cases coming through our district court in the last few years. The numbers testify to the fact that this building was severely needed. We could not have handled this number of cases in our old facility.
^^a.i. Cases processed in 2015 - 1152, cases filled - 1453
^^a.ii. Cases processed in 2016 - 2072, cases filled - 2262
^^a.iii. Cases processed in 2017 - 2120, cases filled - 2283
^^a.iv. Cases processed in 2018 - 1698, cases filled -- 1844
8. Library
^a.
^b. New Patrons
^^b.i. 2018 Total = 439
^^^b.i.1. Adult = 162
^^^b.i.2. Senior Citizens = 33
^^^b.i.3. Family Card = 80
^^^b.i.4. Young Adult = 16
^^^b.i.5. Children = 49
^^^b.i.6. New Patrons = 99
^^b.ii. 2019 Total = 71
^^^b.ii.1. Adults = 46
^^^b.ii.2. Senior Citizens = 2
^^^b.ii.3. Family Cards = 16
^^^b.ii.4. Young Adults = 2
^^^b.ii.5. Children = 2
^^^b.ii.6. New Patrons = 3
^^b.iii. Total Patrons = 1273
^^^b.iii.1. Adults = 820
^^^b.iii.2. Senior Citizens = 233
^^^b.iii.3. Family Cards = 119
^^^b.iii.4. Young Adults = 36
^^^b.iii.5. Children =53
^^b.iii.6. New Patrons = 12
^c. Computer Users
^^c.i. 2018 Total = 2097
^^^c.i.1. Patrons = 1504
^^^c.i.2. Guests = 593
^^c.ii. 2019 Totals = 446
^^^c.ii.1. Patrons = 311
^^^c.ii.2. Guests = 135
^d. Programs Started
^^d.i. S.T.E.A.M. Program (In the Grand S.T.E.A.M. of Things)
^^^d.i.1. STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and cultural thinking. The end results are students who take thoughtful risks, engage in experimental learning, persist in problem solving, embrace collaboration, and work through the creative process.
^^d.ii. Sensory Saturdays
^^^d.ii.1. Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates a young child's, or children with learning disabilities, senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore.
^^d.iii. Friday Flix
^^^d.iii.1. With the purchase of SWANK Movie Licensing in May of 2018, thanks to the Friends of the Library, we are now able to offer monthly movie times for local families.
^^^d.iv. Home School Mingle
^^^d.iv.1. Provided on a monthly basis to home school parents so that resources may be shared among other local families.
^^^d.v. Crochet & Knitter's Club
^^d.v.1. Monthly Club that meets at the library to spread community among the patrons who have an interest in learning or maintaining practice in this activity.
^^d.vi. Tutoring with the Ambassadors
^^^d.vi.1. After school on Mondays & Tuesdays we have Ambassador Volunteers from the high school come and tutor K-5 students in math, literacy, science, history, and reading.
^^^d.vii. Eat Smart, Be Active Class provided by the U of A (Oct. -- Nov. 2018)
^e. Projects/Achievements
^^e.i. All patron computers have now been updated and are regularly maintained by our Junior Tech.
^^^e.i.1. Paid for by Walmart Grant to the Friends of the Library
^^^e.ii. Updated Patron Copier/Fax/Scanner
^^^^e.ii.1. Now allows printing from external devices
^^^e.iii. Installation of 2 Circulation iPads
^^^^e.iii.1. Paid for by Friends of the Library
^^^e.iv. Children's Computer Installed
^^^^e.iv.1. Educational pages accessible only
^^^^e.iv.2. Thanks to the Friends of the Library
^^^e.v. Café Tables purchased for coffee area
^^^^e.v.1. Paid for by Friends of the Library
^^^e.vi. Resale shelves for books installed
^^^^e.vi.1. Paid for and installed by Friends of the Library
^^^e.vii. Updated and installed additional security cameras and panic buttons
^^^e.viii. Ran 2 successful blood drives with a 3rd one planned for July 2019
^^^e.ix. Added Cybrarian to our patron computers
^^^e.ix.1. Programs that keeps track of computer usage while maintaining patron privacy
9. Building Official / Inspections
^a. Permits issued in 2018
^^a.i. Misc. Permits
^^^a.i.1. Building permits - 23
^^^a.i.2. Plumbing permits - 59
^^^a.i.3. Electrical permits - 43
^^^a.i.4. Mechanical permits - 49
^^^a.i.5. Total misc. permits - 174
^^a.ii. Building Permits
^^^a.ii.1. New Home building permits - 89
^^^a.ii.2. Commercial building permits - 3
^^^a.ii.3. New construction plumbing - 77
^^^a.ii.4. New construction electrical - 95
^^^a.ii.5. New construction mechanical - 83
^^^a.ii.6. Totals new construction permits - 347
^^a.iii. Permit / inspection totals
^^^a.iii.1. Misc. and new permits - 521
^^^a.iii.2. Inspections performed - 1100
^^a.iv. Impact fees
^^^a.iv.1. Total number of impact fees collected in 2018 - 115 for a value of $247,133.85
10. City of Pea Ridge projected growth
^a. Year 2020^population 6,106
^b. Year 2030^population 7,649
^c. Year 2040^population 9,428
11. Benton County projected growth
^a. Benton County, 2010^ population 221,339
^b. Washington County, 2010^population 203,065
^c. Current census estimates for Benton County as of 7/1/2016^245,321
^d. Year 2020^population 271,031
^e. Year 2030^population 331,370
^f. Year 2040^population 404,736
Editorial on 03/20/2019