Our View

Our View

Marion shifting into progressive gear with bond vote

Seems like Marion Mayor Frank Fogleman feels very confident that fellow Marionites are willing to put their money where their mouths are and jump on board with his idea of extending an existing one cent sales tax to finance a railroad overpass.

For years, Marion residents and motorists have been frustrated on a daily basis over the sometimes long delays caused by trains on the Burlington-North Railroad tracks crossing over Military Road leading to the county courthouse and the expanding neighborhoods of River Track and Delta Acres.

Up until just recently, Marion officials have been at a loss as to coming up with the estimated $10-$15 million estimated to be the cost of the proposed overpass.

Now, Mayor Fogleman wants to call for a citizen vote in March to extend this one cent sales tax that was used to purchase bonds in the 1980s for capital improvement projects. Voters also approved similar tax proposals to extend the tax , the last time in 2006 for $9 million.

Now, it seems, the focus is on extending the bonds for 30 years to not only finance the construction of the overpass but, from what we understand, other capital improvement projects to include replacing the city’s main fire station on Military Road and hopefully a new city water department office.

As Mayor Fogleman pointed out, this is the closest the city has ever been to actually seeing this overpass become a reality. As most Marionites now know, plans call for the four-lane overpass to be built next to the new Walmart Neighborhood Grocery by extending L.H.

Polk from Highway 77 to Military Road. Anyone who shopped at the city’s newest grocery store has seen where L.H. Polk has already been extended a short distance leading up to the back of the Walmart building.

Over the years, city and Marion school proponents have had little trouble convincing voters to endorse increased fees and taxes making their city one of the highest taxed municipalities in Arkansas.

Based on past voter experiences and how passionate they are about this overpass our predictions are Mayor Fogleman will have little trouble getting this tax extension.

It is the mayor’s intentions to have this overpass become a reality within the next 18 months with the first step following the vote hiring an engineering firm to proceed.

Fogleman feels it will be vitally important for Marion to work closely with the Arkansas Department of Transportation engineers to make absolutely sure the work being done meets or exceeds all basic standards.

We’re sure that Burlington-Northern Railroad officials will have something to say about this long-awaited project.

We see this latest development as yet another progressive move by municipal leaders with a positive vision of the future.

As city leaders have revealed ideas as how Marion will address future needs, while making every effort to preserve as much of the “Old Marion” characteristics as possible, there is little doubt this city will some day in the near future become the talk of the entire region and sure to become a location that we’re sure will become an example of economic success.