Jobs, Services Heat up Highfill

An eight-year struggle to secure funding for sewer service meant the city of Highfill missed out on the Northwest Arkansas housing boom.

But with the real estate slowdown now entering its second year, that delay in development may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The sleepy rural home to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is now well positioned as one of the area’s last untapped growth markets.

Since 2002, property tax collections in Highfill have nearly doubled, sales tax receipts have almost tripled and the city budget has nearly quadrupled from $464,788 to $1.65 million.

While the city grows, it is saving its taxpayers money at each opportunity with the kind of community spirit and responsible fiscal management to be expected from a small town with old-fashioned values.

Mayor Chris Holland, 28, who also serves in the volunteer fire department and whose family roots in Highfill date to the 1890s, said the plan is to combine smart growth with the preservation of Highfill’s personality to create a city the citizens are proud of and others will want to make their new home.

“That’s what we’re pitching out here,” Holland said. “We’re hoping to make this city a destination.

“My goal, the city council’s goal and the citizens’ goal is to make this the best city to live in, not only in Northwest Arkansas, but in the state of Arkansas.”

The $6.5 million temporary sewer system will be active about nine months after the first pipes were laid on Nov. 5. Eventually, Highfill will hook into the Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority’s $33 million regional sewer system.

But until the NACA system is complete by its target of 2009, Highfill needs to grow its customer base to avoid being socked with $100 per month charges for its citizens.

The temporary system under construction will have rates of around $15 to $30 a month and will allow planned subdivisions to finally begin construction.

The Silver Meadows subdivision being developed by Lazenby Real Estate is moving forward with plans for houses in the $120,000 range and Stonehill PRM Realty, which developed the luxury condos at The Glen at Polo Park, can now go forward with the first stages of its 1,584-acre development, The Orchards.

“With the housing market the way it is, it just depends on what kind of affordable housing they put in there,” Holland said. “Those will sell pretty well and quick.”

Silver Meadows, when completed, could add around 500 people to Highfill’s population. The Orchards is a 20-year planned build-out, and once complete, could raise the population of Highfill to more than 20,000.

When XNA opened in 1998, the city limit sign for Highfill listed a population of 12. Current estimates peg the population at around 560.

Deep-pocketed developers like Lazenby and Stonehill were quite prepared to wait on Highfill to gain sewer service, and a combination of recent events now have them moving forward.

“[The delay] enabled us to plan our growth and see some mistakes other cities have made,” Holland said. “We’re able to fix the mistakes on our end and plan for it.”

Soon after the sewer project was approved in August, American Eagle announced it was relocating its regional jet maintenance center from Bangor, Maine, to XNA and bringing 100 new jobs with it.

So far, 28 families have relocated from Maine to Northwest Arkansas and are living at The Glen while looking for homes or waiting for their homes in Bangor to sell.

American Eagle spokeswoman Andrea Hugely said the company’s total employees at XNA should be at 220 by the end of 2008, a gain of 180 jobs from 2003.

Highfill passed sales tax exemptions in 2003, and in September for AE to help lure the maintenance center expansion.

“It was important to [American Eagle],” said XNA director Scott Van Lanningham. “There is intense competition for these operations and all companies are looking for what local areas are able to do.”

 

American Way

One local business owner who embodies the small-town spirit of Highfill is Mahmoud “MC” Chitsazan, who opened the Village Market and Grille in Highfill at the junction of Arkansas Highways 12 and 264 in September 2006 just a couple miles west of the southern XNA entrance.

Chitsazan’s market combines a convenience store and gas station with a full service diner offering home cooking, big portions and low prices. His blue plate specials, like pot roast and chicken fried steak, have been big hits and drawn customers from all over the surrounding area who previously could only eat out in Bentonville or Rogers.

Everything is prepared fresh, Chitsazan said, from “mashed potatoes to meatballs.”

The Village Market also recently added pizza to the menu and a regular who stopped by to chat with Chitsazan on a recent Tuesday morning raved to him that it was “better than Pizza Hut.”

The layout is designed to replicate a 1950s-era diner, with checkered tile, chrome and red vinyl chairs, a jukebox and old baking tins adorning the walls.

Chitsazan owns a general store in Cave Springs, where he has been a member of the city council for six years, and he meticulously planned every detail from the napkin holders right down to sampling more than five different coffee blends before deciding which would be freshly ground each morning.

Business has been so good he’s already thinking about expanding the dining area and adding parking. He also has plans to add a car wash once the sewer system is active.

He purchased 2 acres across the highway for future commercial development, is planning a similar market for near XNA’s north entrance and is in negotiations with a bank to place an ATM at his store.

“I wanted to make sure to create a business for the town that was different from just a gas station,” he said. “I wanted it to be comfortable and relaxing for people to come in.”

Chitsazan immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1979, just before the Islamic revolution overthrew the government, to join his brother in Arkansas where both received engineering degrees from the University of Arkansas. Chitsazan became a U.S. citizen in 1985 and his brother now runs the general store in Cave Springs.

The family has planted their own deep roots in Northwest Arkansas. Chitsazan’s wife, whom he met while in school, works at Ozark Guidance, his sister is a dietician and another brother is a doctor.

Chitsazan was intrigued by the idea of the diner and he correctly pegged the community need for an old-fashioned eatery.

“I liked the idea of a diner. I liked the food they served,” he said. “It takes you back to a more relaxed time.”

 

Fiscally Sound

Saving taxpayer money is a lofty goal rarely followed by city officials, but Holland takes it seriously.

By renting equipment and gathering city employees to do the work themselves, Highfill paved two miles of road this year for just $70,000 and doing the work this way will allow them to pave 12 to 15 miles of road within the next few years.

A pipe upgrade on a water line was estimated to cost $375,000, but Highfill’s water engineer figured the city could buy the materials and act as its own contractor to do the job for $175,000.

Acting as its own contractor saved the city another $200,000 on the renovation of a building on the late Hobart Young’s property that will be Highfill’s maintenance building by early 2008.

Young donated $185,000 to the city upon his death last year and another $155,000 to the fire department.

Highfill used the $185,000 to buy his land, which it will use to add a police station, city hall and the maintenance building. The donation to the fire department allowed the city to buy a new tanker truck.

The fire department, which has about 30 volunteer members, now has a fleet of seven trucks and has gotten its ISO insurance rating down from a nine to a five, which saved Holland $300 on his annual homeowner’s insurance.

Holland said the goal is to be just the second volunteer department in Arkansas to achieve a 1 rating. The city will hire another fulltime police officer in the next year to further improve services.

Chitsazan said the growth of Bentonville and Rogers toward Highfill and the airport, combined with still-reasonable land prices, make the city primed for growth.

“It’s a good city,” he said. “It’s financially sound. It’s in the right place at the right time.”