Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – August 29, 2024 – Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver has brought the idea of using income from revenue bonds and “Covid” monies to finance a list of capital improvement projects in the city.
Copenhaver presented his plan to the Jonesboro City Council Finance Committee at its meeting Tuesday night. The plan includes $25.750 million in capital improvement projects. The plan suggests $17.5 million to be obtained through issuance of municipal revenue bonds. The remaining funds would come from $8.25 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies.
The proposed plan has been discussed at three public meetings August 21, 22 and 27. City of Jonesboro Communications Director of Communications Donna Malone said the meetings were promoted on the City of Jonesboro social media accounts.
Committee Chairman Councilman Joe Hafner cast the deciding vote in November 2023 following a 3-3 tie where Copenhaver’s initial capital improvement plan failed to win committee support and was not forwarded to the full City Council. “The mayor’s initial proposal was presented in a simple spreadsheet form,” said Hafner. “At the time I felt like the idea needed more talk, needed more discussion, so I voted against it. I told the mayor and his team that a plan like that needed more details on what was being proposed, why it was being proposed, how the city would pay for the projects and when the projects would be completed. The mayor’s new plan has that information.”
The highlights of the projects proposed in the plan include $6,500,000 for a public safety/E911 center to be built on newly acquired property next to the present Police Station on Caraway Road; $6,000,000 to expand Caraway Road South to Fox Meadow; $7,000,000 for trail connection developments; $250,000 for sidewalks and lighting; $1,000,000 for a parks master plan implementation; $250,000 in Forum upgrades; $500,000 in humanitarian outreach; $3,250,000 in additional aquatics and pool construction; $750,000 for a citywide master growth plan; and $250,000 for land bank and development incentives.
“We all know the city has a lot of needs. A lot more than we can afford.” Copenhaver told the Finance Committee. “We also have a lot of duties. The duty to continue to invest in pedestrian infrastructure, in public safety, our roads and infrastructure, more lighting for pedestrian and property protection, fund investments outlined in our master parks plan, fund research to determine how we want our city to look five, ten, twenty years down the road, and fund heightened efforts to clean up Jonesboro. These are all included in this plan and can be done now and funded through a revenue bond and ARPA funds.”
Hafner said Jonesboro is long overdue getting many of these projects done. “I believe using revenue bonds is smart. And the fact that we delayed this by almost a year may work in the city’s favor as interest rates come down”
Responding to a question from the committee, Copenhaver said the projects outlined in the plan could be completed within three years.
The PDF of the plan is available to review here.
Hafner said the finance committee will consider the plan in resolution form at its next meeting September 10. At that time the committee will vote whether or not to send the proposal on to the full City Council.