Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – May 4, 2025 – Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver is proposing a modified plan to use city franchise tax revenue to support revenue bonds for immediate capital improvement projects.

Copenhaver presented his plan to members of the City Council Finance and Administration Committee last week. Rules governing bonds would require that the projects be completed within three years.

Copenhaver proposed three projects to be funded with 16.0-16.5 million dollars in revenue from the sale of the bonds.

  • Improvements to South Caraway Road – including a .25 mile five-lane section from Parker Road to Latourette Drive; a three-lane section from Latourette Drive to Glen Place (depending on the bid price it is possible the five-lane section could extend all the way to Glen Place); drainage improvements on a ten-foot pathway along the West side of Caraway; pedestrian improvements along the route – Current estimated cost 5.0-5.5 million dollars
  • Construction of new 9,000 square ft. 911 Dispatch and Real Time Intelligence Center at the Caraway Road Jonesboro Police Department facility- Current estimated cost 6.0 million dollars
  • Investment in improvements to pedestrian infrastructure – location of improvements based on recommendations from Connectivity Committee – Current estimated cost 5.0 million dollars (does not include 1.0 million dollars of pedestrian improvements that are part of the Caraway Road improvements)

Copenhaver’s modified plan appears to be a scaled-down version of a plan presented to the council in August 2024. That plan listed more projects and proposed using 17.5 million dollars in revenue from the sale of bonds combined with an additional 8.25 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies. Copenhaver told committee members that the estimated costs for the projects have gone way up.

The mayor said the Caraway Road project will compliment work the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) is planning. “ARDOT has 30 million dollars to spend on two intersections along Interstate 555, Caraway Road and Southwest Drive,” Copenhaver said. “What we are planning on Caraway Road will work together with what ARDOT is going to do.”

Copenhaver said the construction of a new 911 Dispatch center is critical. “I have seen how the city of Paragould was able to manage the aftermath of a storm with its 911 Center,” Copenhaver said. “We do not have the capability of doing that in the city of Jonesboro as of now. The current facility is undersized and at the end of its life.”

The August 2024 proposal included the purchase of property West of the current JPD Caraway Road facility from the Parker family that would be utilized in the future. Copenhaver said that cost is not part of the revenue bond plan, but he still wants to purchase the property once the revenue bond plan is in place.

Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott said the proposed 911 Dispatch and Real Time Intelligence Center would be expected to serve the city for the next twenty years. “We’ve got to build for the future,” Elliott said. “In the past we’ve been guilty of building for the present and as soon as we move in, we’re out of space.”

Elliott said the 911 Dispatch and Real Time Intelligence Center is the first step in a multi-step idea that would eventually locate all police facilities in one place. “We have simple renderings of a two-story building that would be built on to the 911 facility, but that would be later down the road,” Elliott said. “The revenue bond project requires all construction to be completed within three years. We can’t build a total police facility in three years, and we don’t have the revenue to do that. Our idea is to get this first building finished and then be ready to move on to the next project and have our funding ready to go at that point.”

Council member Dr. Charles Coleman told the committee that he didn’t have a problem with the bond issue but with other projects still unfinished wondered why they were not included in the proposal. “The shooting complex, for example, why are we kicking that on down the road rather than include finishing that project in the proposal?” Coleman asked.

City of Jonesboro Finance Director Steve Purtee said the number of projects that can be funded with a bond issue is limited by the revenue stream that supports paying it off. “Since we are only proposing to pledge revenue from franchise taxes to pay for the bond we are limited as to how much we can fund,” Purtee said.

Copenhaver responded to the question about the city’s shooting complex saying that he was having conversations with new leadership at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission about funding options to complete that project. “I want to continue those conversations and determine what additional funding options are available before coming back to (the city) council about that project,” Copenhaver said. The mayor acknowledged that the completion of the shooting sports complex is not part of the revenue bond proposal.

Copenhaver said that the city has already conducted public hearings to hear input on proposed improvements. “I want to have one more public hearing prior to presenting the idea to (city) council,” Copenhaver said. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 20. “Representatives from Crews and Associates (the proposed bond broker) will be present as well as city employees and architects that have been working on these projects,” Copenhaver added.

Copenhaver asked members of the committee what they would like to see at the May 20 meeting. Committee chairman Joe Hafner said the mayor needs to prepare good visuals that illustrate to residents exactly what the project is and what the short- and long-range plans are. “On the trails when Andy (Shatley) was presenting it to us and showed the current trails and the proposed trails … that helps a whole lot,” Hafner said.