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The motion PASSED with the following vote.","EventItemPassedFlag":1,"EventItemPassedFlagName":"Pass","EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Minutes for the Capital Improvement Bonds Task Force Committee on Tuesday, July 1, 2025","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":25516,"EventItemMatterGuid":"229976D4-9CDA-4B98-98F7-6B5D07C5040F","EventItemMatterFile":"MIN-25:060","EventItemMatterName":"Minutes for the Capital Improvement Bonds Task Force Committee on Tuesday, July 1, 2025","EventItemMatterType":"Minutes","EventItemMatterStatus":"Passed","EventItemMatterAttachments":[{"MatterAttachmentId":42921,"MatterAttachmentGuid":"31B52E26-4646-42A1-AF46-16DA1019DAA1","MatterAttachmentLastModifiedUtc":"2025-07-08T19:49:50.293","MatterAttachmentRowVersion":"AAAAAADVXJs=","MatterAttachmentName":"Minutes","MatterAttachmentHyperlink":"https://legistar.granicus.com/Jonesboro/attachments/94bacc1f-5246-4ce6-8230-1f0df378aa28.pdf","MatterAttachmentFileName":"94bacc1f-5246-4ce6-8230-1f0df378aa28.pdf","MatterAttachmentMatterVersion":"0","MatterAttachmentIsHyperlink":false,"MatterAttachmentBinary":null,"MatterAttachmentIsSupportingDocument":false,"MatterAttachmentShowOnInternetPage":true,"MatterAttachmentIsMinuteOrder":false,"MatterAttachmentIsBoardLetter":false,"MatterAttachmentAgiloftId":0,"MatterAttachmentDescription":null,"MatterAttachmentPrintWithReports":false,"MatterAttachmentSort":-2147483648}]},{"EventItemId":84356,"EventItemGuid":"7DF63DDB-C55E-4F3D-BD9C-6E92BD6122E0","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-01T18:26:37.603","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVYVw=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":6,"EventItemMinutesSequence":6,"EventItemAgendaNumber":null,"EventItemVideo":220191,"EventItemVideoIndex":180,"EventItemVersion":"1","EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":"Brian Emison said, at this time, we'll go ahead and we will go ahead and get an update on where we currently stand on the Justice Complex. I think we have some items prepared for where we currently stand on that facility. You There are. Engineering Director Craig Light stated, I really don't have much prepared for the meeting tonight. We did receive a report back from the structural engineer that was hired by the insurance company to do an evaluation on the property. Their determination was, based on their opinion, that the damage to the building was not caused by a weather incident. So, they were not willing to pay towards any of the repairs to the building because of that. They reviewed the original plans for the construction of the remodel from the grocery store to the Justice Complex. I found some notes in there where the trusses, the boat trusses of the building were already damaged at that time and were epoxied together. They had some details about how they felt like the new roof should go on it, but that engineer's opinion was that it was just simply overloading of the roof trusses by the new roof and it wasn't weather related incident. So, the insurance company is not going to pay for that repair. We got an estimate and a drawing from a local structural engineer to do a repair of the broken truss. The estimate or the cost was $115,000 to repair just that single truss. They could make no guarantees that there will not be more damage in a very short period to some of the other trusses in the building. We can't say that it's a one year, three year, five year fix. You are going to fix this problem and wait for the next one to happen because there is going to be another one. If you'll remember correctly, just two years ago, we put in some columns in the courtroom to remedy a problem that was developing on another one of these trusses. It's just a matter of time before another one happens. Again, obviously, it’s the city council’s decision. As a citizen and a taxpayer of Jonesboro, I hope that we don't put any more money into that building. It’s just my own opinion. I’ll try to answer any questions if anybody has any about that. Chairman Emison said, thank you Craig. Councilmember John Street asked, without money put into it Craig, there’s absolutely no need to put anybody back in that building, right? Or have no intention to? Mr. Light responded, no. Councilmember Street said, okay, good. Chairman Emison said, thank you Craig. Mayor Harold Copenhaver said, Mr. Chairman, I will just add to what Craig's comments were that we are looking for other facilities as well on a rental type basis for the next several years depending upon the decision of what council would like to do with that facility. So we're planning for other options at this time. Chairman Emison said, thank you Mayor. ","EventItemActionId":410,"EventItemActionName":"Filed","EventItemActionText":"Filed","EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Updates for the Justice Complex","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":25639,"EventItemMatterGuid":"9E9AB349-7A1A-434F-81C5-7A0111414C63","EventItemMatterFile":"COM-25:038","EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":"Other Communications","EventItemMatterStatus":"Filed","EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84357,"EventItemGuid":"105FCC79-743D-49CF-99A7-AFC2BD901860","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-03T20:34:34.077","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVamE=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":7,"EventItemMinutesSequence":7,"EventItemAgendaNumber":null,"EventItemVideo":220192,"EventItemVideoIndex":394,"EventItemVersion":"1","EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":"Councilmember Chris Moore asked, Mr. Chair, are you wanting to discuss purely the cost of the building and the land acquisition at this time or you want to talk about the finance for economic impact? Chairman Emison said, we'll talk finance as far as the site purchase and the construction costs to go into it. Councilmember Moore said, I would like to have the floor then Mr. Chair. Chairman Emison responded, yes, sir. Councilmember Moore said, Mr. Chair, at the last meeting, there was quite a bit of information that I asked for, and I have got to thank the Mayor and his staff and Craig Light. They provided all of the relevant  documentation I think we need to make a decision either way. I was concerned at the last meeting because on the Washington site, it's not just building a new 911 Center. It's also the demolition of the Justice Complex and the demolition of the old city hall and some drainage improvements. And at the time that I asked for the estimates, I was quite concerned that when you tallied up that asbestos removal, the demolition, and the various other on-site improvements requires to build the 911 Center that it would outpace in money the cost of developing on Caraway Road. But this past week, when the figures came in, it's actually kind of shocking. The estimates are broken down into two phases of phase one for the E-911 and then a phase two for the larger police headquarters. And, those figures were tallied on both sites. For obviously what we are going to start with the first will be the phase one the 911. And, when you look at those figures, and you calculate the removal of the two buildings and the drainage improvement, it's approximately $654,000 cheaper to be on the Washington site. If you were to take the asbestos removal and the removal of the two buildings out of that, it' be over a $1,000,000 cheaper to be on the Washington site. But as Craig knows and the Mayor knows, any decision that we made, we are still going to have to remove the Justice building to improve our lots down there. I think that's a no brainer. I don't see us putting city employees back in a building with broken trusses at any point. So, when you actually extrapolate out in phase two, which would be the total cost of the E-911 and the police station, the Washington site was $30,949,000, which was a little bit over a $1,000,000 less than the Caraway Road site. And, that includes remedy to our two buildings. Now, as a councilman, I am responsible for public safety, but also financial safety. And I don't see on phase one spending $654,000 more money for the Caraway site than we can currently remedy our problem and build the new building. And, by the way, the buildings are the same on both sites. The costs for the E-911 and the eventual Police headquarters are the same price to actually construct the building. So, what we're really dealing with are the site improvements, drainage, removal of the buildings, and then on Caraway Road, property acquisition to build a new road for the current property owner to access his back road, install new utilities to the back road. And with that in mind, I'm in favor of us utilizing the property we have downtown. Now, some discussion has been made about possibly selling the property and using the proceeds to fund. If we sell the property on Washington to a private developer, the city will no longer have access to the property. Right now, if you looked at the barbecue festival, Winter Fest, Christmas Parade, a variety of downtown events, we utilize the parking lot and the parking spaces at the current justice building. So, there's also a benefit of us building. We would maintain approximately 130 parking spots that can be used for other downtown events that we would lose if we sell that property. So, what proceeds that we get and it ranges from $650,000 to some $2 million estimate on the property. By the time we spend a $1,000,000 less on Washington and then we calculate the loss of the parking lot and the utilization of that property, I think it becomes clear that Washington is a better choice. And, with that I will yield back. Chairman Emison responded, thank you, Councilman, I appreciate you. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember John Street said, if you look at, I mean, and I know we grazed over it real quick, but the economic benefit to the city and our concern too, is for downtown Jonesboro. A use for a museum or a mixed business complex would generate a lot more tax revenue and bring more people downtown, which is what the ultimate goal, I think, is of us too, is encouraging business and traffic stuff, but with the investment we've got on Caraway Road, even if it's a $1,000,000 more, I think it would come back very quickly with the inconvenience of traveling back and forth and back and forth from downtown to our administration headquarters on Caraway Road. It would be much more efficient to have both in a single location. I think central location for access by the citizens of Jonesboro out there would be a little better. And I know some people are under the impression that if the police station is located downtown, that if there's some need for emergency police response, it's going to be a lot quicker and it's not. Mainly, you've got administration down there, so there's no army of police officers going to run out of a building if something happens. They're going to be dispatched from other areas of the city, no matter where you put the police station. Whether it be out there, down here or out at Craighead Forest, I don't think you're going to have any more police coverage for it. I agree with you 100% on the building. We don't need to spend another dime on the Justice Complex. We’ve already spent a lot of good money on that thing and it needs to come down. But too, and I didn't see a cost on it, but you just mentioned drainage, but I'm here to tell you the drainage costs or the cost to fix the drainage for the site down here, I think may eat into that million, if not overwhelm it pretty easily. Now again, I defer to Craig on that or some of our engineers, but I think all around from my point of view and I want to do the best thing for the citizens of Jonesboro too, I mean, I'm a citizen, a taxpayer and everything else, but I believe to build on the ex the site next to the existing building on Caraway would be in the best interest of the city in the long run. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember Moore responded, a couple of points to your comments, John, and I think you have the best interest of the city also. From the economic standpoint, I read the report the Mayor had about a children's museum or something to that effect, and the economic benefits were on taxes as far as income would pale, I would think, to a large-scale retail or a restaurant on Caraway Road, the proceeds we would net from that, I'm with you. I don't think it's a safety issue either way. I think we're just as safe in the city with the police station on Caraway Road as we are on Washington. I don't see that. If you’ll look on your line item on the Washington, Craig put $350,000 in there for 42-inch arch pipe and the drainage improvements on that site were included in on the figure that I gave you at $9,484,300. It’s  line item five. Right after line item four, which, when you're looking at the figures on there, and I'm not casting dispersion on the Mayor, but all the site work was frontloaded on the Washington site. You'll see $700,000 on that estimate and no site work estimate on the Caraway Road. It was all frontloaded because Craig and I think rightfully so, the entire site would need to be graded at one time. We would need sidewalks. We would need curb and gutters. It's not something that you'd want a piecemeal downtown. So, it's important to notice that it's not just $654,000. It's also renovation of the parking lot site with the sidewalks, curb and gutter, removal of the two buildings, and $350,000 in drainage work which is greatly needed down there. Now, as far as the inconvenience, there will be some inconvenience, I mean, it's probably a half a mile between Caraway and the Washington site, straight down the same street though. And, it's also important to note, and I had several people call, this isn't an either or. We're keeping the Armory and the motor pool site, no matter what. I mean, it's not moving everything downtown. It's having both, and it's giving the Chief everything he wants. It's an E-911. It's a new police headquarters and then keep the current motor pool on Caraway Road and save $1,000,000. Now, one of the arguments, and I may have made it with Brian, I know I made it with the Mayor. One of the benefits we have downtown is stability. Now, we see on a regular basis at the council meeting, one of our attendees always talks about businesses coming and going on Main Street and the alcohol situation and all of that. One of the things that we have on stability is county and municipal government. I am firmly convinced in the 26 years I've been on this council, if the council would have cut and run on the municipal building and we weren't anchored right here, and the county judge had cut and run on the courthouse and built a new courthouse somewhere, and the federal building wasn't here, downtown would have collapsed. We wouldn't be able maintain it. Having the stability of municipal buildings, mixed in with private investment, I think is the key to downtowns. I'll yield the floor back.\r\n\r\nCouncilmember Street responded, and I agree with you, Chris. I was here on board when we decided to do this building here. I mean, I was 100% behind this and I think it's the best thing that could have happened. And as you know, people were opposed to this. But I think it was a good anchoring effect for downtown. I think it helped downtown grow quite a bit to where it is today. I'd hate to think where it be if this hadn't been here in a central figure, but I don't think the police station, I mean, going back to that, is going to be the best anchor for downtown and there is a lot of costs. I don't know if Chief's got any figures on it or not, but with the motor pool out there, almost everybody has to go out there at some point in time for vehicle maintenance or to pick up equipment from Karen or Connie, or to do business with various CID offices or whatever out there. I just think it would be more efficient use if they were both collocated. Now, Chief may chime in on that. He may have a different opinion, but there's a lot of offices and a lot of interaction between offices, and I just can't help but believe that we couldn’t have a better facility located together with more amenities and benefits for not only for police department, for the citizens. I think that site out there would provide one common gym for everybody to work in. You know, the Fire Department has a great gym. The Police Department has a pretty substantial, I mean, not substantial, it's a subpar gym, on the second floor of the old fire station down there, the old city hall. But you could have that, you could have training classes collocated, and the community could use a larger training room for various other things that they may want to host that at the police station to give them another place to host public meetings of different kinds for the community. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember Moore responded, all of those will still be available because it'll be the same building down on Washington. One of the things on convenience, I think, would be to the public. So, within a four block area, we would have our municipal building, we'd have the federal courthouse, we'd have the county courthouse, we'd have the police department, and we'd have the city attorney. Now, for the citizens who come downtown looking for government services, it doesn't get any more convenient than that you know, so their time is valuable also. Councilmember Street said, well I mean. Councilmember Moore went on and said, you are right across the street from all that. Councilmember Street continued, there is some interaction between the community and the police department, but not as much as lot of our other government offices downtown. I would disagree with that. I mean, I think the police department's a little more of a separate agency, kind of like the fire department. It might be, you know, nice to have the fire department down here, but you don't have that much public interaction with them, I mean, as far as office space or anything like that. I would love to hear what the chief's opinion is on this, because, I mean, I respect your opinion and I mean, I've got mine, but I personally think that I still believe that the Caraway Road site would be the best site to put the whole complex on as opposed to splitting it up as we have now and having officers going back and forth, back and forth. You are right, it is on Washington, but man, there's a lot of a lot of traffic back and forth. I just believe it'd be more efficient all the way around if they were collocated. \r\n\r\nChairman Emison said, Chief, your name's been brought up a couple of times. Do you mind coming to the podium? Police Chief Rick Elliot responded, sure. Chairman Emison asked, would you mind speaking to any of the items that we've been talking about previously? Chief Elliot responded, sure. Chairman Emison replied, thank you sir. Chief Elliot said, good evening and thank you for this opportunity. So, let's talk about the parking for downtown BBQ Fest. Mr. Moore is right. BBQ Fest was this weekend and we had at least four, if not five barbecue trailers set up on the patrol parking lot for the weekend. So, that for BBQ Fest has always played an important part in the BBQ Fest to having that parking there. But as soon as we break ground on that property, that's all we going to be fenced off. There's no more public parking there, okay, because that's where this 911 building has got to go is in the back parking of the patrol building. So, now I'm going to displace my patrol officers in coming to their workplace to go in for the meeting so we can build a new building. In phase two, as we mentioned, but phase two, at $30,000,000, that's not on today's agenda. That's probably, what, 5-10 years from now. So we're going to be displaced for 5-10+ years until we can build phase two to this new, whatever it's going to look like. That's problematic. We're already spread out due to the structural failure. We can't tear the patrol building down because they have no place to put patrol officers. I'm already displaced. I can't tear down the Justice Complex down to build a new dispatch center because it's connected to the existing dispatch center. So, until something's built, and I can move dispatch out, there's no tearing down anything. We're sitting there. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember Moore replied, now, you understand, Chief, that the new E-911 can be built without tearing anything down. Chief Elliot responded, that's not my understanding. Councilmember Moore said, well, you're not understanding it right. It's going on the corner of Monroe and Madison. Chief Elliot said, you can build the building. Councilmember Moore said, we do not have to demo either one of the other buildings in order to build the new E-911. Chief Elliot continued, you can build a building at Monroe and Madison, but until it's built, you're not tearing anything down at the Justice Complex. Councilmember Moore said, that's right, that’s correct. Chief Elliot responded, you are talking about three years, that building is going to sit a minimum of three years until we tear it down or until they get this thing built, agree? Councilmember Moore replied, it's been there since 1952 Chief. Chief Elliot said, agree. Councilmember Moore said, okay. Chief Elliot said, but the facts are we have two existing buildings we can't really do anything with until we get this new building built right down there. Now, take away your extra parking, I've created a bigger parking problem because these people being moved over, but as you said, we can go across the street to the city parking lot, which is generally blocked off during Winter Wonderland because we do rides and things like that. But we're going to end up taking part of it over and not be able to shut it down to the public because I have got to have a place to park my employees. So, now I've got this building. I’ve displaced people, and now I am moving my Real Time Crime Center down here on Washington, away from my detectives who work together hand in hand every day. So, the efficiency of the police department is going to be even more fragmented for the next 10 years, I guess, or better until we get this main building built. It just doesn't make sense. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember Moore said, what I was going to tell you is that we are fragmented no matter what. Chief Elliot said, the thing is if I build a Real Time Crime Center on Caraway, we drop that piece of property in there, it will sit, that lot will sit until we can move on to the next phase of whatever that is. At least that center has brought some, is keeping my people where they need to be next to my investigators. It is bringing my 911 people back closer where they need to be. We all work together. I don't deep fragmentation. I bet for fragmented for years. Yes, it's been a pain in the butt for my officers, for my staff to have to run up and down Washington for years. We’ve been like this ever since. We've been working out of a building that was built in the 40’s-50’s down here. And this department has grown for 3x the size it was back then. So, now we're down to, we're talking about that piece of property, but we've left out the gas station. If we're going to raze that whole lot, well, who wants the gas station sitting in the middle of all this property? I think the city needs to acquire that gas station so we can own the whole thing because we need the parking, right? Now, what's the cost of that gas station? I don't know. What's the cost of the environmentals to clean up, to take those fuel tanks out, and clean up that gas station? Well, I bet they exceed probably more than that million mark that we are talking about because this is the price break that we are at right now. It's about a million dollars between two places, right? So, now we have gas station next. So, we're now probably well over that million dollar threshold. So, now we're about even money. It wouldn't make sense. Consolidate everybody and put them on Caraway, including Code Enforcement. Get Code Enforcement out of the basement of this building. Free space up in this building because we are growing. Give IT some space downstairs to move, which they need, So, we're planning for the future. It's not going to happen over night. And I don't know what the politicalness is on buying a piece of property from Mr. Parker. But it's been political ever since this talk was started. And, I say take the politics out of it. This is business. This is a city business. We need to do it right. We need to not cut corners. We didn't cut corners on an $80,000,000 sports complex, and I don't expect the city to cut corners on police services and public safety. We've had handme downs since I've been here, and it's time we do it, and we do it right. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember Moore stated, well, a couple of things Chief. You're getting the building and the E-911 that you want at either site. There's no difference in the building, the square footage, the size, the design. It's not like the Washington property is cutting corners, and you're getting a lesser of a building than you would get when you're on Caraway Road. You're getting what you're asking for. Now, as far as the construction, it's going to take the same amount of time to build the E-911 at either site. Down here, if this committee and the council votes fund it, construction can start immediately without the demolition of either other building. Chief Elliot responded, great, but you’ve displaced my patrol officers now. Councilmember Moore said, well, we don't have to displace them right now because they can stay right where they're at in that building. Chief Elliot said, they have to pull in that parking lot where you're going to build this building. It’s going to be a construction zone. Councilmember Moore replied, they would be using the parking lot at the Justice Complex. You have 112 spots there, Chief. Chief Elliot responded, Oh, I'm very well aware of what the parking is. Councilmember Moore said, I'm just saying they don't have to go anywhere. They can stay right in the building they're in and they can use the parking lot at the Justice Complex while we construct the E-911 with no disturbance to your guys. Once the E-911 is completed, then the transition between the old building of the Justice Complex and the new E-911 can happen and then demolition can happen on the other two buildings so that you're not inconvenienced at all. Chief Elliot said, well, it is inconvenient because they walk from the car to inside. They are subject to call. Now, they’ve got to get out and go across the parking lot. Councilmember Moore replied, well, I wouldn’t want for them to walk an extra 100 feet Chief. It's 100 feet from the building to the Justice Complex. That's what you're talking about. 100 feet. Chief Elliot responded, okay. Councilmember Moore said, so, I mean, I'm not saying that's not an inconvenience to walk 100 feet. I'm just saying, you're getting everything you're asking for. Chief Elliot said, I understand everything I’m asking for. I’m not disagreeing. Councilmember Moore said, you're not being displaced. You're not being displaced until the entire construction is finished on the E-911. Everything will stay just like it is. Chief Elliot said, no, it's not like it is. The displacement becomes when you start moving in the E-911, you're creating a bigger division amongst the department. I need my Real Time Crime people, the camera people working with my detectives. My detectives are down here for the next 10 years. My video people are down here as opposed to walking across the parking lot to the building. Now, we talk about downtown, the ease access of downtown. I’ve got small two-lane roads. That is not the center point of the city. It may be the focal point for whatever businesses or government entities that you talk about, and I agree, but I'm talking about when my officers need to leave and get out from the police department, we can hit Caraway, Matthews and get where we need to go on four-lane road. We can get to ASU. These small roads downtown don't accommodate a high flow of traffic. \r\n\r\nCouncilmember Moore replied, Chief, I don’t know what to tell you on that. It's six blocks versus four blocks. It's four blocks to Marion Berry Overpass from where you're at. It's six blocks from the new site. I mean, we're arguing over two blocks and 100 feet your guys might have to walk due to construction. Chief Elliot said, we're arguing over a million dollars. Councilmember Moore replied, well yeah, a million dollars is a lot of money Chief. Chief Elliot continued, and then not counting the gas and not counting the gas station. Councilmember Moore said, that would be 20 more officers for you this year. Chief Elliot said, well, if I could get 20 more officers, that's another thing, you know, yet to be addressed, but finding people that want to do the job. But I'm trying to be efficient in what we do as police service. It's all about efficiency. It'd be like, why won't we just take the Finance Department out of City Hall and move them down there? Let them come back and forth day in and day out. It's the same process. I've got captains that are back and forth, the administration several times a day because we have business to conduct. At the end of the day, a beautiful building downtown, a beautiful building on Caraway. Hey, I get it, the end goal, okay, that's great. Now Iet's talk about functionality, let's talk about, you know, what's good for the Police Department. (Chief Elliot addresses the public to the side. Hands raised were in favor of Caraway Road.) Anybody think, we need to be on Washington, raise your hand? Anybody think we need to be on Caraway? We can do one at a time testimony if you like. I mean everybody has an opinion on this. We agree. And at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, did and over with, you're probably not going to change your stance, I'm not going to change my stance. As a council, as a committee, what's best for the Police Department, what's best for the City of Jonesboro, that's the decision that's needs to be made. But it needs to be made, looking at it with open and objective eyes. People are making decisions for the Police Department and have not consulted anybody in the Police Department, which I find kind of offensive that, you know, there's not been sit down conversations, but we get people from wherever come up and say, well, the Police Department needs to be here and needs that, just whatever. Come and sit down with the people at the Police Department before you talk about what you think the Police Department needs. And, that has not happened by very many people on this council. So, I would hope we have those talks before we make the final decision on this because again, I feel it's best suited downtown for all aspects of the police department. I respect your opinion, but at the end of the day, I'm going to do what I think is best for my department and my people. \r\n\r\nChairman Emison said, thank you Chief. Okay, all good conversations, all good questions, all good points. I want to say thank you to Chief and to Councilman Moore for bringing up those items support. We've received quite a bit more data since we met last time. We have the DPZ analysis study, which we spoke a little bit about that from the economic aspects, the different side options, the site breakdowns, the individual line items, all that information has been made available to everybody on this committee. I know that it's quite a bit of information to digest and I would highly recommend anybody that's on City Council that hasn't had an opportunity to view these items to take a look at those, render your decisions because this will be coming to your desk in the future with whatever decision that we make here from this committee. And of course, reach out to Chief Elliot, reach out to anybody that you have any questions about anything else that's contained in these items. Tonight, we will not be having a vote on this. 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Brian Emison noted that Chris Gibson is in attendance, but he is coming into the meeting remotely.\r\n\r\nCouncilmember Chris Gibson joined the meeting remotely. He did not vote on any item. This is noted due to ACT 505 that went into effect on August 5, 2025.","EventItemActionId":null,"EventItemActionName":null,"EventItemActionText":null,"EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":1,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Roll Call by City Clerk","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84359,"EventItemGuid":"48B10077-8B69-4CBF-AD24-D3BB4F4617E7","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-01T13:15:27.873","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVWOM=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":3,"EventItemMinutesSequence":3,"EventItemAgendaNumber":"3.","EventItemVideo":220187,"EventItemVideoIndex":40,"EventItemVersion":null,"EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":null,"EventItemActionId":null,"EventItemActionName":null,"EventItemActionText":null,"EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Approval of Minutes","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84360,"EventItemGuid":"4716C6A1-A940-443F-8696-139A74A1A673","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-01T18:26:12.477","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVYUw=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":5,"EventItemMinutesSequence":5,"EventItemAgendaNumber":"4.","EventItemVideo":220190,"EventItemVideoIndex":72,"EventItemVersion":null,"EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":"Chairman Brian Emison said, I wanted to again this evening by just reading some prepared comments that I had for the meeting tonight outlining what we are hoping to achieve here. I just wanted to say, good evening and welcome, fellow council members, administration, and the citizens of Jonesboro. I wanted to say, thank you for being here today. Today we're going to be taking up a matter of great importance for the community that we serve. The focus that today's meetings is the strategic placement of the new E-911 Complex and a decision that goes to the very heart of public safety for our community. As we discuss, I encourage us all to weigh the decision through the lens of public safety, efficiency, and long-term community benefit. Our goal should be to make a thoughtful strategic choice that reflects both the immediate needs of today and the future demands of a growing community. With that in mind, I look forward to hearing the perspectives of each council member, department representative. and citizen. We all working together to arrive at the best possible outcome for the entirety of the City of Jonesboro. To keep everything in a somewhat organized format this evening, it's my recommendation that we focus on the following areas of interest and discuss any pros and cons for either site location at that time and those areas I've listed as follows, being the economic impact, the city financial impact, and the Public Safety impact to the City of Jonesboro. I feel it's worth noting that once a decision has been rendered by this task force, a recommendation will be passed up to the Public Safety Committee and if approved, then it will be presented to full council for a vote to ratify any of these decisions that are going to be made. ","EventItemActionId":null,"EventItemActionName":null,"EventItemActionText":null,"EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"New Business","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84361,"EventItemGuid":"1DC8221E-B889-45EA-9F83-D819F172AF2D","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-01T13:15:35.917","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVWQ4=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":8,"EventItemMinutesSequence":8,"EventItemAgendaNumber":"5.","EventItemVideo":220197,"EventItemVideoIndex":2391,"EventItemVersion":null,"EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":null,"EventItemActionId":null,"EventItemActionName":null,"EventItemActionText":null,"EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Pending Items","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84362,"EventItemGuid":"4905B3F4-7A3B-4D4C-9E9E-6621F95F15AE","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-01T13:15:36.827","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVWRQ=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":9,"EventItemMinutesSequence":9,"EventItemAgendaNumber":"6.","EventItemVideo":220198,"EventItemVideoIndex":2394,"EventItemVersion":null,"EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":null,"EventItemActionId":null,"EventItemActionName":null,"EventItemActionText":null,"EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Other Business","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84363,"EventItemGuid":"3110F8E5-21B0-4C4B-A5FC-63FE2D12E555","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-03T20:35:18.5","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVank=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":10,"EventItemMinutesSequence":10,"EventItemAgendaNumber":"7.","EventItemVideo":220199,"EventItemVideoIndex":2398,"EventItemVersion":null,"EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":"Patti Lack, 4108 Forest Hill Road, said, I guess this is coming from a citizen standpoint and listening to the conversation over the past months. First, I have to say I'm really glad that we're not talking about what was brought up a couple of weeks ago about the Children's Museum. I think that was kind of a surprise and especially when looking at the analysis report of talking about the economic impact to Jonesboro. The economic impact they were comparing to Myrtle Beach versus Jonesboro. We are not Myrtle Beach in talking about the numbers. I don't know what' problem with having children's museum here. I think it is needed and I think it needs assistance from the city. I know they’re having a difficult time trying to find a location. So, given that, I went on the agenda and I looked at the two prices, and I do have a couple of questions as far as like on the Washington Avenue, it was talking about the asbestos, the demolition, and stuff like that. We had talked at one time that maybe the ARPA funds could help with the demolition. I think that was $361,000 in it, but I think $100,000 less after the finance meeting today. But on this chart right here, it has a site work at $760,000. But if you look at the Caraway one, it doesn't list site work on that. So, I don't understand why there's not a total on that. Also too, the drainage of $350,000 on the Washington and I know that there's got to be some type of drainage problems over there on Caraway. So, I don't understand why that amount is not on that one right there. Right off the bat, that Caraway project has a new $1,500,000, because we have to buy the property. So that's added costs. So even like Mr. Moore, you were saying, is that as close to $700,000 difference, really we are adding the $1.5 million, and I don't know where we're going to come up with the money to purchase that land. I don’t know that city has any extra money just sitting around. But I think the bottom line is that we are talking about just a E-911 Center. We have $5.5 million from the bond money. That's all we have or we allotted for, but both of these estimates are way above there. So, where are we going to get the extra money to do this? I agree, you know, we could right now, could put that E-911 Center right there on Washington. And we could build it today because time's going to start running out, because I think at three years that we have to complete all the bond projects. The contract from Mr. Parker, I guess we should say thank you very much because you reduced it $500,000 from $2 million that it was last year, but we still have all the conditions that the city has to meet to meet his requirements to purchase it. I know that there was some post-it notes looking at the dates. I think the only thing that changed on that contract was the top sheet, and it was a price part of it. Everything else was signed except for what the city was. And I just have to tell you, that property has been for sale for a long, long time. I think it's been for sale ever since I moved here 30 some years ago. You know, a long time ago, that property was probably worth a lot of money, but I don't know really what it's worth right now. But I guess it's worth $1.5 million for us to buy it. I had to warn the city, you know, I put on there with the developer, we are developing that piece of property from Mr. Parker to build his houses our condos. Just some warning, some of the developers out there in Jonesboro might be saying, \"Hey, you know what? Why don't you pay for some of mine too? Because why is Mr. Parker being given this extra privilege that Jonesboro is doing the work that he's supposed to be doing as a developer. Bottom line, we have $5.5 million to build this, and we need it right away. Is the building's the same thing exactly? Is the distance that far apart? It's not. But I think we need to get these people in a new building as soon as we can. And that's what the goal is that you guys have to decide where it goes. It's the same building, same price if you look at everything else. And, where can we get it done the fastest? And, if we can't get it done at these two locations, I have to tell you guys, we have property or  the city has property over there on Johnson. Why can't you put the E-911 Center over on Johnson and then build a brand new police station over there. You know, keep the property over here, sell the current police station on Caraway, get that money and build on Johnson. And, there's a hold acreage right there. So, that's another option that maybe we need to start thinking of because I think the difference between the two, there's not a lot of difference, except we need to use the land that the city already owns. We don't need to go ahead and buy property for $1.5 million from someone that wants that property sold. Heck, we might as well sell the property, the police station to Mr. Parker, then he can develop that whole area and make some money. So, my vote, and I think a lot of people in this town want it to go where the Justice Complex is. And, it doesn't have to be torn down, it can be built right now. So, I hope you guys take that. Thank you. Chairman Emison said, thank you Patti.\r\n\r\nLieutenant David McDaniel, Jonesboro Police Department, said, I’m here just to hopefully shed a little bit of light on the importance of the Caraway location. I have been with the police department, I'm working on about 28th year now. I actually was in the E-911 Dispatch Center prior to coming onto the police department. So, I am working on my 30th year with the City of Jonesboro. Just to kind of echo a little bit about what the Chief said. Law enforcement is a funny industry. People come up with products and gizmos and vehicle designs. The Ford Taurus, where's my six foot plus guys?, Do you remember the Ford Taurus design with cops input. There's no way. There's no way. They had a strap on the door. You can only open it that wide. I still don't know what that was for. There was a lot of those things that accidentally got cut, you know, and it was just, it's hard to work in an industry where you have so many dedicated people with the integrity they have, and no one ever comes to you and say, how can we serve you better? What is it you need? And, just to shed a little bit a light and why I feel personally motivated to be here is currently I’m assigned as the administrator of the Real Time Crime Center. That is my function is to keep that place running. We have a lean team. One of the intregal parts of that team is a relationship with a Criminal Investigation Division. We are adjacent to them in that building. We have a constant flow of foot traffic in and out of that room from those investigators. And, to break that relationship geographically would be detrimental to my function, being more strategic and efficient. There are things that happen in that room. Time is of the essence. We have, just over the weekend, thank God it worked out well, but the kidnapping that occurred. It's important to have those investigators in their offices and us at our terminals and to be able to talk to each other in real time face to face. Those investigators know things. They have been on the phone. They need to come look at that footage with their own eyes and see those things. And, my concern now is phase two. If you take this building and you put it on Washington and of 112 spots that you say are at the Justice Complex, that parking spot is on the north side of the patrol building. That's where we're talking about putting that building. All you're going to have is, what would you say, there's 30, 40 spots at the Justice Complex proper, maybe and police work is 24/7. There are shifts coming in all day long. We have a place to put those guys. And we're going to shut that whole parking lot down and set me and my division down there for the years that I have left with this agency. and have my investigators have to drive several blocks, park 100+ feet away to get to me where stuff that needs to happen urgently and where they need to get in that room and see these things. And, I'm worried about the time that’s going to pass between the E-911 Real Time Crime Center being completed and down the road when the police department's completed. We need a bridge that gap where it's more efficient. It's not going to be ideal being disconnected at Caraway, but at least we're the same parking lot. We're there with each other. And, I think that would cause as little chaos as possible during the transition because even if we decide to build a new police department today on top of this other center, it's years down the road before this is complete. And, I think that's going to be a detriment to how well we do our job. And, I think that's probably one of the main concerns that I have is, can we take that and overcome when it comes to public safety? I think it's going to put us a step back in the wrong direction. I think it's worth listening to the people that you are doing this for. What is it that they want? You know, you hire people to come to your home and build you furniture, like cabinetry or whatever. They wouldn't just come in and say, well I've decided what's best for you. This is for us. It needs to be, it needs to have our input in it. And, I think it's an investment in the city that is very worthwhile, especially when it comes to the public safety factor. The changes in technology that's coming down the pipe in these real time crime centers are going to be more and more efficient, quicker, and that relationship, that face-to-face relationship with the officers in the room who need things for something that happened yesterday, something that's going on now. I don't think we need to take that and divide it any more than it needs to be. I'm concerned about that. That's all I have to say. Chairman Emison said, thank you Lieutenant.  \r\n\r\nJeremy Terrell, 909 Pinecrest, said, a couple of things. Number one, I agree 100%. The Police Department has been shafted for years. I eat with you guys. I know a lot of you guys. Dear friends of you guys, but there's a lot of stuff that's has to be fixed, including this situation that we got. Now, I want what’s best for you guys. 100%, I talk about it all the time, 100%. I do take a little bit of offense, Chief, with all due respect, that you just say it's just a $1,000,000. As a taxpayer, I want to make sure that everybody up here is spending the money based upon all the taxpayers. So, a million dollars is a ton of money. Now, sometimes, it makes sense and sometimes it doesn't. The problem that I have is number one, for a $600,000, even at $1.5 million, $600,000 per acre for this place. If you take the most prime location in Jonesboro, which is probably south or Southern Hills, it's between $120,000 and $150,000 an acre. And yet, everybody wants the taxpayers to be okay with spending $600,000 three to four times more per acre. That's not okay. So, had the price be adequate, maybe the citizens wouldn't be aggravated. So, you guys got all the reasons to be aggravated. Trust me, I've seen pictures. I've walked in there. I've been in both facilities. I think it's absolutely atrocious. I think it's time that you guys get taken care of 100%. But, then there is the taxpayer side. And, that's super important. And, some way, some how, we've got to become, we got to come together on it. So, maybe whoever's negotiating, the Mayor or whoever can go back to the person that's selling it and say, \"Hey, let's get realistic on the price.\" And then that'll drive that price down and that million dollars will be a whole lot closer because a million dollars is a ton. What can you do with an extra million dollars? A whole lot. So, yeah, we need to have your guy’s input, but we also need to be realistic in what's going on, too, and not act like we just got money on the money tree in the back. So, is it going to be inconvenient? Heck yeah. You guys have been inconvenienced for 20+ years. Absolutely. And, I think we need to be building for the future 100%, and I don't think you guys need to be shafted anymore without a doubt. But, this is about the taxpayers getting what they believe is right, and you guys getting what you believe is right, and at the end, we can all be happy about it. It's called meeting in the middle. We don't like to do that anymore. We don't like to work together anymore for some unbelievable reason. But, at some point in time, that's the way we got to be. We got to meet in the middle, discuss what's best for everybody. It's not just, you guys get it, and we get shafted with $1,000,000. It's not just us get what we want, and you guys get shafted again. That would suck. I'd be just as pissed off as you are. But there's a lot of things that we've got to do, not just with the location, but a lot of internal things and a lot of things we've got to do together, not just where the doggone location is to get better. So, I think that this needs to go definitely again to another conversation, but we can't keep acting like the money is not the taxpayer's money. That's insane to me. $600,000 an acre. When the sports center, which is maybe the most prime location was $140,000 an acre. Chairman Emison said, Mr. Terrell, I need you to address the committee and not other people in the audience. And, we also need to watch our language in a professional setting. Mr. Terrell said, sorry, what did I say? I'm so sorry. Chairman Emison said, just let's watch our language going forward. Mr. Terrell said, 100%, I apologize for that. So, I do believe that this is a tough decision. I think that this is 100% a big part of the future of Jonesboro, 100%. I will say each of you guys I sent a thing to you talking about, today, talking about the economic value of having the police station downtown. I encourage you to go read it because it's actually the opposite the way you said. Having the police department downtown is way more economical or economic for downtown, it will raise the prices of the property downtown, the amount of patrons feeling secure. You know, we have the entertainment district, the numbers are up, if you add them up right. It would make a huge difference to downtown, the property values would go way up. That's a study that's been done across the United States. Property values going up would far surpass anything that the children’s museum would bring in. So, I am for us fixing the police department, 100%. I just want it to be done what's fast for the police department and what's best for the citizens alike. So I would love to see, it'd be a whole different conversation, I think, with everybody if we were buying the doggone place for, you know, $300,000 instead of $1.5 million. So, thank you. Councilmember Moore said, Mr. Terrell, just a point of order, it’s $880,000 an acre, not $600,000. There's a $600,000 road improvement that had to be built on top. Mr. Terrell said, absolutely correct. Councilmember Moore said, so it's $880,000 an acre. Mr. Terrell repeated, $880,000 an acre, that's robbing the taxpayers. That's robbing the taxpayers. Show me anything else in this town where we're going to spend that amount of money, anywhere. And, it can't just be because that's where the police department wants it. I mean, I want a lot of things, but I don't get that. You know, I got to abide by everything that you guys set and rule. And, you guys are supposed to make sure that you're spending our money. That's one of your guy’s primary jobs is spending our money wisely and making sure that you're not allowing us to get ripped off. Thanks. Chairman Emison said, thank you for your comments.\r\n","EventItemActionId":null,"EventItemActionName":null,"EventItemActionText":null,"EventItemPassedFlag":null,"EventItemPassedFlagName":null,"EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Public Comments","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]},{"EventItemId":84364,"EventItemGuid":"246063D0-0FFE-4932-83D5-DF8FE25B164D","EventItemLastModifiedUtc":"2025-10-01T13:17:00.313","EventItemRowVersion":"AAAAAADVWXc=","EventItemEventId":3847,"EventItemAgendaSequence":11,"EventItemMinutesSequence":11,"EventItemAgendaNumber":"8.","EventItemVideo":220200,"EventItemVideoIndex":3553,"EventItemVersion":null,"EventItemAgendaNote":null,"EventItemMinutesNote":null,"EventItemActionId":377,"EventItemActionName":"Adjourned","EventItemActionText":"A motion was made by Chris Moore, seconded by John Street, that this meeting be Adjourned. The motion PASSED with the following vote.","EventItemPassedFlag":1,"EventItemPassedFlagName":"Pass","EventItemRollCallFlag":0,"EventItemFlagExtra":0,"EventItemTitle":"Adjournment","EventItemTally":null,"EventItemAccelaRecordId":null,"EventItemConsent":0,"EventItemMoverId":null,"EventItemMover":null,"EventItemSeconderId":null,"EventItemSeconder":null,"EventItemMatterId":null,"EventItemMatterGuid":null,"EventItemMatterFile":null,"EventItemMatterName":null,"EventItemMatterType":null,"EventItemMatterStatus":null,"EventItemMatterAttachments":[]}]