Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – The Jonesboro City Council approved a $17.5 million bond issue on June 17. Revenue from the sale of the bonds is designated for several “shovel-ready” projects: the construction of a new E-911 Center, expanding Caraway Road, and building new pedestrian and bike-friendly trails.
At a public hearing held in May, Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver announced the creation of a task force to determine where to locate the planned new Jonesboro E-911 and Real Time Intelligence Center.
Brian Emison, chairman of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee is chair of the task force, which also includes the chairmen of the Finance and Administration, Public Works and Public Service committees (council members Joe Hafner, John Street and Chris Gibson) and Chris Moore, the council’s president pro tempore.
The task force will meet Tuesday afternoon at 4:00pm in the City Council chambers at the Municipal Building. The single item on Tuesday’s agenda is “ongoing discussions for the capital improvements bond task force.” Task Force chairman Brian Emison has repeatedly said the task force will vote and make a recommendation on where to locate the proposed E-911 Center at Tuesday’s meeting.
Two sites are the focus of where to locate the E-911 Center. The location originally proposed is adjacent to the current Jonesboro Police Station at 1001 South Caraway Road. A second location, the Jonesboro Justice Complex at 410 West Washington, became a part of the discussion after the Justice Complex was closed in June after a routine annual inspection of the building identified a failing roof rafter.
The discussion of where to locate the new building has been spirited. Those in favor of constructing the facility at the Caraway Road location believe having the police facilities at one location benefit the efficiency and performance of the department. Those favoring the Washington Street location oppose the cost of additional land that will be purchased if the Caraway Road location is selected.
Cost estimates given to members of the task force indicated the total overall cost of the Caraway Road location at $10.029 million. That cost includes $1.485 million for 2.58 acres of land along the North end of the project area. The land would be purchased from Parker Real Estate, LLC owned by Matt Parker.
The total project estimate for the Washington Street location is $9.484 million which includes $450,000 for the cost of asbestos removal and demolition of the Justice Complex building at 410 West Washington and the old fire station and city hall building at 314 West Washington.
Council member Chris Moore favors the Washington Street location. At a September 30 task force meeting Moore said prior to receiving cost estimates for the downtown location he was afraid the cost of tearing down the old buildings, removing asbestos and drainage improvements would total more than the Caraway Road project. “When the figures came in it was kind of shocking,” Moore said. “When you consider the demolition of the two buildings and removing the asbestos it’s approximately $654,000 cheaper for the Washington project.”
At the same September 30 meeting, Police Chief Rick Elliott said he sees benefits from locating all of the police facilities in one location. “I’ve got officers driving back and forth from Caraway Road to downtown several times a day right now,” Elliott said. Supporting a new facility, Elliott told task force members, “we’ve been put in hand-me-down buildings since I’ve been here. Let’s build this and build it for the future.”
The public can review the agenda packet for the Tuesday afternoon meeting which includes supporting documents for the two location options.
