T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E
combination of short-term and long-term goals and plans to best utilize the resources we have available to us. Working with the City Planner and the Texarkana, Arkansas Planning Commission, we will take proposals from different consultants to help develop an update to our comprehensive master plan for the city. This study will take 18 to 24 months to complete and will involve open forums, workshops and citizen meetings to help establish a future design for our city moving forward based on the needs of our community. This plan will eventually be presented to the Board of Directors by the City Manager and adopted. Another area of planning the city is currently engaged in is creating an A-1 mixed use zone to allow for limited commercial use in rural areas. Such diverse activities allowed in wedding and event venues and sales onsite for orchards, blueberry farms, and honey, open opportunities to make the most of this great resource of rural land. So, fish farms, natural product sales and the other land uses envisioned by the entrepreneurs of Texarkana will be possible for those with the energy and vision to succeed at home! The A-1 zone also expands on the residential factor to allow property with at least ten acres to 3 KEYS TO THE FUTURE BY E . JAY ELL INGTON TEXARKANA , ARKANSAS CITY MANAGER
photo by Matt Cornelius
W e have great opportunities to move our city forward in the future, but it’s going to take a collective effort from everyone to see major progress. We have identified three areas of focus to best accomplish this. 1. Community maintenance, 2. Planning, and 3. Communication are the areas where we need to get everyone on the same page. Even though all three areas of emphasis are separate, they are also all interrelated. 1. Communi ty maintenance is something we can all do to build pride in our community and lift the standard by which we live. This will start with leadership. As a city, we have not set the bar as high as it needs to be with community maintenance. This includes maintaining city-owned properties at a much higher standard, keeping roads up to par, removing condemned structures and maintaining any property under control of the city. Citizens can help by doing the same for their own individual properties and businesses and helping in their neighborhoods. The more people involved in maintaining their communities, the more likely they are to invest in it. One community maintenance project that is
already underway is the Nix Creek Project. In late July, Public Works contracted a project that involves clearing overgrowth on the creek and will continue that work this fall based on recommendations from an engineering study funded by the City Board of Directors who approved $750,000 for this study and any construction resulting from it. The engineering study identified two major priorities: large sediment deposits and bank erosion. Repairing these damages will improve drainage and make Nix Creek a sustainable storm-water path to service our growth. In addition to storm water management, the city has also recently received the results of an engineering study regarding current conditions of all our city roads. This will help staff and the Board of Directors prioritize which roads need to be repaired or redone with future budgets and federal funding from the ARPA and infrastructure funds. 2. Planning is essential in building a prosperous future for our city. Nothing happens overnight, but if you do not know where you want to go, and you have no plan to get there, you won’t end up anywhere. The city is working on a defined plan with set goals and a clear vision. It will take a
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B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S
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