All right, good evening, everybody.

Yes, test.

So use your gamble.

Emma, are we on?

I don't know.

Disruptor.

All right.

Good evening, everybody, and welcome to City Council, Jonesboro, Arkansas.

This is the evening of August 19, 2025, and as we begin this evening.

I'll go ahead and lead us in a pledge of allegiance, and Dr.

Anthony Coleman, Councilmember will lead an invocation.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Liberty and Justice.

Father, we thank you for this time.

We thank you for this day.

We thank you for this moment you've given us to come and to reverence you and your name.

Thank you for this great city.

Thank you for how you have blessed us and favored us for over a hundred and sixty-six years.

Father, we ask that you would continue to show us your favor through the works of our city officials.

Thank you for the administration.

Thank you for those men and women who serve us as first responders and others that continue to pour into our lives.

We thank you for safety.

We thank you that even tonight as we proclaim you as our Lord and Savior, and as we ask you to lead us and guide us in all that we do.

We give you the praise, the glory, and the honor in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

If you would, council, please go ahead and mark yourself on roll call, please.

All right, we do have 10 present, and uh it's always a pleasure to stand in front of council and uh the citizens of the community, uh especially to recognize obviously one of our outstanding young individuals in our community.

Um I don't want to embarrass you at all, but anyway, I probably already have by having you up here.

I want to say that uh Miss Kim is uh a representative.

She is president of the NYAC, the Mayor's Youth Council.

She's been on that, but her accolades are that's just one of many.

Uh but I'm really proud because she has represented the city of Jonesboro, our community, and not only our community, but the state of Arkansas and Washington, D.C.

this past summer.

She was one of only a hundred and two women in the country to be represented on behalf, and only two in the state of Arkansas.

And so she is a Valley View student.

She's active in many things.

She participates in the Honor Society, Science Club, Spanish Club, Environmental Club, Cross Country and Tract, National Honor Society, City Student Council, and she's president of the Arkansas HOSA and president of the mayor's youth advancement council and president of the Crown Club.

The nation, girl nation is once in a lifetime opportunity for our nation's future leaders to learn about the inner workings of the federal government before they become voting age.

Students leave the program with increased confidence and leadership skills for college and their future career paths.

Some participants of the program will go on to have careers in public service at the local and state and national levels.

No matter what the future holds, she's got a better understanding of civic responsibility.

After attending the ALA Girls' Nation, the participants return home ready to be engaged as citizens at all levels of government.

So I would like to present to you, Miss Kim, a letter on behalf of the City of Jonesboro that states congratulations on being selected to attend the American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation in Washington, D.C.

in July 19 through 26.

This is a prestigious honor and a testament to your outstanding leadership and commitment to service.

As president of the mayor's youth council, you've already demonstrated maturity, integrity, and a general passion for making a difference.

I'm confident you'll represent Jonesboro with excellence on this national stage as you did.

Wishing you a meaningful and inspiring experience in our nation's capital, the city of Jonesboro is proud of you with warm regards, Mayor Copenhagen.

It's an honor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Baptist.

Let's get a picture right here.

There are no more items on item number four, so we'll move on, council to item number five.

These are items on consent agenda.

I move we can uh pass consent agenda with the exception of resolution 25105.

Second.

That one is already removed from the consent agenda on your agenda.

I got you.

On my packet, it was still.

I got you.

You'd like to adjust that.

Make a motion we approve the consent agenda.

Second.

Okay.

We do have motion on the floor.

All in favor, say aye.

Any opposed.

Next we'll move on to resolutions not on the consent agenda, and this is resolution 25105.

Resolution by the City Council of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, to enter into a contract with DPZ co-design and amend the 2025 budget to allocate American Rescue Plan Act restricted revenue replacement funds for the development of a comprehensive plan and a master street plan for the city of Jonesboro.

Whereas the City of Jonesboro wishes to conduct a comprehensive growth plan to best plan for future growth anticipated in the city, and whereas, in accordance with the Jonesboro Code of Ordinances, a request for qualifications process was conducted and DPZ co-design was chosen as the most qualified applicant.

And whereas the City of Jonesboro desires to enter into a contract with DPZ co-design 7435 Northeast Halsey Street, Portland, Oregon, 97213, and whereas funding for the plan shall be appropriated through utilization of American Rescue Plan Act restricted revenue replacement funds by amending the fiscal year 2025 professional services budget for the planning department.

And whereas the cost for the purchase of said plans is $85,000.

And whereas the proposal was presented to the Jonesboro MAPC Commission and approved as a referral to the City Council for funding consideration, and whereas the Jones World City Council was presented the information for the plan in a special presentation on July 15th, 2025.

Now therefore be it resolved by the City Council for the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas that the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas shall contract with the DPZ code design of Portland, Oregon 97213 for the purchase price of $855,000.

That Mayor Hill Copenhaver and City Clerk April Leggett are hereby authorized by the city council for the city of Jonesboro to execute all documents necessary to effectuate this agreement.

Move to adopt.

How much do we have left in ARPA?

The report that we provided city council at the last meeting of page 24 of that report showed that the balance was a million five hundred and thirty-six thousand.

Any other questions by council?

Yes, sir.

Follow-up if you don't mind.

Yes, sir.

Um we're saying the balance will be minus this.

Is that correct?

I just want to make sure I understand.

That is correct.

Yes.

Okay, and then my follow-up on that is um, and I do think we need a growth plan for the streets.

Um but when was the last time we did a street master plan?

Do y'all remember?

It's been a while.

And Darrell, if you would please connect the dots on this plan and combining it.

Sure.

Yeah.

Um, the master street plan, the last update was in 2018.

The um land use plan was in 2017, but the last comprehensive growth plan that was done was 1998.

So it's definitely time to update this.

Uh, we could have used it last week, would have been a perfect example if we had a rezoning on a place that our land use plan showed to be high-intensity growth sector, but the roads are not there to to have that type of development yet, and so in a comprehensive plan that could have laid those items out that need to happen before those areas can develop.

So follow-up question.

I'm sorry, it's one last one, but um, this is good.

So I do know that we have some other things going, like um Caraway Road and uh what's the one we live in?

Uh Prospect Road and things like that that's happening right now.

Uh with this just for the record, I just want to make sure we we understand this as a community that this would also include the connectivity, the roadways.

I'm sorry, the um trail rays and all of that kind of everything will be included in the document.

Yes, sir.

Great.

Thank you.

I I have a question.

Yes, Councilman.

As we as we grow, how often do we need to do this?

I know this is the first time.

The plan is usually the plan is usually for 20 to 25 years, about 15.

We need to start looking at it to see when it needs to be revised.

But um, like I said, it was 98 the last time we did a comprehensive growth plan, so it's way past time.

Any other questions by counsel?

Okay, thank you, anyone in the audience.

You would state your name and address Patty Lack 4108 Forest Hill Road.

And I'm I'm just gonna throw a couple things at you because I kind of kind of researched this when I found out um the price tag of it.

So this is a resolution for a comprehensive growth plan and master street plan.

And like Daryl said, is that we already have a master street plan.

I saw that it was 2017, he said 2018, and there was 10 people on that.

But on that plan, it stated that the plan was to be reviewed and amended every two years for more detailed studies to be completed.

But it also says that is a 20-year time horizon that had been applied.

So it's only been eight years since we've seen that traffic study that was done, so we still have 10 more years or 12 more years to think that it was still being in place.

So you asked the question, so why are we needing this?

So you're talking about the comprehensive.

If you look back eight years ago, and I think that's kind of when Daryl started with the city, pretty close to it, is that the traffic study was probably pretty detailed because he brought in a lot of really good ideas when he first started here.

In the newspaper, it said that the process will take 18 to 24 months.

It says that the comprehensive in the paper, it says to evaluate the value of a development compared to the cost of the infrastructure and the public safety.

I want to remind you guys that next week we should be getting the results from the impact fee study, because that was a 26-week process, and it's been um 26 weeks next week.

So we don't even know what that's gonna hold, whether we have an impact fees or whether we don't have an impact fees.

So that's gonna have to be taken into consideration.

In two years, two years, if you take 18 to 24 months in two years, imagine how different Jonesboro is gonna look.

One, the sporting complex on Ray Street is gonna be probably pretty close.

I saw that the pool was being poured or pretty close to being poured today.

Almost five hundred, I say condos or apartments are going to be located just south of the sports complex.

Caraway Road hopefully will be widened within two years.

Harrisburg and Parker Road has been wanting to be widened for the last I think eight or nine years, but hopefully that will be done pretty soon.

But we've got a mess of a traffic out there already.

Probably Southwest Drive and Parker Road is going to be widened.

You look at the medical facility on Parker Road that will be built.

Southern Hills is just expanding like crazy, and there probably might be a grocery store out there one of these days.

Johnson and Grunk uh Greensboro is just going crazy out that way too, with stores, apartments, and it's expanding.

You look at Greensboro Road, it's going to be expanding.

You look at Market and the Martin Luther King Road, that's bringing in people.

Parks are popping up all over the town right now.

The quality of life trails.

I know that I saw that Jefferson is being worked on right now.

But also too, in two years, we should have two more trails that are should be done by the time that the bond is required on that.

But then we look at the downtown area.

You know, we've got the property where the citizen bank building should be.

We don't know what's going on that.

Are we going to recoup our money?

Are we going to buy the property?

What are we going to do with that?

We don't know.

And we probably won't know for a while.

Also, too, where is the E91 center going to be?

I have to tell you, this company that's doing it, they're qualified way beyond, way beyond.

But on July 15th, in their presentation, they advised all of us that we need to invest in the downtown area.

That was kind of like free advice to the people that are on the task force to figure out where the bond or that E91 center is going to be.

The bond task force should have been said, gosh, we need to invest in downtown.

Let's put it where the justice building is, even though we have this other insurance and all that being that we have to take care of, but the county has invested in downtown.

We have to, and then also too, with all the pathways they lead to downtown, and there's going to be fewer trucks.

If you all approve this tonight, there's much advice and accept success that's going to come from all of you.

Because reading over the proposal that this company did online, it says not just the almost 30 committees that we have, and I looked on that uh on the website.

There's 30 almost 30 committees, but a lot of the same people are on the same committees.

We have to get them on board.

But the most important is all of you because they said that citizens need to have ward meetings.

We need to get the citizens to be involved and behind this.

Ward meetings, public meetings, open houses, interviewing.

Their cycle of information I really like too.

They say inform proposal discuss revise, and it's just a continuous circle that we have on there.

When we have these meetings, we don't have very many people showing up.

So we've got to get the citizens more behind this of what we're going to do.

It's a lot of money.

It's the $855,000, but it's gonna have excuse me, it's gonna take participation from all of you.

We're going to have to have ward meetings and more people getting involved with this.

Two years is a long time to look down, but also two, we have to follow what they say.

And the one problem that I have is sometimes we bend our rules too much.

And today was a really good example of it.

I was watching the BZA meeting.

They had two items on their agenda.

They bent the rules for both of the items on their agenda.

One was a difference between the size, the six foot to eight foot fence, and the other one was a gentleman did not want to pay the weight or do the wave of sidewalk, the compensation to do the sidewalk.

But he is building three houses, and that was a subdivision.

And Daryl was correct.

If you have three or more houses, it's called a subdivision, and you have to have a sidewalk.

It's north of town.

Jonesboro can't really grow too much of south of town anymore.

We're kind of packed out on that.

It's north of town.

So what's to say that the Philadelphia school isn't going to start getting crowded and all that?

I don't know if anybody drove out there, but I drove out there.

You know what?

There's some nice houses out there, but that's not what they were told when they made this decision.

So that's the one thing that I hope that we can do.

If we're going to do this study, that we follow the rules and not bend them for one person and not the other one on there.

So if we follow them, then you know I think that we need it.

If we don't follow them, it's going to be like everything else.

But we've got two years of big high expansion in Jonesboro.

So either we wait maybe for a year and get some of these projects done and see what the traffic and everything is involved, or also two, with not fulfilling the 20 years of our past traffic study that maybe we do it for 10 years and then revisit it in 10 years because look at what we did.

We paid for it before and we're not using what we had.

So we're just uh using the money and we're not taking advantage of it.

So just food for thought for you guys.

So I agree with what we need, but I don't know if we need it right now.

So thank you.

Anyone else in the audience?

I don't see anyone.

If you would please go ahead and cast your ballot, council.

And that ordinance does carry 10 to 2.

Next, we'll move on to ordinances on their first reading.

The first ordinance is 25032.

Move with suspend the rules and offer by title only.

Second.

We have motion on the floor.

All in favor, say aye.

Uh any opposed.

An ordinance to amend chapter 117, known as the zoning ordinance providing for changes in zoning boundaries from PDM multifamily use and office senior living use to PDM commercial use for property located at 3412 Southwest Drive as requested by Jeremy Bevel on behalf of Southern Hills Real Estate LLC.

Do we have any discussion by council?

I don't see any.

Anyone in Council Chambers?

I don't see any as well.

That item will move on to its next reading.

Now council, we'll move on to item number seven, unfinished business.

These are ordinances on the second reading.

First ordinance is 25025.

Any discussion by council?

Anyone in council chambers?

I don't see any.

That ordinance will move on now to the third reading.

Next, we'll move on to ordinance 25028.

An ordinance to amend the code of ordinances of the city of Jonesboro to add section 50-40 entitled Park Rangers.

Any discussion by council?

Anyone in council chambers?

I don't see any as well, so that item will move on to its next reading.

And now we'll move on to item ordinance 25029.

An ordinance for the approval of an application for a private club permit for SHJ concepts incorporated doing business as Bridge Street Brewery of Jonesboro.

Any discussion by council?

Anyone in Council Chambers?

Yes, sir.

If you would please come state your name and address.

If any of you have not seen the area that they're talking about this, uh I hope you will before this comes for the third reading.

This is an absolute terrible place to put something like this in.

It's asking for crime.

Anyone else in the audience?

I don't see any.

That item will move on to its next reading.

Now we'll move on to ordinances on the third reading, of which council will take their vote.

The first ordinance is 25026.

An ordinance for the approval of a private club permit for slate association doing business as rock and roll sushi.

Move to adopt.

Second.

Do you have a motion on the floor to adopt council?

Any discussion.

Anyone in council chambers?

Yes, sir.

If you would please come forward, state your name and address.

James Ellen Hines, 508 Ridgecrest.

This is a particular area where there's going to be some changes in traffic because of some things going on.

And I really think that we ought to take a look at what the traffic is going to be before we do something that would have an adverse effect on traffic.

All right, thank you for your comments.

Anyone else in the audience?

I don't see any.

If you would please go ahead and cast your ballot.

Council.

And that ordinance does carry.

Next, we move on to ordinance 25027.

An ordinance to amend chapter 117, known as the zoning ordinance providing for changes in zoning boundaries from I2 to C3 for property located at 500 North Culver House Street as requested by First Produce and Foods.

Move to adopt.

Second.

We have motion and second on the floor.

Any discussion by council members.

I don't see anyone in council chambers.

I don't see any as well.

If you would please go ahead and cast your ballot, council.

And that ordinance does carry.

Next, council will move on to the next order of business, and this is uh item number eight, the mayor's report.

And I'll start out, Alejandra.

I don't know if she's in the room or not.

Yeah, Alejandra's got a sign-up sheet back there.

Uh this is a public meeting, obviously.

So those that attended, we'd love for you to uh sign the sheet uh for the grant opportunity and that assist us in that on a public forum.

Now that all of our local stools are in session, I visited with each superintendent yesterday.

The work they do in our community is impactful, and it's important that they know we are here to help facilitate a safe school year.

With that, please be attentive to the school buses.

Remember that red lights are flashing.

It's a law to stop for school buses.

Keep an eye out for our students walking and for our young drivers in town.

Also, if you see a teacher or school employee, be sure to thank them.

We attended a ribbon cutting for Jonesboro Public School's News Security, a partnership with dynamic integrated security, DIS, placing commission school security officers within their schools.

These are highly trained armed professionals who have specialized training in emergency response and youth mental health first aid.

Their investment in school safety is critical to providing a learning first environment.

Even though schools in session, these temperatures are still hot.

So please don't forget our community centers are open for cooling centers, and free transportation is available to the cooling centers through jet transit.

Now you may remember that our last city council meeting, we honored Gracie Doty.

This is this is pretty incredible, Council.

And it's uh it's really good what we invest in.

She was the first E911 dispatcher to save a life utilizing the EMD, which is the emergency medical dispatch training that was launched just this past June.

But since our last meeting, we've had two more lives utilizing EMD saved.

I cannot emphasize the value and impact this program has on our city and our county.

Outstanding job by all at E91 dispatchers.

Now, the future of air travel in Jonesboro is changing.

We celebrated the groundbreaking of the new state-of-the-art terminal last Tuesday.

It's a new era for this region, folks.

The 2020 tornado destroyed much of the airport's infrastructure, and it's being replaced with a new six million dollar 13,000 square foot terminal.

They'll have possibility of expansion to food services, upgraded TSA accommodations, making air travel more convenient, efficient, and effective for our travelers.

It's symbolic.

We have a hub of opportunity right here, and that's a huge economic impact for our community.

But even that took time.

Took us over four and a half years to be able to bring that funding back to our community.

So now over 20 million dollars has been utilized for overlays and now a facility at our airport.

You have seen the new mural on Kate Street and off of Main Street.

It's stunning.

Vivid colors that brighten up the space.

We are thrilled to see this beautification effort take place.

Thank you to the Public Art Commission and the continued commitment, and big thank you to Dan and Casey Johnson for recognizing the value of public art.

Volunteering their building for a mural.

So tell them thank you.

Work is in progress on revenue bonds.

Updates will be provided regularly on the city's social media outlets to share progress.

The most recent update shared was about the work on Jefferson Avenue path.

A new shared use pathway along uh west side of uh Jefferson, approximately 1,300 feet with a total of almost 5,000 feet, about a quarter of a mile of the work is already completed, making our city more connected, accessible, and enjoyable for all.

I celebrated the one-year anniversary, or let's just say we all celebrated the one year anniversary or seven in dog years of the BARK Park on August 13th.

The BARK Park is proof of what's possible when reimagining spaces and it can make a huge impact.

Don't forget the Paint the Town Red is this coming week, August 26th through the 30th.

A block party takes place downtown from 5 to 9 on Friday, August 29th.

Let's show our community support for Arkansas State as they kick off the football season.

The city is getting into the spirit as well.

So we'll have our own Paint the Town Red entry.

There's something big about a game as well the following week on September 6th in Little Rock.

I've heard about it, so I don't want you to miss the chance in getting tickets.

Labor Day is September 1st.

City offices and services will be closed.

Sanitation will run on an adjusted schedule.

That's been shared on city socials.

So please plan accordingly and let's help get the word out to our neighbors.

The next neighborhood cleanup is scheduled for September 6th at Parker Park from 8 a.m.

to noon.

These cleanups continue to be effective.

We've already had over 600 tires and 80 tons of trash collected through this program year to date in 2025.

On the subject of cleaning up Jonesboro, I once once again want to say thank you to Keep Jonesboro Beautiful.

Beverly Parker and her team have a great passion for cleaning up and beautifying.

They just don't talk about things in our community, they get out and do it.

Last month they conducted their annual litter survey, and we're excited to report the litter was down year over year.

So thank you to residents for doing their part, and thank you to Sanitation, Code Enforcement, and Keep Jonesboro Beautiful for their education and shared efforts in our monthly cleanup projects.

Now, Chief Elliott, Ronnie Shaver, Craig Light, and Brian Richardson met with the structural engineer at the Justice Complex this afternoon to evaluate if there are any further damage to the justice complex roof for safety or insurance purposes.

For those who may be unaware, that used to be a grocery store with a wooden domed roof.

The original roof was built in 1950 in the 50s.

And 1990s, the city renovated the building but left the old roof under the new roof.

So it's a complicated process and it's taking some time.

After the information will be received, and we hope to what Brian, within the next 10 days, two weeks, possibility, Craig.

Okay.

Then we will pass that information on to you.

And obviously, I think we all know that we have misplaced personnel throughout multiple facilities in our city.

We are constantly evaluating that.

And um Although Carol's office is kind of permanent.

Yeah, we're we're not leaving.

So uh but you know, we had to make some adjustments, but we realize that, and those adjustments are emergency adjustments, and so in the short term, we will be getting ourselves hopefully back to the way we need to go.

But I'll keep council updated on what we hear in the next several weeks.

And I keep saying Jonesboro always moving.

You know, it's a fact.

We're on the move.

I think it was mentioned earlier, many of the projects that's going on in this community.

We do the work to keep serving our city from every department from every resident.

They work hard, they find pride in public service.

And as our city continues to grow, we continue to evolve, finding many ways to enhance our city services.

So thank you all for working with me to make Jonesboro the best city to live, work, and play.

Next, we're gonna move on to City Council reports, Mr.

McLean.

Mr.

Dr.

Anthony Holman.

Yes, I I was confused.

You went another way, so I got confused.

Um couple things.

One, uh, I think the city is great, and I appreciate the movement and moving forward.

I had several guests here on this past weekend, mayor, and uh as far as Virginia and Texas and Chicago and other areas, and first time in Jonesboro, and uh was phenomenal.

They appreciated city's clean and uh just great things happening, and so I appreciate uh administration and city council and what the city is doing uh for our town.

Second thing though, uh on prospect, and normally I would email, but I just thought about this, Brian and Tony.

But I know on prospect, and I don't know what we can do, but there are a lot of um ditches that have real real high growth, and uh so can we kind of have discussion on how we can make that happen?

I don't know if that's a cold thing or or what, but I see it a lot.

Um I know in my ward and areas around, so if we can talk about that, see what we do.

Thank you, Mr.

Hefner.

No, thanks.

Mr.

Miller, Mr.

Street, thank you, Mr.

Gibson.

Not at this time, thank you.

Mr.

Moore, no ma'am, Dr.

Charles Coleman.

I do have one question.

Um I'm not sure.

The complex are we uh we're about to invest more money into that place complex justice complex.

That's that's the report.

We need to figure out what that investment would be.

So that's what that report, Dr.

Coleman in a couple weeks will show us if we were to reinvest or not, what the cost would be and the and the total damage of that.

So that's the insurance company coming in and evaluating it.

Okay, Mr.

Emerson.

Just kind of piggyback on the statements previously made, you know, um, waiting to get the information in regarding the justice complex, specifically to the next actions of the bond task force.

This is information, of course, we need to be able to move forward in that process.

So, you know, if we're planning on getting that information in the next 10 business days, I tentatively am looking at September 16th to hold the next bond task force meeting.

I think at that time we'll have a lot of that information in front of us, and we'll be able to we'll be able to really kind of dig over some data and figure out what our next steps are in that process.

So looking at September 16th as it stands today, as long as there's no delays, but um that's all subject to change just based on the rate that we do get this data in Porter, no thank you.

All right, thank you, Councilman, for your comments.

Next, we'll move on to public comments, and this is where anybody in the individual audience can make a comment.

Uh you are limited to five minutes on items that were not discussed earlier.

Would anyone like to come forward?

Would please state your name and address.

Good afternoon.

My name is Shamal Carter.

My address is 3118 meter road here in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Um good evening, Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

Um I'm coming to you guys to address you uh regarding the recent closure of the Ebone Watson Center to the public.

As the mayor stated, and I appreciate the city's efforts in managing projects and public spaces.

So we know that again, Miss Carroll says she ain't going nowhere.

So however, the Ebon Watson Center is more than just a community center to the black community.

It is a repository of our history.

The center stands on the site of the former industrial high school built in 1924 with the bricks from an abandoned city auditorium, which was renamed Booker T Washington High School in 1935 and served as the served the black community until the 1948.

In 1966, Patrick Street Community Center was constructed there in 1984, was renamed the Eboon Watson Center, honoring Miss Edmay Boone Watson, a dedicated educator who taught at Booker T Washington for over 40 years and championed the Headstart program locally and served state and nationally organizations advocating for early childhood education.

Within the center is the Craig County Jonesboro African American Culture Center, which uh which represent which preserves and shares the struggles, success, and dreams of our community.

The tour is led by curator Roger McKinney, who has served for over 36 years, feature exhibits on local property owners from the uh 1880s to about 1960s.

In short, the Eboone Watson Center is not just bricks and mortar, it holds our legacy.

I have received numerous phone calls from residents expressing concern that our history could be forgotten.

Uh and I understand that it's temporary.

I I get that.

Uh but you said something here recently.

Of course, we got to see what they say when they go back to know how long they'll be out of the of the Ebon Watson Center.

Um we want to preserve the history of it.

And so we understand that we have had family reunions come in town that want to come into the museum, but uh from my understanding from the people that I've talked to uh once in parole and probation, I believe is there, and because of state regulations uh beyond the city, because of state regulations, they're not allowed to go in that facility, I'm assuming.

Um with that being the case, uh, I do want to stress this is not just about a building, it's about whether our city values the history and sacrifices and the legacy of African Americans who helped build this community by protecting the Ebone Watson Center and investing uh in the permanent future, you show that our history matters and our people and our voices matter.

So what I'm asking is one transparency with the community.

Those who are calling did not know that it was closed to the community until they tried to reserve it, I'm assuming.

Not only that, we don't know how long.

So we understand that again, it has been kind of rocky for everybody because we don't know.

And so what we're asking from the city, one is to be transparent with us.

And if this is going to be a long process, can we not look at an alternative site for this particular uh division to be ran through so that the community can again utilize this facility?

Uh it is a more intimate facility than Parker Park or Allen Park because you can have your family there and not have to worry about outsiders invading what you're doing.

Uh when you go to the other places, that's the issue that we have.

And so uh again, the community reached out and I'm reaching out to you guys to be a voice to let you know hey, we want to hear what's going on.

I understand that it's a hard process and y'all gotta work on it, but think about us as the community.

If we don't know, then we can't give you grace.

And we want to give you grace because we know that our mayor is working for us.

We know Dr.

Coleman, who is my counselor, I know he's working for me, but I talk to him.

Everybody in the community don't talk to Dr.

Coleman.

So if you guys could at least keep us updated, everybody's not gonna come to see the council.

If you can keep us updated and then again, uh we'll come back again.

I'll reach out to see what it looks like later on, because if this is gonna be a long process, which I expect it to be, I I want us to have an opportunity to get that museum back and get that community center back to those in the community that actually utilizes it for their families and their legacy.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Anyone else in the audience?

I don't see anyone.

We'll move on to item number 11.

That's adjournment.

So moved.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?