Finance & Administration Council Committee Meeting – March 10, 2026
Finance & Administration Council Committee Meeting
The Finance & Administration Council Committee of Jonesboro, Arkansas met on March 10, 2026 at 4:00 PM. The committee reviewed and recommended several resolutions to the full council, including purchases for transit vans, a municipal lien, a copier lease, a settlement offer, transit grant applications, a lighting project, and an office lease for E-911 administrative staff. Councilmember Anthony Coleman was absent. Public comment raised concerns about email transparency and pre-meeting practices.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the February 10, 2026 Finance & Administration Council Committee meeting were approved by a 5-0 vote (Anthony Coleman absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Patti Lack (4108 Forest Hill Road) expressed disappointment that emails sent to aldermen@jonesboroAR.gov are also received by the mayor and administration staff, not solely councilmembers. She argued this is unfair to citizens and requested a change. City Attorney Carol Duncan explained the system has been in place since 2004 due to historical computer literacy issues and noted that a separate, direct email address for the City Council is being developed.
- Patti Lack also raised concerns about the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC) holding pre-meetings in a separate room rather than the council chamber, stating it lacks transparency.
Discussion Items
- RES-26:021 – Purchase of Two Vans for JETS: Councilmember Dr. Charles Coleman asked about spare vans. JETS Director Lee Wells explained that one current paratransit vehicle is two vehicles combined into one, and the purchase will replace it and provide a spare. Councilmember Ann Williams asked about route expansion to Brookland; Wells said feasibility is being explored. Wells noted the 85% federal / 15% local cost share for ADA vehicles. Patti Lack asked for total fleet count; Wells reported 5 trolleys (2 routes), 7 buses (4 fixed routes), and 7 paratransit vehicles (operating average 8 routes/day). The resolution was recommended to council 5-0.
- RES-26:022 – Municipal Lien at 233 S. Fisher: Councilmember David McClain questioned the $9,754.56 amount. COO Tony Thomas explained it was for demolition of a structure belonging to a deceased individual with no relatives. Recommended to council 5-0.
- RES-26:023 – 60-Month Copier Lease for 12 Machines: Patti Lack asked if all 12 machines are non-operational. Tony Thomas said some are non-operational, and the lease option was chosen to keep equipment current and includes maintenance agreements. Councilmember David McClain asked about print volume charges; Thomas confirmed maintenance agreements are based on usage. Councilmember Brian Emison noted the lease includes toner costs. Recommended 5-0.
- RES-26:024 – Settlement Offer from Laurel Park, LLC ($110,000): Councilmember David McClain opposed the offer, noting approximately $13,000 in legal fees would net under $100,000. City Attorney Carol Duncan said the land appraised at ~$300,000 and litigation could lead to foreclosure and sale, but the timing and legal fees are uncertain. Prior offers were $50,000, $55,000, and ~$70,000–$75,000. Duncan stated the mayor agreed only offers above $100,000 would be brought to council. McClain argued the property owner would also incur legal costs, encouraging a better offer. The resolution was recommended 4-1 (McClain nay, Anthony Coleman absent).
- RES-26:025 & RES-26:026 – FTA Grant Applications for JETS (5339 & 5307): Combined grant requests total ~$1,609,805 in federal funds plus local matches. Patti Lack asked if capital projects are system-wide or city-wide; Chairman Hafner confirmed for JETS only. Lee Wells explained 5339 funds are used for capital purchases (vehicles, shelters, etc.), while 5307 funds also cover operational costs. Councilmember Ann Williams asked if 5307 capital funds could be used for bus stop shelters and sidewalks; Wells confirmed they could, noting a separate shelter grant is ongoing. Both resolutions recommended 5-0.
- RES-26:027 – Huntington Avenue Lighting Project ($100,000 bid to Wilkins Electric, LLC): Patti Lack questioned why Wilkins Electric's bid was $100,000 lower than the other two bids. Engineering Director Craig Light said the other contractors may not have been familiar with the project, while Wilkins Electric previously completed the Creath Street project. Recommended 5-0.
- RES-26:028 – Lease Office Space for E-911 Administrative Staff: Councilmember Brian Emison supported the $2,300/month rate for ~1,700 sq ft at 624 South Main and asked about furniture; CAO Brian Richardson said existing inventory and budget line items cover miscellaneous expenses. Councilmember David McClain asked about the 6-month lease term; Richardson said it can auto-renew and allows flexibility if a temporary police complex becomes available. Patti Lack sought clarification; Richardson explained the administrative staff were displaced from the unreinforced part of the Justice Complex, with repair costs estimated at $100,000–$150,000 with no safety guarantee, making the lease the cheaper option. The resolution includes a $25,000 budget amendment. Recommended 5-0.
Key Outcomes
- All resolutions under new business were recommended to the full City Council, with vote tallies as noted.
- The committee directed staff to research potential liability for the city being ordered to pay legal fees if unsuccessful in the Laurel Park litigation (per Councilmember McClain's request).
- City Attorney Carol Duncan announced that a separate email address for direct communication with the City Council is being developed to address citizen transparency concerns.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everybody. It's four o'clock. I'll go ahead and call today's meeting to order. Um please record your attendance by pushing the appropriate button. All right. Uh next up is approval of minutes from the finance and administration committee meeting on February 10th, 2026. Move to approve unless there's noted change. Motion of second to approve the minutes. Any questions or comments on the minutes as presented? If not, please record your vote on whether or not to approve. Um we'll move into new business. First up is resolution 2621, a resolution to accept the bid authorizing the purchase of two vans for the transit department, whereas the City of Jones for Arkansas through its Jonesville Economical Transit operations has an ongoing need to maintain and improve safe, reliable, and ADA compliant transportation transportation services for the public, and whereas staff has located vehicles to replace current vehicles that need replaced in our current fleet, and whereas the city has identified the need to purchase two low floor ADA vans to support transit and mobility services, and whereas a quote has been received from created bus sales for two Braun ability low lone star ADA vans, and whereas the quoted vehicle is available for purchase through the state of Oklahoma contract number SW0797 FY2026, which qualifies as a cooperative slash state bid procurement method permitted under under applicable purchasing laws and policies for 156,933 each, three thousand eight hundred and sixty-six dollars total, and whereas this purchase is supported by the following FTA cost match 85% federal and 50% local, whereas efficient funds have been identified and are available for this purchase in the appropriate budget or grant accounts. Now therefore be it resolved by City Council of the City of Jones for Arkansas that number one the City of Jonesboro hereby approves a purchase of two bron ability long star ADA vans from creative bus sales utilizing the recipient reciprocal bid from the state of Oklahoma contract number SW0797M FY 2026 in accordance with the submitted quote dated February twelfth, twenty twenty-six. Number two, Mayor Harold Copenhagen, City Clerk April Leggett are hereby authorized by the city council for the city of Jones for execute all documents necessary to effectuate this this purchase. Move to forward to full council. Second. I have a question. Dr. Coleman. This I'll wait till you get here. This might have already been asked, but I guess it since I don't remember, you know, when you get old, you don't remember certain things. Uh do we have spare vans of spare buses? That's one of the reasons why we're looking at this. Similar to the bus purchases that we made. We actually operate eight vehicles uh for paratransit service every day. Um one of the vehicles that we are currently operating, which this will allow us to replace that, plus have an additional for spare. Um that vehicle has actually been two vehicles put together to make one functioning vehicle. Um this is just us trying to get our stock back up to a useful life benchmark and be able to have those spare vehicles for rotation, keep from running so many miles on each vehicle and allow us to do the standard services that are necessary. How many more routes are we planning to have? Uh I know we were rebuilding routes after COVID when routes were reduced, but what's the ultimate goal as far as how many lines? Um ultimately for the paratransit we will use as you know what it depends on what our service dictates. Um our service every day depends on the schedule as far as who needs trips. Um, you know, we utilize that based upon how busy we are. Like I said, on average, we usually operate seven or eight vehicles uh or seven or eight routes per day for paratransit. Our bus routes we've been operating on uh four routes here recently. Um we will hopefully by the end of the month be at our full five route service plus the two A state service routes for a total of seven routes on fixed route. Is there any plan to and I know it's been mentioned at MPO meetings, Mayor Brooklyn about maybe extending our routes close to Brooklyn or up to Brooklyn area? Has that uh has that is that being considered? There's always a consideration uh just a matter of looking at the feasibility of something like that, uh talking with the various agencies that would be involved in that, trying to work out deals and concessions on that. It would certainly be good for people that live in the Brooklyn area to come to medical appointments here. I'm sure. Yeah. Anything else from the committee? Anything else from staff? Yeah, the the the cost share is listed on there just as a reminder. The 8515. Um I've been trying to make sure that uh we do a better job of highlighting that for our vehicles. That 8515 is for uh any ADA vehicle that we have, that 15% is what the city has to have matches portion. So all right. Thank you.
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