OpenPublica

Accountability starts with access.

© 2026 · Filed for the public record

Use casesAboutAPIPrivacyTermsLinkedIn
Home/Jonesboro, Arkansas/Meeting Portal
OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Jonesboro Public Safety Council Committee Meeting – August 18, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, August 18, 2026
BodyJonesboro, Arkansas
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, August 18, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 13:45

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
1:11

But let's go back to the function.

1:28

I got things for the same point.

1:58

But I always like to watch the view therefore.

4:22

Give me a little bit of time and I'll build a fence around here.

4:26

I gotta say it's looking nice over there.

4:30

Usually it's gonna be that was terrible.

4:33

Yeah, sure.

4:46

First thing that that was the first thing to be more Tony World True or the one by his cut down.

4:58

I'm glad to have you on board down there.

5:01

Are they gonna required up on nuclear power in the state or what?

5:07

It's five o'clock.

5:17

Okay.

5:18

Good afternoon, everybody.

5:19

It is officially five o'clock, and we're gonna go ahead and call to order the public safety council committee for the city of Jonesboro.

5:27

At this time, we'll go ahead and we'll take roll call.

5:29

And so if you don't mind to mark your attendance on the device in front of you.

5:38

Okay, and we do have five members present, so that does give them a quorum, does give us a quorum for today.

5:44

So we will move on to the next item on our agenda being the approval of minutes from Tuesday, July 21st of 2026.

5:50

Move to adopt okay.

5:52

I have a motion, a second to adopt the minutes from the previous meeting.

5:55

Do I have any questions or comments from anybody on the committee?

5:58

Any from the administration and any from the public in attendance.

6:03

Okay, seeing none, we'll go ahead and call for a vote on the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting.

6:16

Okay, and that motion does carry.

6:19

Moving on to the next item on our agenda being new business, we only have one resolution to consider tonight.

6:24

That is resolution 26101.

6:29

A resolution agreeing to the permanent closure of the airport road at grade intersection with the union's the Union Pacific Railroad upon the completion of a grade separated highway crossing at this same location.

6:43

Whereas the Arkansas Department of Transportation has entered into certain agreements with the Union Pacific Railroad regarding the construction of an overpass to replace the existing at grade railroad crossing on airport road in the corporate city in the corporate limits of the city of Jonesboro.

6:59

Whereas the Arkansas Department of Transportation is required by these agreements to provide proof of the Union Pacific Railroad via a resolution passed by the local local municipal corporation that it agrees with the removal and permanent closure of the Act Grade Crossing upon the completion of the new grade separated crossing.

7:17

Whereas the Arkansas Department of Transportation has constructed said grade separated crossing at this crossing location and wishes to finalize its obligations to the Union Pacific Railroad regarding this work.

7:28

Now therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, that one upon completion of the grade separated crossing by the Arkansas Highway Department described above.

7:38

The city of Jonesboro hereby agrees to the removal and permanent closure of the former Act Grade Railroad crossing at this location.

7:45

And two, the mayor and the city clerk are hereby authorized to take further steps and actions on behalf of the city as necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purpose of this resolution as stated above.

8:02

Do I have any questions or can comments from anybody on the committee?

8:07

Okay.

8:07

Any from the administration?

8:10

And any from the public in attendance.

8:13

Okay.

8:14

Seeing none, we'll go ahead and we will call a vote on this item.

8:23

That motion does pass and is forwarded on to full council.

8:27

Thank you, everybody.

8:28

Moving on to the next item on the agenda being pending items.

8:31

I know of none.

8:33

And moving on to number six other business.

8:37

Um everybody had received a copy of the vector mosquito control report for the previous month.

8:43

Um if you didn't take a look at it, it's a good read.

8:46

It seems like we had a lot of aerial sprays that went on, and even more impressive, probably a lot due to the weather that we've been having, but the number of mosquitoes are down considerably from the previous year.

8:58

Um anybody have any questions, comments, or anything regarding vector mosquito control?

9:03

Chairman.

9:03

Yes, sir.

9:04

Not specifically related to vector, but I'll just be the broken record, uh, particularly since two of y'all are on AMP.

9:10

Is AMP talked any more about I know they had some interest in mosquitoes?

9:14

Is AMP talked any more about that?

9:16

It's been a conversation that we've we've been having, however, nothing has moved forward as far as talking to county just because that would be an inner intermunicipal relationship that we would have to go on.

9:28

Um, you know, we had talked about doing a study of being able to do additional spraying on the outside on the outskirts of the city limits where we're specifically seeing a lot of this mosquito where a lot of the mosquitoes are being um bred in these uh farm farming communities and all the fields that are surrounding the city, but at this time nothing's moved forward on that.

9:50

Maybe Craig Rickard or Jerry or somebody want to come talk to us at one of our meetings about it because uh here comes Brian.

9:55

I feel like before you know it'll be winter and we'll forget about it, and it'll be spring and we'll talk about it.

10:00

Yeah, um we've actually I've spoken with Craig Rickard and we've worked with our finance department, and um there is going to be an RFQ um issued to for potential uh companies to maybe come in and do a study and to see what they think could possibly be done, and that would kind of be the the first step.

10:19

I think AMP allocated some money for that.

10:22

Um so we've been working with AMP with Craig Rickard specifically on issuing that RFB or RFQ to help find suitable vendors who might be interested in doing a study to see what next steps would be.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████████████████32%
Public Safety████████████████████████████28%
Miscellaneous██████████████████████████26%
Procedural██████████████14%
Summary of Proceedings

Jonesboro Public Safety Council Committee Meeting – August 18, 2026

The Public Safety Council Committee of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, met on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at 5:00 PM in the Municipal Center (300 S. Church Street). Roll call was confirmed by City Clerk April Leggett, with five members present (Brian Emison, Chris Moore, Chris Gibson, LJ Bryant, Kevin Miller) and two absent (Janice Porter, David McClain), constituting a quorum. The committee approved the previous meeting's minutes, passed Resolution RES-26:101 agreeing to the permanent closure of the Airport Road railroad crossing, received the July 2026 vector mosquito control report, and discussed stabilization of the building on Main Street. No pending items were reported.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (MIN-26:069): The minutes of the July 21, 2026 Public Safety Committee meeting were approved by motion and vote; no questions or objections were raised.

New Business – Resolution RES-26:101

  • Permanent closure of the Airport Road at-grade crossing: The resolution, sponsored by Engineering, agrees to the removal and permanent closure of the Airport Road (Arkansas Highway 351) at-grade crossing with the Union Pacific Railroad (DOT# 787795S) upon completion of the grade-separated crossing at the same location. The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT), which constructed the overpass, is required by its agreements with Union Pacific to provide proof, via a city resolution, that Jonesboro agrees to the closure so ARDOT can finalize its obligations to the railroad. The resolution also authorizes the mayor and city clerk to take further necessary actions.
  • Vote: A motion by Councilmember Chris Gibson, seconded by Councilmember Chris Moore, that the resolution be passed carried with 4 recorded ayes (Chris Moore, Chris Gibson, LJ Bryant, Kevin Miller), no nays, and 2 absent (Janice Porter, David McClain); Chairman Brian Emison, though present, is not recorded as voting. A subsequent motion by Councilmember Chris Moore, seconded by Councilmember Chris Gibson, that the matter be recommended to the full council carried. The resolution was forwarded to full council.

Discussion Items

  • Vector Mosquito Control Report (COM-26:043, July 2026): Chairman Brian Emison noted that the report showed extensive aerial spraying and that mosquito numbers were down considerably from the previous year, likely due to recent weather.
  • A&P mosquito control discussion: Councilmember LJ Bryant, calling himself a 'broken record' and noting that two committee members serve on A&P, asked whether A&P had further discussed mosquito control. Chairman Emison said the conversation has continued, but nothing has moved forward regarding coordination with the county, which would require an inter-municipal relationship. He referenced a possible study of additional spraying on the outskirts of the city limits, where mosquitoes breed in surrounding farming communities and fields. Chief Administrative Officer Brian Richardson stated that he has spoken with Craig Rickert, the Finance Department is involved, and a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be issued to find vendors to conduct a study on next steps; Richardson said A&P allocated funding for the effort. (The raw transcript refers to 'AMP,' to 'Rickard/Rickert,' and to 'RFB or RFQ.')
  • Main Street building stabilization: Councilmember Chris Moore requested an update on the building on Main Street. Engineering Director Craig Light reported that the brick facade began coming away from the building and falling off; the facade was holding up a portion supporting the second story. A structural engineer found that the interior looked worse than the exterior and recommended evacuating the building, and the road was shut until the building could be stabilized. The following Monday, contractor Ramsons, under the direction of the building owner and his representatives, shored up the building alongside the structural engineer; the building was stabilized and the road reopened that Tuesday afternoon. Light said the plan is to install steel columns and redo the storefront to make the building fully secure. Moore asked whether an engineer reviewed the temporary shoring; Light confirmed that Jordan Lane of North Delta Engineering, the structural engineer, submitted drawings for the proposed shoring plan, which were modified and signed off on by all parties before the road reopened. Light said he does not yet have a timeline for the permanent work and will provide one.
  • Note on the record: The minutes place the Main Street building discussion before the vector mosquito control discussion, whereas the raw transcript records it immediately after that discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Chairman Emison opened the floor for public comment on items not on the agenda. No public comments are recorded in the minutes; the raw transcript contains an incomplete, garbled portion ('Dr. […]') before the chairman moved to adjournment.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes of the July 21, 2026 meeting were approved.
  • Resolution RES-26:101 passed with 4 recorded ayes, no nays, and 2 absent, and was recommended to the full council.
  • An RFQ will be issued for a study on expanded mosquito control options outside the city limits, with funding allocated by A&P.
  • Engineering will follow up with a timeline for permanent repairs to the Main Street building.
  • The meeting was adjourned by motion of Councilmember Chris Gibson, seconded by Councilmember Chris Moore, with no opposition.

Meeting Transcript

But let's go back to the function. I got things for the same point. But I always like to watch the view therefore. Give me a little bit of time and I'll build a fence around here. I gotta say it's looking nice over there. Usually it's gonna be that was terrible. Yeah, sure. First thing that that was the first thing to be more Tony World True or the one by his cut down. I'm glad to have you on board down there. Are they gonna required up on nuclear power in the state or what? It's five o'clock. Okay. Good afternoon, everybody. It is officially five o'clock, and we're gonna go ahead and call to order the public safety council committee for the city of Jonesboro. At this time, we'll go ahead and we'll take roll call. And so if you don't mind to mark your attendance on the device in front of you. Okay, and we do have five members present, so that does give them a quorum, does give us a quorum for today. So we will move on to the next item on our agenda being the approval of minutes from Tuesday, July 21st of 2026. Move to adopt okay. I have a motion, a second to adopt the minutes from the previous meeting. Do I have any questions or comments from anybody on the committee? Any from the administration and any from the public in attendance. Okay, seeing none, we'll go ahead and call for a vote on the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. Okay, and that motion does carry. Moving on to the next item on our agenda being new business, we only have one resolution to consider tonight. That is resolution 26101. A resolution agreeing to the permanent closure of the airport road at grade intersection with the union's the Union Pacific Railroad upon the completion of a grade separated highway crossing at this same location. Whereas the Arkansas Department of Transportation has entered into certain agreements with the Union Pacific Railroad regarding the construction of an overpass to replace the existing at grade railroad crossing on airport road in the corporate city in the corporate limits of the city of Jonesboro. Whereas the Arkansas Department of Transportation is required by these agreements to provide proof of the Union Pacific Railroad via a resolution passed by the local local municipal corporation that it agrees with the removal and permanent closure of the Act Grade Crossing upon the completion of the new grade separated crossing. Whereas the Arkansas Department of Transportation has constructed said grade separated crossing at this crossing location and wishes to finalize its obligations to the Union Pacific Railroad regarding this work. Now therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas, that one upon completion of the grade separated crossing by the Arkansas Highway Department described above. The city of Jonesboro hereby agrees to the removal and permanent closure of the former Act Grade Railroad crossing at this location. And two, the mayor and the city clerk are hereby authorized to take further steps and actions on behalf of the city as necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purpose of this resolution as stated above. Do I have any questions or can comments from anybody on the committee? Okay. Any from the administration? And any from the public in attendance. Okay. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and we will call a vote on this item. That motion does pass and is forwarded on to full council. Thank you, everybody. Moving on to the next item on the agenda being pending items. I know of none. And moving on to number six other business. Um everybody had received a copy of the vector mosquito control report for the previous month. Um if you didn't take a look at it, it's a good read. It seems like we had a lot of aerial sprays that went on, and even more impressive, probably a lot due to the weather that we've been having, but the number of mosquitoes are down considerably from the previous year. Um anybody have any questions, comments, or anything regarding vector mosquito control? Chairman. Yes, sir.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com