Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Texarkana Advertising and Promotion (AMP) Commission met on December 17, 2025, to discuss a television channel donation proposal, a tourism marketing contract extension, funding for the Big Damn Water Park, and a proposed bond project for a youth sports complex. The meeting featured presentations from three external parties and included multiple votes on funding allocations. The commission ultimately extended the marketing contract one year, denied 2026 funding for the water park, and declined to proceed with a $7 million bond project.
Tourism Marketing Contract Extension – Danny Hamblett of Frawl Brand Kind presented a year-end recap covering the agency's work since the contract began in June 2024. Highlights included a new website launched in July, 3.9 million total impressions across Meta and Google ads, geofencing using videography from the prior year, updated visitor guides distributed statewide, and a new partner guide for tax-paying businesses. The agency proposed extending the contract, which runs through December 2025, for up to two years at the same rates. Commissioner discussion focused on the appropriate extension length. Several members expressed a preference for one year to allow other agencies an opportunity to bid in the future, while noting they did not want a gap in coverage. Tyler clarified the contract allows 60-day termination notice. A motion to extend for one year was made and seconded.
Big Damn Water Park Funding – Mr. Blevins of P23 Consulting presented an update on the water park, owned by Bank of U Springs after a foreclosure approximately two years ago. He reported season pass sales growth from approximately 1,000 in 2023 to 5,411 in 2024 to nearly 10,000 in 2025, though total attendance in 2025 was about 60,000 due to rain. Digital metrics included 68,000 website visitors (top cities: Dallas, Shreveport, Little Rock, Houston), 7,200 unique website visitors, and 5 million social media interactions, with 70% of impressions originating outside Texarkana. Blevins outlined three options: (1) continue the original 20-year agreement (approximately 8 years remaining), in which case he would consider buying the park from the bank; (2) a two-year renewal at the same $250,000 annual support level; or (3) a one-year agreement. He indicated the bank may sell or scrap the park if support does not continue. Budget analysis showed the AMP's 2026 fund balance projected at approximately $331,000 with a policy requiring a $150,000 minimum reserve, leaving roughly $181,000 available. A motion to provide no subsidy to the water park for 2026 was made, seconded, and carried 3–2 (Mills, Jewel, Dotson in favor; Homes, Brewer opposed). After the bond discussion, the commission briefly considered revisiting this vote. Several members expressed concern about the park's maintenance regressing but also about fairness to other entities that were denied funding. No motion to reconsider succeeded, and the commission suggested the operator could reapply in the fall.
Bond Project for Ed World Park Sports Complex – Tyler presented a proposal to issue approximately $700,000 per year for 15 years (total ~$7 million) to convert the natural grass ball fields at Ed World Park to turf, replicating the Texas-side Swanger Sports Complex project. He cited the $70 billion sports tourism industry and provided economic impact studies from the Swanger complex and a World Series event hosted in summer 2025 (5,300 visits). Commissioners expressed strong reservations about obligating the majority of AMP's budget for 15 years, the lack of hotels and restaurants on the Arkansas side to capture visitor spending, and the desire to retain flexibility for smaller, targeted tourism investments such as concerts and festivals. Consensus was reached not to move forward with the bond project at this time.
And we're presently we've got a uh uh construction contract through the FCC that where we can raise the power on it and maybe change a channel on it. The channel if they give us the channel we're asking for, we're gonna change the channel, and then we can we can go up fifty mile radius, and that's what we're doing. So what I had uh decided to do because they're doing so many changes in the uh free over the air television, uh, because streaming and and other things have basically cut into our market on it. Uh I I tried selling local ads and I I felt like I was, you know imposing on people because they were wanting to spend money that they didn't really think they were gonna get, so I just I just backed off on it. I said, okay, what we're gonna do is just we're gonna get the technology to catch up. So the technology's here now. We have FCC chairman right now that's he's concentrating on low power television stations because he says that's the that is the local uh way that information can be presented to the people of the of the of the city, and it doesn't cost them anything. And so they the the technology is also we're gonna they're lowing us to get on the five G so we can broadcast five G, which means that we can broadcast directly to your cell phone. So the problem with the television industry is everybody don't sit in their house all day long, but still television. They're out working, they're doing the thing, but they got a cell phone in their pocket. So what we're gonna do is basically is we're gonna start broadcasting our stuff to cell phones. And that's gonna happen next year. So what I decided to do, since I have seven channels and and the uh FCC's going to require me to broadcast at least one channel. So what I thought I would do is say, okay, I'd offer to the city that channel. And that channel would be for only for the purposes or the purposes of using it the city that you can use it for revenue. And I have some friends of mine that was in the restaurant business, they had to sell their they had to sell their delivery ban to pay their A and P taxes, and actually went out of business. And I said, they don't feel like they're getting the back. So I said, okay, AMP can then offer free advertising to the people that are paying the taxes in for the board. And so I I gave Tyler a little proposal that would make it very affordable for you guys to actually have your own television channel. And I met this this week with some business, very prominent business people in town who want to do a housing remodeling show. And it's going to be like much like the show that I don't know if you saw the show Hometown, it was out of Laurel, Mississippi. We're using that, we're using that model. So what we do is we take dilapidated homes and we take those homes and we refurbish them. But we do it with uh federal money because they've got then the one big beautiful bill, they have the affordable housing act. And affordable housing act has grants in there. So if most of the cost of it is in the in the uh in the grants, then it makes it very profitable for uh for us to sell a house at a very low price to the look to the home the first homeowners. Now there's some beautiful old host homes over there on Hickory Street. I bought one of them, and and I said, and so it just it just needs some tender loving care and re and remodeling, and it's a beautiful home. The flooring and all that stuff is just fabulous. So what I what I would like to do with the AP is to consider what the information that I that I gave Tyler and say, let's work together. I'm offering you a television channel that's work together, and there's also in that in that agreement is that you can sell you can get sponsors, so it isn't really gonna cost you anything. Because you I'm sure there's these sponsors in there that would have sponsor it. And uh I would work with INA over at uh at the main street, and we could work with your PR department, all the information of what's going on downtown. I've had people say, hey, what's going on downtown? I said I've uh I've uh had wrestling events down here, and nobody knew what it was going on because we couldn't get the word out. So that's what I'm offered to the AMP. And in this uh document that I gave you, it says that we could work with the EDC too, economic development, in the fact that we can take some of these old buildings downtown and re refurbish those because uh one of the things that uh the new president is wanting to do is he's wanting to refurbish some old buildings for uh homeless veterans. So that's one of the things that we would we have on our agenda. But uh I have a mortgage company, I have a contractor, and I have uh uh myself, and uh it takes a nonprofit, and we got a nonprofit that we were gonna work with that if you guys okayed that and ready to go with it, we could start first of the year, ready ready to go. Well, we definitely look at the information and uh because it sounds like you know it's something worth looking into. Does anyone else have any questions? You talk about grants from the big beautiful bill. Grants have usually a match to them, right?