Just want to give everyone uh a courtesy if you um for citizen communication if you want to speak uh for five minutes and what have you uh please fill out one of these cities communication cards and uh give it to the uh uh admin and get it to me if you will at this time if you will at this time please silence your phones or turn them off what have you for courtesy uh real call please

director Roberts

here

Director Harris Director Hollibush Director Jewell

here

Smith

here

Mayor Brown and Assistant Mayor Burr

here

all

right next we have the invocation and pledge of allegiance given by Denny Jewell

Stand please bow your heads please dear Heavenly Father we thank you for this day we thank you for our great city and wonderful state and as our country celebrates its 250th year anniversary we ask that you continue blessing our great nation lastly we ask that you guide and direct us in all that we do here tonight these things we pray amen

my

pleasure

and two nation under

God justice raw meeting

first up for citizen communication we have Gary Carter uh if you will please come to the podium and speak into the mic, please.

Hello, I know some of y'all, some of you I don't.

I have been a lifelong citizen in Texas County, Arkansas, grew up on the College Hills side.

I lived and worked over here, I retired from City Park Fire Department 2020, and I opened up business over off 67 called Tri-State Cremation and Funeral Services.

Over the last five years, we have grown to a point to where we needed a new building.

And when me and my wife were looking, we could have thought of no better place than on the College Hill side.

My last 12 years at the city fire department, that's where I was stationed.

I know most, if not all, the folks over there.

So after purchasing the building, hanging up a new sign, one of the ward directors publicly come out on his Facebook page and was talking about our business.

And

I think it's very disappointing that anybody in elected position would do anything like that, especially somebody who's gonna bring money into the area.

It's concerning how many other businesses have not come over there because of the exact same thing.

With that being said, I thank you for your time.

If

y'all have any questions, I'd be happy to answer

them.

Thank

you, Mr.

Carter.

Uh, do appreciate your comments.

The

next citizen for communication, we have Mr.

Dodson.

Good evening.

My name is George Dotson.

Uh I live at 220 East Broad, downtown Texas Arkana, Arkansas, and I own half of Hopkins Ice House right here.

I'm here to talk about two things.

The first one is as a city, we should really be doing better at keeping downtown, first of all, clean, and secondly, weeded.

I mean the the amount of weeds uh is just strong everywhere.

I'm talking knee-high wing uh weeds, and I live down here, so I know a lot of people come down here on weekends, they're in town for weddings or family reunions or things of that nature.

They kind of gravitate downtown.

And when it looks like that, it it's almost like the city doesn't care.

It's like, well, it's gonna just make it whether or not we participate or

not.

Those of us that live down here, we really wish y'all would participate.

If

there's a function down here Friday, they only pick up trash on on Monday morning.

So if there's a function Friday, the trash cans are overflowing Friday night, all day Saturday for brunch, Saturday night for dinner, Veronas, Zapatas, Hopkins.

Sunday for brunch, trash is still overflowing.

All day Sunday.

And

then when it's football season, I mean there's people down here watching football games at the wild hare, and do I mean, come on.

I

don't I don't know who to talk