‘Nobody does anything’: Downtown business advocate presses Texarkana, Ark., board on overgrown Broad Street

Armed with a slideshow of weed-choked tree wells and a broken grate he called “a lawsuit waiting to happen,” downtown resident and business owner George Dotson returned to the Texarkana, Arkansas Board of Directors Monday night to ask — for the second time in a month — why the city can’t keep two blocks of Broad Street mowed.

“I was just here a month ago, still waiting to meet with A&P,” Dotson told the board at its Aug. 17 meeting. “Everybody knows it. Everybody sees it, but nobody does anything. It’s the one thing that we have going for us as far as growth and entertainment and bringing people to town, and no one seems to care — except the business owners.”

Dotson, who lives at 220 East Broad, walked the board through photos of overgrown planting wells and sidewalk hazards in front of a string of downtown businesses — The Eagle Bourbon & Wine Lounge, which just marked its one-year anniversary; Potter and Potter, fresh off a building remodel; newcomers Good Lux and KimCare; Kilwins; the Wild Hare; and the studio of artist Joseph Raymond. He said he has been maintaining the stretch in front of his own home himself, digging out a dead tree stump and planting flowers so no one steps in the hole.

“You have businesses coming to this city to spend money downtown, and y’all can’t even mow the grass,” he said.

Ward 5 Director Danny Jewell suggested filling the tree wells with concrete and letting business owners set out potted plants they would maintain themselves — a solution Dotson resisted. “We don’t need more concrete. We need more beautification of downtown,” he said, though he conceded concrete might beat a trip-and-fall lawsuit.

City Manager Tyler Richards told the board that staff “do absolutely everything that we can with the staff that we have” and said a request for proposals to maintain overgrowth and trash within the downtown entertainment district has been drafted and is awaiting final approval before going out for bids — potentially with Advertising and Promotion Commission involvement. City Attorney Josh Potter said A&P funds, while barred from capital improvements like road repair, can legally pay for flowers, shrubbery maintenance and trash pickup within the entertainment district. Richards also noted the city had watered the downtown trees with irrigation bags, but many died anyway.

Liens placed on 27 overgrown lots

In a fitting bookend to the overgrowth discussion, the board’s lone regular agenda item was a public hearing and resolution placing liens on 27 overgrown lots the city cleaned up at its own expense. The lien amounts — the city’s costs plus a 10% penalty allowed by state law — will be certified to the Miller County tax collector and placed on the books as delinquent taxes. Interim Assistant Public Works Director Roger Douglas said the mowing work is being handled in-house and that another round of liens is expected at the next meeting. The resolution passed with Ward 2 Director Laney Harris abstaining.

The assessments total $7,874.16 across the 27 parcels, and all but two sit in Ward 2, clustered along Prince, DeMorse and Ferguson streets. The properties, owners of record and amounts listed in the resolution’s exhibit are:

  • Washington Street (Ward 3) — Christina Wilburn, $220.00
  • 306 Prince St. (Ward 2) — Leon Davis Sr., $220.00
  • 310 Prince St. (Ward 2) — CLP Enterprise LLC, $220.00
  • 402 Prince St. (Ward 2) — CLP Enterprise LLC, $220.00
  • 512 DeMorse St. (Ward 2) — DC Asset Group Inc., $220.00
  • 516 DeMorse St. (Ward 2) — Charles R. and Doris J. Wise, $744.29
  • 601 DeMorse St. (Ward 2) — Peter and Nikia Trotter, $220.00
  • DeMorse St. lot 10 (Ward 2) — Peter and Nikia Trotter, $220.00
  • DeMorse St. lot 11 (Ward 2) — Peter and Nikia Trotter, $220.00
  • 400 Artesian St. (Ward 2) — Roland and Dirk C. Crenshaw, $220.00
  • 504 Artesian St. (Ward 2) — Sarella Industries, $220.00
  • 508 Fairview St. (Ward 2) — Carl Thompson, $220.00
  • 701 Prince St. (Ward 2) — George C. Rooters, $475.19
  • 721 Prince St. (Ward 2) — John Andrew Price, $220.00
  • 723 Prince St. (Ward 2) — Oak View Real Estate LLC, $220.00
  • 816 Prince St. (Ward 2) — Willie B. and Diane Williams, $220.00
  • 1001 Prince St. (Ward 2) — William J. Williams, $220.00
  • 1005 Prince St. (Ward 2) — Celine Chism and Devondrick Raglin, $220.00
  • 5106 N. Stateline Ave. (Ward 6) — Haatib Property LLC, $641.88
  • 501 Ferguson St. (Ward 2) — Miller Mobile Land Investments LLC, $220.00
  • 512 Ferguson St. (Ward 2) — 512.5 Ferguson TR#159-006-0 Money in the Bank Trustee, $697.61
  • 514 Ferguson St. (Ward 2) — Cheap Home Finders Inc., $475.19
  • 704 Ferguson St. (Ward 2) — Texarkana BDT Properties LLC, $220.00
  • 711 Ferguson St. (Ward 2) — William and Martha Clardy, $220.00
  • 505 Orleans St. (Ward 2) — JP Evergreen Real Estate Investments LLC, $220.00
  • 708 Prince St. (Ward 2) — Marcus T. Haley, $220.00
  • 807 Prince St. (Ward 2) — Devondrick and Celine Raglin, $220.00

Other business

The board unanimously approved its consent agenda, including a change order for the REDI Site water and sewer extensions project, change order No. 1 for the runway 4/22 extension overlay project at Texarkana Regional Airport, and a $60,170 engineering contract with A.L. Franks Engineering to design the Nix Creek Walking Trail from Seibert Street to 500 feet past Pinehurst Street.

During citizen communication, Adger Smith, vice chair of the county Republican committee, announced a nonpartisan public information meeting on Issue 3, held jointly with the Democratic Party, set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at Hickory Street Baptist Church.

In board comments, Harris pressed Richards and Potter on the process for getting items placed on the board agenda, and thanked Texarkana Water Utilities Executive Director Gary Smith for resolving a water issue reported by Sunrise RV. Another director urged residents to check out the rec center’s programs, “everything from Alzheimer’s support to kids programs to chair aerobics,” and Ward 4 Assistant Mayor Ulysses Brewer announced a ward meeting for 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at the recreation center.

The meeting adjourned after roughly 30 minutes. The board’s next regular meeting is set for Tuesday, Sept. 8.