Exterior night view of the historic Texarkana, Arkansas Municipal Building and City Hall, highlighting its classic Art Deco and Collegiate Gothic stone architecture.
Exterior night view of the historic Texarkana, Arkansas Municipal Building and City Hall, highlighting its classic Art Deco and Collegiate Gothic stone architecture. (2014)

Texarkana, Arkansas board to vote on $2.9 million in street projects, city’s first AI policy

TEXARKANA, Ark. — The Texarkana, Arkansas Board of Directors will consider nearly $2.9 million in street bond spending, the city’s first artificial intelligence policy and a private club alcohol permit for a downtown Front Street address when it meets Monday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 216 Walnut St.

Street bond spending tops the agenda

The largest item on the consent agenda is a $1,787,729.28 construction contract with Francis Excavating of Texarkana, Texas, for the rehabilitation of East 24th Street, Oats Street and East 48th Street. Four contractors bid on the project, and Francis Excavating submitted the low bid under the option recommended by A.L. Franks Engineering, which calls for milling 3 inches of existing asphalt, performing 10 inches of cement stabilization and installing a new 3-inch asphalt surface on East 24th Street between Jefferson Avenue and Broad Street.

Because the bid came in under the $2,667,468.05 bond budget for the project, staff is recommending the board approve an additional 20 percent contingency of $357,465.86 for any base failures discovered during construction, bringing the total appropriation to $2,144,795.14 from the 2025 general obligation bond.

The board will also consider two engineering contracts with A.L. Franks Engineering for the next rounds of 2025 street bond design work. The first, a $269,000 contract, covers design, surveying, bidding, construction administration and inspection for East 43rd Street, Grand Avenue, East 36th Street and Arkansas Boulevard. The engineering fee is 8.6 percent of the estimated $2,268,932 construction cost.

The second is a $131,700 amendment to an existing contract covering McClure Road, Linn Ferry Road, Capitol Hill West Road and Grand Avenue. The amendment swaps Grand Avenue out for Pinehurst Street, a change staff says will make the project more cost effective because the remaining streets are close to one another. Grand Avenue would move to the next set of streets presented to the board.

Public Works is also seeking approval to buy a Leeboy RA 400 asphalt patcher and injection truck for $333,324.20 through the Sourcewell government purchasing cooperative, which does not require competitive bidding. The purchase would be funded from 2025 general obligation bond funds.

City’s first AI policy

Two related ordinances would put Texarkana, Arkansas in compliance with Arkansas Act 848 of 2025, which requires public entities to adopt a policy governing the use of artificial intelligence and automated decision tools.

The first ordinance, brought by Chief Information Officer Brandon Uselton, adopts a generative AI usage policy for all city employees and departments. Under the policy, employees may only use AI tools that have been vetted and approved by the IT Department, and all AI-generated content must be reviewed for accuracy and cited except in general correspondence such as email. The policy prohibits submitting confidential data into AI platforms and bars AI systems from making final, binding decisions that affect individuals without human review and approval.

Acceptable uses listed in the policy include drafting emails, reports, job descriptions, spreadsheet calculations, translations and document summaries. Prohibited uses include lobbying without being a registered lobbyist, circumventing IT security controls and using city equipment to express personal political opinions to elected officials outside official duties. Violations could result in discipline up to termination.

A companion ordinance updates Chapter 7 of the city’s personnel policy to add the AI policy and to reflect that IT now operates as its own joint Texarkana, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas department.

Both ordinances carry emergency clauses, which require a separate two-thirds vote and would put them into effect immediately upon passage.

Private club permit sought for 305 Front Street

The board will consider an ordinance granting prerequisite municipal approval for a private club application by David Peavy on behalf of The Concho LLC at 305 Front St. Under Arkansas Act 112 of 2017, new private club applications must include an ordinance of approval from the local governing body before they can proceed to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.

The ordinance notes that municipal approval is not an endorsement of the business and does not waive any city, state or federal regulations. The item also carries a requested emergency clause.

City Hall generator and water projects

The board will consider a construction contract with Contech Contractors of Texarkana, Texas, for the installation of an emergency generator at City Hall. Contech submitted the low bid of $228,677 among five bidders, and a change order reduced the contract to $195,686. Funding includes $161,062.50 in Arkansas Division of Emergency Management grant funds.

Texarkana Water Utilities is bringing three items: annual chemical purchase contracts for water and wastewater treatment for fiscal year 2026-2027, a $137,400 site work contract with Four Thirteen Inc. of Texarkana, Texas, for the Lakewood elevated tank project, and a $134,559.60 contract with RBIS LLC of Texarkana, Arkansas, for the Johnson Lane six-inch water extension. The Johnson Lane project would install about 1,562 feet of water pipe and two fire hydrant assemblies.

Airport, police and other business

The board will consider authorizing the interim airport director to enter into an agreement with Altech Inc. for construction manager at risk services on Texarkana Regional Airport’s maintenance, repair and overhaul project. Altech was ranked most qualified after a request for qualifications process. The firm will not be paid for the preconstruction phase, with construction phase compensation to come before the board in a separate resolution later.

A resolution would approve a mutual aid agreement between the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department and the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope-Texarkana, allowing the two agencies’ police departments to assist one another under the Arkansas Interlocal Cooperation Act. The agreement covers the college’s Hope and Texarkana campuses.

The board will hold a public hearing before voting to place liens on five overgrown lots for city-incurred mowing and cleanup costs plus a 10 percent penalty. The largest is $4,259.90 at 2120 Pecan St., followed by $3,248.81 at 2515 Locust St. Three properties on Ash and Beech streets carry liens of $220 each. Approved liens would be certified to the Miller County tax collector as delinquent taxes.

Following an executive session, the board is expected to appoint Jenny Tefft to the Historic District Commission to fill the unexpired term of Christen Durham, which runs through 2027.

The meeting opens with employee service awards recognizing Misty Megason of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department for five years of service and Terri Rogers of Texarkana Water Utilities GIS for 15 years.

The board’s next regular meeting is Monday, Aug. 3.