The Texarkana, Arkansas Board of Directors will meet tonight at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 216 Walnut Street, with a packed agenda that includes more than $320,000 in water utility contracts, reduced rental fees for the Front Street Festival Plaza, and a new ordinance regulating accessory dwelling units.
Employee Service Awards
The meeting will kick off with a presentation honoring six city employees for their years of service. Bradley W. Coats of the Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department leads the group with 20 years of service. Brandon Uselton of the IT Department and Rebecca Edwards of Texarkana Water Utilities will each be recognized for 10 years. Wesley Meredith Jr. of Bi-State, Donald C. Hutcheson Jr. of Public Works, and Keith Nickolson of TWU will each receive five-year awards.
Water Utility Contracts
Two significant Texarkana Water Utilities contracts are on the consent agenda.
The first would authorize a contract with Holistic Utility Solutions of Grapevine, Texas for the Non-Revenue Water Reduction Phase II — Dashboard and Analytics Project. The total project cost is $427,500, with the Arkansas share not to exceed $167,451.75. The project is a continuation of Phase I work approved by the board in June 2024, which reviewed unbilled or misbilled utility services and conducted a water system loss audit. Phase II will create hydraulic and water quality models, integrate SCADA and AMI meter data into a centralized dashboard, and deploy pressure sensors and flushing meters to give TWU better visibility into where water is being lost across the system. The project is expected to take 9–12 months and includes an estimated $50,000 per year in ongoing licensing and maintenance costs after implementation.
The second contract would hire Plummer Associates, Inc. of Fort Worth for the Stateline Corridor — Field Investigation and Coordination Project. ArDOT and TxDOT plan to reconstruct State Line Avenue from West 7th Street to Arkansas Boulevard, and TWU needs to determine which water and sewer mains will need to be relocated ahead of that work. The Phase I contract totals $391,035, with the Arkansas portion not to exceed $153,168.40. Plummer was selected from 18 firms that responded to TWU’s annual request for qualifications, in part because of their recent completion of the Water System Master Plan. The investigation will cover approximately 12,190 linear feet of State Line Road. A separate Phase II contract for the actual engineering design of relocations will come before the board later.
Front Street Festival Plaza Fee Reductions
Under regular business, the board will consider an ordinance to cut rental fees at the Front Street Festival Plaza, with the goal of encouraging more downtown events and activity.
Under the proposed rates, a full-day rental of all areas would drop from $2,000 to $1,000 for for-profit organizations and from $1,500 to $750 for nonprofits. Half-day rates would see similar reductions. The required $500 cleaning fee would be eliminated entirely for both categories, and the refundable security deposit for nonprofits would drop from $500 to $300.
Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance
The board will also take up a new ordinance regulating accessory dwelling units, sometimes called mother-in-law suites or guest houses, to bring the city into compliance with Arkansas House Bill 1503, which the legislature passed in 2025.
The state law requires municipalities to allow one ADU by right on any parcel with a single-family home, with limited local oversight. The city’s proposed ordinance establishes size limits (no more than 75% of the main home’s floor area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less), setback requirements, and specifies that RVs and single-wide trailers cannot be used as ADUs. The ordinance does not override private restrictive covenants.
City Planner Jamie Finley is requesting an emergency clause, which would require a two-thirds vote of the board to take effect immediately. The Planning Commission recommended approval in a 5-0 vote on December 9, 2025.
Executive Session
The board will go into executive session to consider appointments to the Board of Adjustment, including the reappointment of Jason Dupree and a new applicant, Stephen Cross.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 16, 2026.