PROGRESS.3.9

Progress 2019
Area towns make their mark on Union County
Area Towns & Governments
By Tia Lyons
Staff Writer
Union County is filled with small towns with big hearts and even bigger ideas when it comes to economic growth and the quality of life for their citizens.
Mayors and other city officials from Smackover, Norphlet, Strong, Huttig, Felsenthal and Junction City seem to share a common understanding: what’s good for their towns is good for the entire county.
From much needed infrastructure upgrades to wooing business and industry and expanding recreational opportunities, cities around the county spent 2018 buried in a flurry of improvement and development projects.
Based on the updates from area municipalities that were provided during a recent Economic Outlook Luncheon, hosted by the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, 2019 is bringing more of the same.
City officials around the county expanded on their reports from the luncheon.
Smackover
With a population of 1,865, Smackover is the second largest city in Union County and Mayor Bobby Neal said city officials are working to maintain a small-town feel with city services and infrastructure that is available in larger cities.
With a $250,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Transportation and $100,000 from its own city coffers, Smackover is planning to improve streets this year.
A project to install automated water meters was completed in 2018.
Neal said the final 30 of a total of 1,350 water meters were switched out with the new automated readers and projections indicate that the $350,000 project will pay for itself in cost-savings within the next three or four years.
“It would take us four days to read water meters with three men in a truck and we had a woman to come in and enter all that into the computer to send out the bills,” Neal said. “Now, it’s in there already, and all it takes one punch when she sends the bills.”
“Labor-wise, the time we used to spend in a truck — we would have to go out of town seven or eight miles to read some of them —, we have those men doing something else now,” he continued.
Additionally, water-usage activity can be monitored in real-time from City Hall, he said.
The city replaced 1,000 feet of wastewater lines in 2018 and plans to install three new aerators in its wastewater ponds are on tap for this year.
Two new police officers joined the Smackover Police Department in 2018, bringing the total of uniformed personnel to five, including a School Resource Officer, Neal said.
The Smackover City Council is expected to vote Monday on a proposal to install a digital sign outside City Hall to keep residents and visitors informed on the goings-on in Smackover.
“I expect them to approve the LED sign,” the mayor said. “Hopefully, we can do some other things. We’re working on a grant for some playground equipment. We’re going to get started on that again.”
On the business/industry front, Neal reported that the Old Hickory Sauce Company is operating in Smackover and plans are in the works to expand the Big Daddy’s Hot Water Cornbread side of business operations into a building to package and sell the cornbread product.
In 2018, downtown merchants also hosted the second annual Christmas on Broadway in a continuing effort to make Smackover a destination to highlight small-town shopping opportunities.
Norphlet
In Norphlet, Mayor Jim Crotty said the city is looking to attract more businesses — large, medium and small — to help promote economic development and create more jobs.
Citing the success and popularity of Cafe 1891, which opened in 2017, Crotty said Norphlet welcomes entrepreneurs who are interested in opening or expanding businesses.
“(Cafe 1891) is one of the best things we’ve got going here. Whether it’s a three-man, small family-owned company or a medium-sized corporation, any kind of industry, it’ll be good for us and good for Union County,” Crotty said.
He said industry prospects are looking at the old Norphlet Chemical Company, which shuttered its doors nearly a decade ago, for possible development.
Contributed Photo
Merchants: Smackover downtown merchants present Christmas on Broadway, a holiday open house is held each year to highlightshoppingopportunitiesthatareavailableinsmalltowns.Themerchantsworkwithcityofficialstohelpimproveeconomic development opportunities in Smackover. Of particular note for the 2018 event was that the majority of downtown business owners were women who were operating long-running business and bringing new ideas to Smackover. Some downtown business owners, from left, Kimmie Brock, of The Ink Spot; Deborah Herring, of Deborah's Mirror Image; Lisa Paulus, of The Ink Spot; Gussie Gray, of the Classic Dress Shop; and Rhanda Wright and Lisa Lindsey, both of The Speckled Rooster and The Hen's Nest.
Also known as the old McMillan Refinery, the property is listed as a superfund site — a designation that makes the property a hard sell, Crotty said.
“They still have to clean up some oil in it. There’s a six-rail spur off that main rail that companies can use to ship in and out, but with the environmental issue, it makes it more difficult to sell,” the mayor said.
This year, city officials are planning to expand the city’s water infrastructure.
Other infrastructure plans for 2019 include the installation of six miles of wastewater lines to Smackover Creek, Crotty said.
He noted that area residents are also looking forward to spring and summer youth sports and other recreation programs in Norphlet-Smackover schools and in Union County. Crotty said that the activities will help keep youngsters and their families busy in the coming months.
Calion
Mayor Bill Yutzy’s vision for Calion is to use its natural landscape to turn the town of nearly 500 into a tourist destination for those who enjoy outdoor recreation.
Calion Lake is one of the city’s greatest assets, Yutzy said.
“I keep hearing stories from people who say they used to go to the lake with their families when they were growing up, but that doesn’t seem to happen as
much anymore,” he said.
Yutzy said he would like to change
that.
“I think the lake can be a tourist
attraction to draw some folks in. I’d like to see the city grow a little more,” he said.
The old Crabapple Point that is next to the lake could be developed into green space with picnic tables, Yutzy said, adding that he would like to see “a nice restaurant” open in Calion.
A $29,176 state grant will be used this year to improve North City Park with new playground equipment and features to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the mayor said.
A new wastewater system has been installed on the south side of Calion Lake and Yutzy said the area is now suitable for residential development.
As far as his vision for the future of Calion, Yutzy said the city is filled with possibilities.
“It’s just going to be a matter of determination and the ability to go ahead and make it all work,” he said.
Strong
City officials in Strong have said they are hoping that improvements and commercial and residential development that are planned in 2019 will make people — visitors and prospective new residents — take a second look at the city on the east end of Union County.
During the Economic Outlook Luncheon in February, Pamela Dawkins,
assistant to Mayor Daryell Howell, said there are plans to open a community fitness center in a commercial building that previously housed a Hurry Back convenience store.
The Strong Community Center, which was built in 2016, and a new restaurant, the River Bottom Grill, have helped to give the city a facelift and inject a new vibrancy into Strong’s business district, and Howell has said city officials are working to keep the trend going.
Dawkins said the community center is booked most weekends and some days throughout the week, noting that the parking lot has been repaved and includes ADA-accessible parking spaces.
Playground equipment was recently installed in Strong City Park and planning is under way for the city’s annual Fall Festival, which was rebooted in 2016 following a 10-year hiatus.
The event is held in October each year and includes food vendors, live music and other family-friendly activities.
Howell has also said that he is still looking into opportunities for multi- and single-family housing developments to create more living space in and entice people to relocate to Strong.
Felsenthal
Flood preparedness is a top priority in Felsenthal in 2019, said Mayor Linda Newberry.
Flooding that occurred in 2018 exposed vulnerabilities in the town’s escape-route plan and the town officials are working to address the issue, especially given the amount of rain that has hammered the area in recent weeks, Newberry explained.
“We already have some of our outlying areas in the town flooded. We’re nowhere near being flooded in, but it reminds us every year that we have the same situation,” the mayor said.
She said that a creek along Dollar Junction Road has already swelled, sending water across the road. She noted that a bridge runs across the creek.
When flooding is particularly bad in the area, Newberry said, Felsenthal residents have to re-route through Huttig for commutes to Strong, El Dorado and Crossett.
“When we move here, we know this is what we’re gong to have to deal with, but we don’t want to wait until last minute to make preparations,” Newberry said. “People are already prepared for it. You just have to make adjustments.”
One project that will help is the revamping of a tram road, an elevated railroad track that stands as high ground in the town, Newberry said, adding that
See TOWNS, Page 2C
Flooding: The river dock at Felsenthal Wildlife Refuge when it was flooded in early March 2018 due to elevated water levels.
File Photo