City closes deal on building

The city of Berryville has finalized its purchase of the former Entergy building at 613 S. Main St.

“We closed on the Entergy building. That is ours now,” Mayor Tim McKinney told the Berryville City Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

The city agreed to pay $429,500 for the building after the Carroll County Quorum Court voted down a proposal to authorize County Judge Ronda Griffin to put up $10,000 in earnest money after the county signed an agreement giving it the option to purchase the building.

The city plans to move the Berryville Police Department into the building, with the city’s water department in turn moving into the building currently occupied by the police department.

The move will require some renovation, and McKinney told the council that the city will hire Chris Bouly to oversee that work.

“We’re just going to put him on the payroll as a working project manager,” McKinney said. “He’s got a good variety of skills and he’s already met with the police department and everything. With that remodel, and we’ll be moving the water department next door and we could keep somebody busy on this house. I told Chris I couldn’t promise anything long-term, but we’re going to put him on as an employee and that will be his full-time job to oversee these projects that we’ve got. I think he’ll do a good job and save us a lot of money.”

In other business, the council unanimously approved the 2023 city budget that McKinney had presented for review at the Dec. 6 meeting.

The proposed budget lists total revenue of $11,540,600 for 2023, with total appropriations of $11,128,800, and includes 6 percent raises for all city employees.

The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, at City Hall.