State of the City

Mayor Tim McKinney

2023 was a good year for the city of Berryville. We accomplished many things within the daily operation of the City that, unless you are are here every day, you do not realize the many moving parts that keep Berryville moving forward on a daily basis. All this is accomplished by the many dedicated employees the city has and I want to personally thank them for all they do for the citizens of Berryville.

Public Improvement Projects Two of the larger projects that were completed this past year are our new Police Station and the official opening of our new Berryville Regional Business Park. The City Council made a very wise decision when they approved the purchase of the old AP&L-Entergy building. This building has been vacant for several years after Entergy closed the local business office and moved out in 2004. I was actually the last Entergy employee to work out of that building. Although the building had been vacant for many years, it had been maintained and was structurally very sound. Chris Bouly, our Building/Facilities Manager guru, oversaw a complete remodel and upgrade of the building and our Police Department is now in a new location that will serve them well for many years to come for a total purchase price and project cost of less than $900,000. Had we started from scratch to build a new building of this size and quality on two-plus acres of prime highway frontage real estate at today’s prices, I do believe we would have spent almost $3 million. While government in general is often criticized for wasteful and inefficient spending, and sometimes I can agree, especially on the federal and state levels, I am proud to work with a City Council that always looks out for what is best for our citizens. Thank you, Berryville Council members. Your actions in completing this project have saved the citizens of Berryville app roximately $1.5 million to $2 million and we have a high-quality building that will serve our Police Department for many years to come due to your wise decisions. A job well done. Berryville is blessed to have the City Council we do.

The other large and visible project in 2023 was the opening of Phase I of the City’s new Regional Business Park. The last touch to this project will be added in the coming weeks, in the form of a large information sign with a digital billboard being constructed at the entrance off of Highway 62. The good news besides now having over 100 acres shovel-ready for any or existing business looking to locate or expand in Berryville, is that thanks to an EDA grant, the cooperation of local contractors like Barrows Excavation, and the money-saving work of our own Public Works employees who completed the water main installation, is that the whole park and all improvements are paid for completely. This means that all future land sales will go toward the infrastructure necessary to open up the remaining 200-plus acres for further development.

The City is currently one step away from completing a nearly year-long process of negotiating with a large international company ready to invest $65 million to $80 million in our community. This last step involves our two local electric companies coming to an agreement to make sure this new company has the electrical service it needs at a price that will allow them to be competitive, since electricity is by far their biggest operating cost. The service boundary line between our two local electric companies dissects our new Business Park, which has made this whole issue of electric service provider complicated to say the least. I do have faith that Carroll Electric and Entergy will resolve this issue soon, because our new prospective business deserves a clear answer to their questions regarding their electric service, and the City, Carroll County and the Berryville School District cannot afford to lose this new business.

Parks & Recreation

While not as visible as a new Police Station or a Business Park, there are many other things on a daily basis that often go unnoticed. One department that exemplifies this is our Parks Department. Berryville is blessed to have a parks system that I believe is unmatched by any other town of our size in the state. Last year we hired Jamie Hussey as our new Parks & Recreation director. From Day 1, Jamie has hit the ground running, and we are starting to see some great things happen in response to his leadership. Jamie has added structure and stability to our parks programs, and we are already seeing the results in both attendance and revenue. I have never been more optimistic about our parks department than I am today, and with our opening of the BBC Annex Building later this year we will be able to offer even more recreational opportunities to our community. I hope everyone will look for ways they can be a part of our Parks Department, not only as participants, but also ways to volunteer or help out with the many programs we have that serve both our youth and adult citizens.

Water & Sewer Department

Berryville’s Water & Sewer Departments both had substantial rate increases last year. Much of this rate increase was the result of the inflation we have gone through as a result of the financial whiplash from the pandemic we went through in 2020-2021. I do have to confess that part of the increase was probably made larger by not addressing this issue earlier as I should have. We are working to keep a better watch on our revenue and expenses in these departments so that future increases will be smaller and not have quite the shock factor as our last one. One thing that has helped keep our costs down is we continue to try and do more work in-house within these departments. We have found that this reduces our costs by almost half in some cases, and we know we get quality work when we do it ourselves.

Building Inspection & Code Enforcement One area of the City where we are currently struggling is our building inspection and code enforcement, where we currently have two open positions. For now, thanks to Mayor McNeely and our friends at the City of Green Forest, we are getting by, but this is something we must resolve at some point, and we know it won’t be easy. The building inspector has to have a wide knowledge in the construction industry and a code enforcement officer’s job is not always fun when confronting people about conditions on “their” property that need to be resolved in a timely manner. We are hopeful to have both these positions filled soon.

Public Safety

There are many things I could include in this address and unfortunately, I cannot possibly address them all in a short speech; however, I cannot fail to mention what, in my opinion, is the best bang for the buck the citizens of Berryville have, the Berryville Fire Department. The total budget for the Fire Department this year is $141,400. For this minimal cost the citizens of Berryville have one of the best fire departments in the state, and if my words are not enough all you have to do is look at our ISO rating of 4. This rating is given by an independent agency that conducts studies of fire departments all across the United States and then rates them on a scale of 1-10 with the lower number the better. Having a rating as low as a 4 is very rare for small towns, especially with all-volunteer departments like ours, and has a tremendous impact on everyone’s insurance rates in town. So, next time you see our Fire Chief Shannon Chester, or any of our other dedicated volunteer firefighters, I hope you will take the time to thank them for their dedication and service to our City.

Street Department

The department I have saved for last is by far the most challenging to fund, our Street Department. Streets don’t produce any revenue, unlike other departments in our city. Inflation and the costs of maintenance have risen more than anything else I can think of over the last 10 years. This is why I will be presenting a proposal to place a sales tax on the ballot for our citizens to vote either late this year or early 2025. I have always tried to be honest with the citizens of Berryville, and so I must tell you there is no way we can continue to maintain the streets we currently have and meet our future growth without additional income. I don’t want to make this a “do or die” situation as we will always have streets to drive on; they just may not be very smooth and functional. Even though it will probably be necessary to go into debt for any major new street projects, new revenue is desperately needed if we are going to match the growth of our infrastructure with the economic growth we are hopefully looking at in the years ahead. I hope our citizens will give this proposal serious consideration when the time comes.

Closing Statement

I want to close this address by just giving a shout out to a few of the outstanding people we have working for the City of Berryville. Government is often looked at as the “big faceless brother,” and we lose sight of all those working so hard to make Berryville a great place to live and do business. Dean, you are one of the hardest working people I have ever met. Berryville was blessed the day you came home. Sally, every workplace needs that one quiet individual who shows up every day with a great attitude and inspires others to be their best. Thank you. Chewy and Manny, man, you guys can do anything we ask and do it with a smile. You’ve both been a great addition to our Public Works Department, and you are changing the whole work ethic within the city. Thank you. Jay, what can I say? If I was given a choice between you and my right hand, I guess they would just have to start calling me Lefty. Thank you. Jamie, you are taking our Parks Department to a higher level than I have seen in my many years as mayor. Thank you. Roy, when I really want something done, and City employees will tell you they never know what I might do, all I have to do is tell Roy and his boys (they are all young men, but boys sounds better) and it gets done. Thank you, Roy. I could go on for much longer than anyone wants to hear, but I do want to thank all our City employees for the great job you do, and most of all, thank you Berryville City Council for your service to the citizens of Berryville and putting up with me as mayor.