From the Arkansas Advocate:
Members of Ozark’s city council unanimously voted on Monday against starting discussions with the state to potentially supply water for a planned 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County.
City Councilor Randy Melton told the Advocate Tuesday that the vote didn’t mean they wouldn’t talk to state officials at all — merely that those working on the prison would have to be the ones to initiate those talks.
The council approved a resolution earlier this year opposing the prison project, which blindsided and angered local officials and residents when it was announced in 2024. Opponents to building the prison in Franklin County have criticized Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, her staff and the Arkansas Department of Corrections for not consulting with the local community prior to purchasing an 815-acre property near Charleston for the prison last year.
Those opponents have argued nearly from the start that the site was unsuitable due to the lack of an available workforce and uncertainties about whether local infrastructure could support a large prison. State officials who participated in the search have disputed these claims.
Sanders said as recently as last week, however, that the Franklin County site remains “the best location in the state.” In remarks minutes after filing for reelection, she said “everybody wants to fight over the location, but the real question, the real fight should be, how do we do a better job protecting our state?”
How to supply the prison site with drinking water — or whether it was possible to supply water in the first place — has been an open question in recent months. Groundwater well testing at the property produced far less water than what would be needed for the facility, the Advocate found earlier this year, and the city of Fort Smith said its water system did not have the capacity to serve the prison.
Ozark said in its previous resolution that the city didn’t have the capacity to provide water to the prison either.
“We decided last night that if the state is really serious about contacting us, that we need to hear from somebody in an official capacity, either from the governor’s office or from the prison board, or somebody, besides just hearsay,” Melton said Tuesday.
The matter was on the Monday’s council agenda because Ozark Mayor Roxie Hall had been told the state required a letter from her asking to start discussions before they would talk to the city, but Melton said he still didn’t know who told her that.
“My question was, you know, who was it [the call] from? Was it an actual official or whatever that wants us to basically say that we’re willing to talk with them?” Melton said. “We never did find out anything about it. …. There was no names mentioned or anything. So basically, to me, it’s just hearsay.”
Hall did not return a voicemail from the Advocate left at Ozark City Hall Tuesday afternoon.
Melton agrees with residents from nearby Charleston that the prison site selection was handled poorly. However, Ozark’s looming water infrastructure needs meant the city council couldn’t simply ignore the state if it comes knocking with offers, he said.
Just maintaining the city’s current level of service will require $22.9 million, he said — with total needs projected upwards of $90 million.
The city has been working to figure out how to fund the needed infrastructure through either the local sales tax or increases to water bills, but even small increases could be hard on Ozark residents and those who rely on its water system, Melton said.
“We are a very poor community,” he said. “That’s why I feel we have to at least see what [the state] has got to offer. We can’t say no without any conversation.”
But Melton stressed that if the state did initiate discussions, it doesn’t mean Ozark would agree to allow the prison to draw from its water system.
Prior to the city council meeting on Monday, Republican Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest said during a press conference at the state Capitol in Little Rock that state officials were attempting to “try and bribe” Ozark into using their water system.
“Extortion is happening behind the scenes, as Sen. [Gary] Stubblefield said, to try and bribe them with your tax dollars,” King said.
Stubblefield represented the area where the planned prison will be built and was one of the prison project’s most outspoken opponents. He died in September just weeks after accusing prison proponents within state government of extorting lawmakers who voted against a $750 million appropriation to fund the prison’s construction by threatening to withhold state funds and grants from their districts.
The appropriation bill failed in the Senate five times earlier this year after it failed to get three-fourths of the chamber to vote for it.
