Committee examines the proposal for the city parks

Jonesboro, Arkansas – Although Jonesboro is “blessed with an amazing park system,” Mayor Harold Copenhaver said on Monday that there is still space for development.

During a special meeting of the Public Services Council Committee on April 29, which was held to review the city’s master parks plan, Copenhaver spoke.

The city hired specialists to start working on a ten-year plan early last year.

In addition to creating surveys and holding many pop-up meetings to get feedback from the public, the City of Jonesboro also approved a $190,000 consultant contract with Halff Associates, Inc. of Little Rock to build the plan.

During Monday afternoon’s meeting, Danny Kapales, the director of parks and recreation for the city, informed the committee that although it had been a lengthy process, the wait was necessary.

“We needed to make sure we got this right,” he said. “We need to make sure that every detail was correct and right for our community.”

The master plan suggests 13 ways to enhance the city’s park system, such as providing enough neighborhood and community parkland and resolving service gaps and accessibility issues in the parks that are currently in place.

Every Jonesboro resident should be able to walk to a city park in ten minutes or less, under the plan.

“It’s going to take a lot of resources and partnerships to accomplish a lot of this plan,” Copenhaver said. “As mayor, I am committed to following this plan should the city council approve it.”