10/19/2026
NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING: OCTOBER 20th @ 6:00pm.
Thank you to everyone who tuned in to last month’s meeting! The city is working with S&S Security to improve microphone quality and camera placement for residents watching remotely.
To answer several of the questions, below is a high level recap of Last Month's City Council Topics.
PUBLIC RECORDS & TRANSPARENCY: Residents have requested information about: City Council meeting minutes, ambulance services/expenses, water quality and councilman attendance /voting records. This can be found directly on the City of Des Arc Webpage under City Council Minutes and Posts.
SEPT. 15th, 2026, RECAP OF TOPICS
1. WATER DEPARTMENT: Cecil Winsett
â—Ź Water maintains a Grade A rating and passes all required Health Department safety testing.
â—Ź 1.5 million dollar no matching grant for the water system has been applied for with ANRC and award recipients will be announced on November 18th, 2026.
â—Ź The current system as of Sep. 15th, 2026, relies on a manual switch that is a safety issue. A new Transfer Switch has been requested to the city council previously.
â—Ź During the meeting, APPROVAL was granted by the city council for a new Transfer Switch. It is being installed.
â—Ź Water volume solutions were discussed for development areas and the need to produce higher volumes and the possibility of new water tanks.
2. WASTE WATER/ SEWER:
● There are currently 4 working pumps, with 2 new pumps newly installed. A $869,000 funding grant for future projects was applied directly to Senator Boozman’s office and granted through Washington DC. This news was shared with the City Council Members during the meeting.
3. GAS DEPARTMENT: Caleb Hale
â—Ź A proposal for new equipment and gage needed at the purchase point has been requested several times to the city council due to gas volume, safety issues and leakage.
â—Ź Proposed equipment cost: approximately $125,000. This has been requested to the city council previously, and still is Not Approved. More research is being done.
â—Ź Approximately 2,000 new gas lines, 30 meters and 15 new services were completed in 2026. Updates were given around several leak repairs, including on the property of Cornerstone Financial Group.
4. PROPOSED ANIMAL SHELTER
â—Ź Karmen Sutton discussed obtaining city land through a proposed 99-year lease for an animal shelter project.
5. Tabled: MOTION for Resolution for a Consent Administrative Order, DEQ to be ENTERED
â—Ź The Motion for a Resolution Authorizing the City of Des Arc to Enter Into a Consent Administrative Order, with the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environmental, Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to be Executed was tabled at Doug Estes request.
â—Ź This is needed for compliance reasons. Carlee Fisher was contacted by phone and did not have the details with her at home.
â—Ź The city will be in compliance once the city council approves the ex*****on of the compliance paperwork, delays can cause fines. A council vote regarding this is still pending
â—Ź After the City Council meeting, the details were confirmed that DEQ paperwork had reportedly been routed to Garth's Hardware Store email, resulting in information request notices not being received by the City. The DEQ then asked for the ex*****on of this document to bring the city back into compliance. Because of the ongoing delay in executing the paperwork, there is a potential of a $500.00 fine. The DEQ had originally agreed to waive any fines. But this will need to be revisited with them again since there were additional delays in the ex*****on.
6. GRANTS & FUNDING
● Gail King reported that approximately $7 MILLION in grants have been awarded to the City of Des Arc in the last 3 ½ years. She has shared all the past grant information with the City Council and details are housed in the past meeting minutes for public review.
7. BUILDING ADMINISTRATION & SAFETY & OTHER ITEMS
Updates included in August improvements funded through an Energy Efficiency Grant that the city applied for directly and won:
â—Ź âś… Electrical wiring improvements
â—Ź âś… HVAC work
â—Ź âś… Carbon monoxide concerns
OTHER ITEMS: New floor was installed at the Senior Citizen Facility.
**PUBLIC INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE! Official City Website: https://www.cityofdesarc.com/
**Transparency, public participation, and access to accurate information are important to
keeping our community informed.
