Christmas traffic to move during Riverside Park reconstruction

By Andrea Bruner, White River Now

When you bill yourself as the Christmas Capital of Arkansas, it’s only natural that holiday plans are being made year-round.

Batesville Landscaping and Cemetery Director Johnathan Abbott came before the city council Tuesday and presented maps of the proposed route changes for the Christmas lights. (Scroll down for the traffic and train/carriage ride routes.) “It seems to be my world now, every day around the clock,” Abbott said.

With construction ongoing at Riverside Park, the epicenter of the city’s Christmas lights, the city is having to change traffic flow for the 2025 holiday season.

“We’ve had to relocate ¾ of the lighting display,” Abbott said. “Most will be centered around the community center.”

The other quarter of the lighting display has been located around the municipal golf course, Sara Low Dog Park, and The River restaurant. “That will all be incorporated in,” Abbott said.

Abbott said with all the visitors and out-of-town guests who make the trip to see the holiday lights, having the vehicles rerouted by the community center was the “best scenario we could come up with and still be in close proximity to the park.”

However, doing this doubles the route’s length and adds a number of inclines that are not at Riverside Park, and after talking with horse-drawn carriage company, it was determined that route would not be in the best interests of the horses. So the carriages and White River Express train will utilize the walking trail on the back side of the community center.

“That’s the reason we chose two different routes,” Abbott said.

Abbott asked for citizens’ patience as the city creates a new path for the Christmas lights as well as the carriages and train.

Above: The Traffic Route (red) and the Train/Carriage Route (blue) for the 2025 Christmas lights / City of Batesville

But that wasn’t all he had in his report for the council.

Abbott said every year he attends a Christmas expo in St. Louis to try to find a new attraction for the holiday lights.

Abbott said when the city came up with the idea for the train, that was a $60,000 venture, and the city was able to pay for that within four years with monies generated by the lights. The same is also true of the concession stand, which was also paid for with funds from the Christmas lights, as well as the castle.

This year he is proposing a “snow slide” – a 150-foot-long tubing structure that would be portable, meaning it could be packed away and even used at other events such as the Celebrate America festivities on the Fourth of July or activities on Main Street.

At the Christmas lights, Abbott said he sees people standing in line for long periods for the train and carriage rides, and kids get restless. “This gives them something to do, and they can do it with families,” he said.

Abbott said while the particulars have not all been worked out, he said the city may have a set price for wristbands for the slide, then let purchasers have unlimited turns (at least for that evening).

Alderman Lackey Moody asked where the slide would be placed.

“Good question – I’ve got to get it first,” Abbott said.

“We’re looking to set up vending on the north side of the tennis courts, and this is sitting in some of that area,” Mayor Rick Elumbaugh said.

“We know this will be a challenge. Even the Christmas lights will be a challenge,” he said, adding that the city is looking to hopefully partner with White River Health to provide after-hours parking. Other parking may be utilized where the old Mickey Mouse pool was located.

Abbott told White River Now the slide cost would be between $55,000-60,000, but with tariffs and shipping, that number could increase. He said the structure would be going out for bids.

The council agreed to purchase the slide.

In other business Tuesday night:

–The council approved an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an interlocal agreement between the city and county for cost sharing for the Independence County District Court.

Under the agreement, the county and city shall split the operating expenses 50-50, with the annual budget to be approved by the county quorum court. This does not include rent for the district court building or any portion of District Court Judge Chaney Taylor’s salary or benefits.

It does allow for one probation officer’s salary and benefits, but salaries and benefits of any other probation officers and/or DWI court officers are compensated by the county.

The city will collect sums from misdemeanors or violations within city limits; the county will collect the rest.

The two parties will also divide up their respective share of the judge’s salary due under state law between themselves and Izard County, Fulton County, and their respective municipalities that house district courts based on population.

Batesville City Attorney Tim Meitzen said Taylor was just covering Independence County up until this year, at which point the Legislature changed the district court areas, and Taylor was covering Fulton and Izard counties. Those counties, and their respective municipalities, also had to chip in on costs.

Termination of the agreement requires six months’ written notice.

The council suspended the second and third readings of the ordinance, which was adopted with an emergency clause, making it effective immediately.

–Police Chief John Scarbrough presented his monthly report, with calls up all across the board for the month of April compared to March.

The police department recorded the following: 1,323 calls for service (compared to 1,101 in March, 1,114 in February and 860 calls in January): 53 accidents (49 in March, 48 in February and 35 in January), 34 arrests (26 in March, 27 in February and 21 in January), 65 incident reports (55 in March, 52 in February and 53 in January), 209 citations (148 in March, 174 in February and 71 in January), and 298 warnings (168 in March, 261 in February and 81 in January).

Scarbrough said the increase in citations is most likely because officers have been working under a grant through the Arkansas State Police that pays for officers to work overtime, but they have to be enforcing traffic laws for the city to receive the grant funding.

He also asked for the council’s approval regarding the police department manual so the department could roll out the new policies on June 1, which will be the 10th anniversary of the department’s formation.

The motion passed with Alderman Robb Roberts voting against the measure, saying he would like time to review the policies before voting.

–Public Works Engineer Damon Johnson gave his report, starting with the new shop that was built north of town. He said the city has already run out of room as they did not take into account the parts, equipment, and tools that are also stored for the city’s public works departments.

He presented a bid to build two more buildings at the site for approximately $592,000 from Bullard Construction. One building will be for the water department and the other for the street department.

“We did budget for it, but felt like we should get approval,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the street department will make some repairs on the boat dock on the White River, but the timing will depend upon river conditions.

The city is still working to get water and sewer lines across East Main Street to an industrial area, and there is some sewer rehab work to be done in that same contract, but in the meantime, work continues on the new water treatment plant.

“They are pouring quite a bit of concrete, two of the largest structures have the bottom floors poured, and soon you will start to see walls going up,” he continued.

At the parks, an expansion project is getting underway with a groundbreaking set for 10 a.m. June 23.

–During the citizens’ comments portion of the agenda, James Scales came before the council. Scales said he would like to bring “Arkansas’ Christmas cities” together to film a promotional spot. This would include Batesville, El Dorado (which boasts the biggest Christmas parade in the state), and others. He said he has talked with representatives from 25 cities in the state about this.

He said they do have some other plans, one of which is to build fire pits in July to demonstrate old-fashioned kettle cooking to help solidify the idea that Arkansas has tourism-related things in winter.

–Elumbaugh said there was a discrepancy with police officer pay that occurred during Covid.

“When the Batesville Police Department was reformed, patrol officers were placed on an hourly pay scale and their shifts were structured as 12-hour shifts,” Elumbaugh said.

This resulted in a total of 84 hours in a 14-day pay period. Officers were compensated for 80 hours, and the remaining four hours were classified as “time earned.”

Elumbaugh said that according to the Fair Labor Standards Acts (FLSA), law enforcement officers can work a maximum of 86 hours in a 14-day work period without receiving overtime pay. If the earned time is not used within the following 26 pay periods, then the officer must be compensated at the standard rate of pay under which it was earned. Additionally, K9 officers are entitled to 30 minutes of paid time each day at their standard rate of pay.

Elumbaugh said an audit was conducted, and it was determined a total of $172,879 was owed to the 18 officers. Three officers will receive over $20,000; the smallest amount was $605.

–Following an executive session, the council appointed Todd Autry to replace Ron Autry on the Historic District Commission.

Aldermen Scott Fredricks and Brittany Bennett were absent.

Image of the Batesville Municipal Building by Gena Tate, White River Now