Fire chief hopes to bring training academy to Batesville

Council hears updates on youth sports, police, other activities

By Andrea Bruner, White River Now

Batesville could one day have its own fire training academy, thanks to a collaboration between the fire department and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.

Fire Chief Mark McCollum told the Batesville City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday night that firefighters have been meeting with UACCB officials to organize a “rookie” school. He said the nearest one now is in Camden, but he has hopes to one day have an academy in both the northern part as well as the southern part of the state.

McCollum told the council he was recently appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to the Arkansas Fire Protection Services Board, and this is a very big honor. He said one of the directives of the board is to govern the curriculum at the training academy.

In 2016, the White River Firefighters Association and UACCB officially cut the ribbon on a new fire training/workforce center on the college campus. This facility replaced an old training center at Riverside Park next to the old city animal shelter. The firefighters association includes all 16 fire departments in Independence County, as well as Cave City.

McCollum told White River Now that the association and UACCB are looking at grants to offset costs so that students would not be charged as they go through their certification processes. He said right now they average two or three trainings a month, but if the academy is officially approved, classes will be held twice a week year-round.

McCollum said every firefighter is required to have at least 16 hours of training each year.

In other fire department news, McCollum presented monthly statistics for his department for February, showing there were a total of 66 calls: three structure fires, six grass or woods fires, one vehicle fire, one medical assistance call, 23 motor vehicle accidents, 10 false alarms, five good intent including service calls, five inspections, 273 training hours, one hazardous material call, six plan reviews, two “final inspections” (USDA building on Myers Street and Maw’s Downtown Table at 325 E. Main St.) and two FOI (Freedom of Information) reports answered.

He said the department was able to repair a steering column in-house, saving the city money, and built a side-by-side to put into service.

McCollum also noted that his department tested tornado sirens last week and hopes to do that monthly. He said even though there were notifications on the department’s Facebook page as well as local radio stations, some people were unaware of the siren test. Alderman Lackey Moody suggested also pushing notifications on the city’s text message system. Residents may sign up to receive alerts and even report issues like water leaks, code violations or stray dogs by texting “Hi” to (870) 512-5155.

Also giving his monthly report to the city council, Police Chief John Scarbrough said there was a shooting in the county two weeks ago, and both the shooter and victim are neighbors of Lt. Rob Leonard’s. Scarbrough said they both ended up in Leonard’s yard, and Leonard was able to render lifesaving aid to the victim.

Scarbrough said patrol officers completed their Taser certification during the month, and all patrol officers are now able to carry Tasers, thanks to the generous donation from Bad Boy Mowers. All officers completed the first firearms qualification for the year. To comply with the accreditation standard officers will qualify four times a year.

Scarbrough thanked the mayor and council for the purchase of new firearms last year. With the new firearms and optics, officers’ qualification scores have increased. This makes the officers and community safer if officers ever had to use their weapon in the line of duty, he said.

Scarbrough also said the police department soon be deploying AEDs in all patrol vehicles, also thanks to Bad Boy Mowers’ donation to give each officer lifesaving equipment. Scarbrough said the department has had great success with its AED program and now they are able to expand it.

The chief also presented his monthly report. There were 917 calls for service in February, about the same as 919 recorded in January, compared to 1,207 in December, and 1,026 in November. There were 43 accidents last month (compared to 32 in January, 52 in December, and 36 in November); 48 arrests (22 in January, 31 in December, and 30 in November); 72 incident reports (46 in January, 68 in December, and 62 in November); 140 citations (104 in January, 200 in December, and 155 in November), and 153 warnings (149 in January, 232 in December, and 236 in November).

In other business Tuesday night:

–The council adopted a resolution authorizing the city Parks and Recreation to enter into a five-year exclusive beverage and sponsorship agreement with Corinth Coca-Cola Bottling Works.

Parks Director Lowen Lermitte said this deal will serve the community well, with advertising and other benefits to provide up to $250,000 to the city for the next five years.

He also mentioned that youth participation in sports continues to rise, and the city is providing more opportunities all the time for children. He said the youth basketball season is coming to a close but saw record numbers. Whereas the program once had 120 children in grades kindergarten through sixth, it now has 180 in grades K-3 alone.

Soccer season starts this week with well over 400 players for the spring season, which Lermitte said is “remarkable.” When he came to the city 11 years ago, the first season saw 180-190 kids. “This shows there is a desire and need for this,” he said.

Alderman Scott Fredricks asked with the ongoing construction of the Riverside Park expansion, could the city let people have access to the playground at the soccer fields. Lermitte said the gates are closed there after the fall season so they may perform maintenance, but he said he would like to get to a point where the playground could be utilized year-round.

Mayor Rick Elumbaugh pointed out the “Riverboat” playground equipment that was once located at Riverside Park has been moved across the river to Kennedy Park and gets a lot of use. Lermitte noted there are other alternatives as well, including a nice playground area at the Terry Sims Diamond Sports Complex north of town and the Virginia Moser Memorial Park on Grace Street in Westside.

–Recognized the Batesville Pioneer Swim Team. The boys team won the 2026 5A Conference Championship title, marking its seventh 5A conference championship, and achieved a new team record in the 200 Individual Medley.

Alderman Fred Krug said he attended the event in Benton with Batesville High School Athletic Director Stu Smith, and there were 17 schools, such as Valley View, Searcy, Maumelle and others. Russellville won the diving championship the day before, giving them an extra 20 points in the championship, but Batesville still won by 16 points.

“These kids really love each other,” Krug said. “I have never seen teammates cheer for each other like this.”

Coach Alfredo Aleman said he has a dedicated team and that he was very proud of them all, adding, “Not only are they excellent swimmers, they are excellent human beings. … They won five titles in a row. I could not be any prouder.”

–Public Works Engineer Damon Johnson said work continues on two multi-million dollar projects – the water treatment plant and the Riverside Park expansion. He said the maintenance building is starting to come together on the water intake structure site, while at the park, crews are preparing to coat the tennis and pickleball courts and install floodlights there as well.

Street Superintendent Johnny Coles has been working with the Arkansas Department of Transportation to host traffic signal education classes here in Batesville this spring, with the potential to also host a fall session. Johnson said this means people will be coming from all over the state to take classes on operations, maintenance, law, etc.

“It’s a great opportunity for us because we do not have to send people far away,” Johnson said. “It means we’ll be able to get more people trained, which is exciting, but it’s also good for our community (as people taking classes will be here for a number of days spending money in the community). ARDOT was blown away when they saw our facilities.”

Elumbaugh asked Johnson to elaborate on the grassy area next to the farmers’ market at the corner of Myers Street and Chaney Drive. Johnson said the water treatment plant site is “very tight” and the TOLM crews need additional parking. He said they are getting equipment and materials delivered and asked the city if they could park on the other side of the farmers’ market pavilion.

Plans are to remove the grass and install gravel while the greenspace is utilized for parking, but crews will return the grass after construction is completed, Johnson said.

Alderman Robb Roberts asked about aerators for the wastewater treatment plant, and Johnson said architects are just now starting to design those, and the process could take five or six months. Johnson said the city will apply for a revolving loan from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission for that project, which would likely kick off in fall of 2027.

Johnson estimated this would be a $15 million project. “When we did the original plant work, it was about $3-4 million in additional funds we didn’t have almost 10 years ago … and we put it off.” But in hindsight, he went on to say, he would rather have done it then but admitted he couldn’t have predicted the meteoric rise in costs in that timeframe.

–The council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration on behalf of the Batesville Regional Airport.

The project will rehabilitate Runway 8-26 and its taxiway through FAA Non-Primary Entitlement (NPE) Funds, Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) and multiple state grants. The FAA is only funding the center 100 feet of the 150-foot-wide runway rehabilitation at a cost of about $5.2 million, leaving the airport to fund the remaining 25 feet on either side in the amount of approximately $1.4 million.

–The council appointed Landon Downing to serve the remainder of a term on the public facilities board expiring in 2028 and formally accepted a resignation from Ward 1 Alderman Landon Reeves. Anyone in Ward 1 (areas around BHS, Eagle Mountain, and Quail Valley) interested in serving on the council should contact City Hall at (870) 698-2400.

–Elumbaugh said the city had purchased some new sofas for the community center and did so without prior council approval because of the good prices on the furniture. He asked the council to retroactively approve the expenditure of about $9,600 from the community center’s perpetual fund, which the aldermen granted.

–During council liaison reports, Moody reported the code enforcement office had received 51 permits so far this year with a combined value of more than $11 million to include 12 multi-family units, one single-family home and large commercial projects to include White River Infusion and Oncology as well the remodeling of the former David’s Furniture for Precise Contractors. He said the city’s planning and zoning commission has reviewed plans calling for hundreds of more multi-family units that should help with the ongoing housing crisis in the area.

There were no comments from citizens. The next council meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 24.