EDCCC sets aim on more dirt work at super site

By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com

Development is set to continue at the 1,000-acre Southwest Arkansas Mega Site, as the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County authorized up to $1.5 million in taxpayer funding in hopes to secure yet another state grant.

In the upcoming grant cycle, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission will dole out $25 million to communities across the state. If Clark County is a grant recipient, AEDC will match 80% of the overall cost of a roughly $6 million project, which consists of replacing 4 feet of “gumbo mud” with better soil on 40 acres of the Gum Springs industrial site. The acreage is adjacent to another 40-acre tract that will undergo the same dirt work from a previous AEDC grant. It would mark the third AEDC grant in recent years to develop of the site, which earlier this year was up for grabs by a buyer interested in building a data center, an effort that fell through when the buyer backed out.

The “gumbo mud” mentioned at Tuesday’s meeting refers to the heavy, sticky and highly expansive clay soils found in the area’s geological layers. The super site has for years been used agriculturally to farm soybeans and corn.

Shelley Short, CEO of the EDCCC-contracted Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance, said state officials recommended continued development of the super site rather than to focus on other sites, such as the recently acquired property near the Georgia-Pacific plant in Gurdon.

The EDCCC oversees a voter-approved tax fund for recruiting and retaining industry. On average, the 1/2-cent sales tax generates $2 million annually.

Short fielded questions from several of the board members who were present. Kevin Jester, one of the board members, said matching AEDC grants is the best way to spend the tax dollars if the panel wishes to continue improving the super site.

The motion to authorize Short to spend up to $1.5 million to match the grant carried unanimously. 

In other business, Short informed the board of an updated policy on the language used in describing projects for meeting agendas. Until this policy, only project nicknames were mentioned on agendas when the EDCCC was set to hear about them. For instance, Project Pulse, the monicker given to the data center, was all that mentioned on April’s special meeting agenda. 

From now on, Short said, a description will be included on projects to be discussed, as well as the proposed site location. The description will be vague enough to protect a nondisclosure agreement, Short said. More details about the project — such as the number of jobs created and the proposed incentives — would be discussed in the public meetings.