By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
The Developing Howard County Board of Directors has accepted a charitable donation of land and facilities from Tyson Foods.
During the board’s meeting Feb. 26, the board approved a resolution to accept the following:
The Nashville Feed Mill located at 520 Mission Drive; 33 acres of land; and the existing mill tower and silos
The site is located on a railroad.
Board chair Paul Britt said he was “approached by Tyson” about the donation. Members discussed the donation and voted 5-0 “to accept it as is.”
Plans for the property have not been announced.
In other discussion at the meeting, DHC Director Vanessa Weeks said representatives of a prospective industry
made a site visit Feb. 20.
“They liked the site. We checked off everything they needed,” according to Weeks. “We’ve made it to the second round” of consideration, placing Howard County among three finalists.
The board approved a proposal from DNT Media for marketing Howard County.
Weeks said she will apply to the Arkansas Department of Tourism for a grant to fund half of the cost for the company’s services.
“They will help tell our story,” Weeks said.
The board approved a six-month agreement with DNT at a cost of $5,000 per month.
Nashville Mayor Larry Dunaway said working with the company will be “a very good investment.”
Nashville Parks and Recreation Director Meghan Floyd told the board she is trying to obtain funding to install artificial turf on some of the park’s baseball fields.
Turf would help attract more tournaments to Nashville, she said, resulting in more income for area businesses.
Depending on the number of tournaments and attendance, the events could generate close to $1 million per year for the community, she said.
Floyd said she has contacted tournament directors in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana to determine if they are interested in holding their events in Nashville “if we
turf our fields.” All said they would be, according to Floyd.
The cost to turf four of the fields in the baseball complex would be about $947,000, Floyd said.
The park has some of the funding set aside and will seek assistance in obtaining the rest.
“This is economic development,” Dunaway said. “People who come to town will spend their money here.”
Other parks “don’t have the shade or the room that we have,” according to Dunaway.
“Turf is the logical next step in the evolution of our park.”
Howard County has been selected for SelectUSA designation, Weeks said. She and one more economic
development officer will represent Arkansas at the group’s national meeting in Maryland during May.
“We will be recognized at the meeting,” she said, “and make a lot of good connections
there.”
