State of the City Address
Greenland, Arkansas
March 12th, 2023

From: Mayor Jim Renfrow

To: All City Residents, City Council,
City Attorney, City Recorder/ Treasurer
I offer the following State of the City Update for 2023, which is my first since taking office in January of 2023.

I would like to open my remarks by saying the state of our city is very good, we are financially sound,and we are growing in ways that will benefit the residents of the city for many decades to come. There is no other city in this state like Greenland. For many years, our little city has remained somewhat
unknown as a shadow to the second largest city in the state, but that is changing very quickly.

Greenland City is gaining attention from developers and business owners due to our ideal position along Highway 71 and Interstate- 49. We have outgrown our planning area recently and our city council is taking my recommendation to expand the planning area much further into the county. We also have a
great need for annexation of several properties into the city limits due to property owners requesting to be annexed, or due to the impact to our city from those properties with a necessary economic boost needed from taxes gained that will help better support those properties. My hope is that the expanded
planning area will get us through the next 10 years of city growth.

Greenland is a city that very much wants to grow its local services for residents to purchase more merchandise and goods in the city, including more grocery and restaurant choices, all while adding local jobs. The ability to offer our residents local jobs, including those first time job seekers, is a priority. My
focus as Mayor is to improve the quality of life in Greenland in a safe and convenient manner. This job is made possible with the excellent city council chosen by you and we are working hard together to deliver
on that goal.

Our city planning commission is working diligently to approve plans for construction of new businesses and new housing, along with the support of our city council and city engineer. I am very appreciative of their hard work as well as the dedication from our city employees, including our police department,
street department, and administrative staff. Without these dedicated employees, appointees, and contracted professionals, the daily city services would cease.

We are coming into 2023 with our wastewater improvement project in the implementation and construction stages with a large portion of the project to be constructed this year and continued into next year. This project is paving the way for new business expansion in the city, and more housing
opportunities that can be connected into our wastewater system. This wastewater project is key to Greenland expansion, and without this investment in our city infrastructure there would be no future growth for our city. As many nearby cities have grown around us in Northwest Arkansas, we have
awaited our opportunity to grow with them and now is the time. Economic development in our city will help fund more public projects (like parks or trails and improved roads and sidewalks) which is what
many residents are requesting from the city council and I daily.

In other recent changes we are listening to our residents by expanding access to our community buildingvby expanding rental use of the community center to six days a week (excluding Mondays for city meetings.). We are happy to offer an affordable venue for events that benefit citizens of Greenland and
others in the surrounding area.

Our Greenland City Council, Greenland Planning Commission, City Attorney, and City Engineers are working as quickly as possible on the additional businesses that are growing inside our commercial and industrial zoned areas, but also on updating our city codes for residents and business owners to best use
our shared space inside the city limits. We are looking to make these municipal laws more easily readable and accessible in the near future, so watch for updates on our website very soon.

As Mayor I will continue working on necessary road improvements in our city by sourcing additional funding at state or federal levels, and through better planning for street improvements in stages. I also am focused to improve drainage near these same city roads to help move traffic more safely while also
protecting property owners from water related damages.

A few other items I am working with city council towards completing are:

– Upgrades to city Wi-Fi services and surveillance systems including at city buildings and parks
– Updated and reorganized city hall building with services for court better integrated for a more secure
facility but also easier public access
– Better tracking of city sales tax collected and processed through state coffers and other cities
-Adding or reorganizing duties of city personnel for better coverage for services including code
enforcement, roads, facility maintenance, and court community service program.
– Identifying revenue sources for the city that have little to no financial impact on city residents but will
fund city services
– Assessing and adjusting pay scales of ALL city employees to make our city a fair place to work at a fair
wage. This will ensure we attract applicants for open city positions in this competitive hiring
environment and retain those we have currently.

These are just a few items that I am focused on with the support of the city council in this coming year and beyond. I thank you for allowing me to lead the City of Greenland as Mayor, and I will continue working diligently for all residents of this city. I am always open to hear ideas or to hear your praise and
complaints through our city website, or you may drop by city hall to let me know in person.

I look forward to the coming year and to the success we will enjoy together!

Mayor Jim Renfrow
City of Greenland

 

 

Pdf copy the State of the City 2023 located here.