Water-works continuing in Jasper

Published 8:35 pm Friday, July 24, 2026

Water projects were still the main topic at the regular meeting of the Jasper City Council on Thursday, July 16.

Jasper Mayor Michael Thomas met with the engineering firm and contractor on July 9 to get updates on both the drainage and the wastewater treatment projects.

With the summer softball and baseball games concluded for the year, construction for the drainage project commenced in earnest. As previously reported, the project would start where the water ‘ends’ – at the Little Buffalo in Bradley Park.

Most of the construction is done in Bradley Park, with only a small berm needing to be formed uphill from the flagpoles, and mortar work on the basin box. They will be re-seeding the grass on top of the pipes that have been laid.

There is an approximate $6,300 matching portion by the city for the entire $300,000 project, some of which will be covered, in-kind, by the city restoring a portion of the ball field fencing that had to be removed for the construction.

The primary drainage pipes are 36-inch diameter, HDPE (high density polyethylene), with 18-inch concrete culverts to run underneath Court street. There will be buried pipes and some concrete ditches (like that leading to Bradley park) running along both sides of the street, with the concrete culverts connecting the sides periodically to ensure effective and efficient maximum flow while helping reduce the velocity of the water so that it doesn’t significantly erode the berm where it exits into the river.

The projection is for all work on this phase of the drainage project will be complete by early October.

On the wastewater project, Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDoT) has relinquished the requested right-of-way on E Hwy 74 to the County. Thomas is working with Newton County judge Warren Campbell on transferring the right-of-way to the city.

According to the engineers, they are more than one-third of the way through the project with slightly more than fifty percent of the allocated time remaining. With the right-of-way progressing and most of the groundwork being completed, the remaining work on the project is expect to advance more quickly.

Approximately $3 million of the project’s $5 million allocation has been spent so far. The deadline for completion is the end of 2026.

The final water project is nearing completion, with the addition of couple components to improve pumping from one of the water towers.

Changeover to the new IT support company will occur at the end of the month / early August.

The city passed a Federal audit, which was required because the city received more than $750,000 in Federal funding, reportedly with no findings. This will be done again next year for the funds being received this year.

The police report indicated 52 traffic contacts with zero citations, 20 written warnings, and 32 verbal warnings issued.

The fire department responded to four medical calls, a motor vehicle accident, and provided pyrotechnics for Elk Fest and assisted with the show for Sparks in the Park.

Elk Fest was reported to be a success, with approximately 830 people present for the Elk drawing. Sparks in the Park also had a good turnout, according to Thomas.

A notice had been sent out regarding a water shutoff project by Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority, which was subsequently canceled, yet to be rescheduled. There wasn’t expected to be any impact on water in Jasper, but the city sent the notices, just in case. They sent a follow-up notice upon learning the project was canceled.

The city reminds Jasper residents and businesses that they can sign up to receive these notices. The system is called IRIS (Immediate Response Information System). People can receive a call, text, and/or email with an alert. Voicemails will be left if customer doesn’t answer.  There are different levels of notifications; red (severe), yellow (elevated), blue (guarded), green (low).  Red is trying all forms of communication on an user’s form to reach them.  Urgency decreases with each level.  

If you are interested in receiving updates, email Kassidy Dorrell at kdorrell@cityofjasper.

The regular August meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m.