State Sen. Bryan King shared his views on a variety of topics during a town hall meeting presented by the Eureka Springs Times-Echo and the Carroll County News on Thursday, Nov. 2, at the Carroll Electric Community Room in Berryville.
An audience of 20 to 25 people turned out for the event, including several who were eager to hear King’s thoughts on plans to install a “wind farm” on private property near Green Forest.
Those plans have been a regular topic of discussion at the Carroll County Quorum Court’s monthly meetings dating back to the spring of 2023, with opponents of the project arguing that it could pose serious environmental and health risks for both humans and animals as well as disturbing the serene natural beauty of the area and potentially causing significant damage to county roads.
Scout Clean Energy, based in Boulder, Colo., plans for its “Nimbus” project to expand over approximately 9,000 acres — about 14 square miles — in Carroll County, much of it along County Road 905 southeast of Green Forest. Scout says the project could generate up to 180 megawatts of electricity at peak demand — enough to power almost 30,000 homes. Scout says it has signed lease agreements with more than 50 landowners and estimates that the 30-year project will generate more than $14 million in lease payments and $25 million in tax revenue for the county.
Some justices of the peace have maintained that they have no authority to intervene in the project, but King said at the Nov. 2 town hall that he believes the controversy should be addressed at the local, rather than state, level.
“My brother’s on the quorum court,” King said, referring to District 10 Justice of the Peace Jerry King. “And they’re dealing with that, and I think that’s where it needs to be, simply because the legislature meets every two years. We can’t really look ahead. And a lot of times the legislature has got where they’re micromanaging cities and counties and county government way too much.”
Among other topics, King expressed his concerns about the LEARNS Act that was adopted by the legislature and signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. King was one of five Republican legislators who voted against the measure.
King explained that one reason he didn’t support the LEARNS bill was his concern about its impact on both the state budget and on small school districts.
“They’re using a lot of one-time money for ongoing things,” he said. “ … I think that’s a concern, is that they keep spending money and then, what if there’s a hiccup in the economy?”
King said he had visited with a Tyson Foods official on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The poultry manufacturer, the leading employer in Carroll County, recently bought out the contracts of several independent growers in the county, which King described as “devastating news.”
“Some of those growers have been picked up by George’s and Simmons,” he said.
King also touched on topics such as attempts to amend the state’s Freedom of Information Act and the recent controversy surrounding an effort to designated land around the Buffalo River as a national park preserve.
