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Mayor Hillrey Adams used an hour and 43 minutes and a 45-slide presentation to walk the City Council through what he called the most active year in Mountain Home’s modern history, outlining a $27 million wastewater plant overhaul, a community and aquatic center set to open in the second quarter of 2026 and steady growth in sales tax revenue during his annual State of the City address March 19.
“Everything you’re gonna see here tonight is made possible by almost 200 employees in the city of Mountain Home,” Adams told the council before launching into a department-by-department review of 2025.
The presentation drew a rare moment of reflection from City Attorney Roger Morgan, who told the room he has sat through 40 State of the City addresses in his career.
“I have never seen as much activity or as much for the City of Mountain Home to be proud of,” Morgan said. “You and your staff have done an excellent job.”
Revenue holds steady after early scare
Sales tax revenue grew from $4,988,074 in 2019 to $7,101,100 in 2024, a 42% increase over five years. Public safety tax revenue tracked a similar arc, rising from $1,870,528 to $2,662,913 over the same period.
Adams acknowledged the year started slow, with three consecutive down months that drew concerned calls from council members.
“We were real nervous early on last year,” Adams said. “We had three bad months, but we ended the year on a very positive note in both the sales tax revenue and the public safety tax.”
The 2025 year-to-date sales tax figure stood at $5,974,613 at the time of the presentation, with public safety tax at $2,240,480.
Planning department sees $26 million in permits
The city’s Planning and Engineering department, which Adams created during his tenure, issued 130 building permits in 2025 with a combined valuation exceeding $26.2 million. New residential construction led the way with 48 permits valued at $10.69 million. Eight new commercial buildings accounted for another $8.32 million, and 25 commercial remodels added $5.74 million.
Adams said the department has adopted SharePoint to streamline the plan review process and is working toward equipping inspectors with iPads for real-time field reporting.
Fire department marks 50 years
The Mountain Home Fire Department celebrated its 50th year as a paid, full-time department in 2025, a milestone marked by the opening of Sharp Family Station 2. The station was fully paid for by its July 1, 2025, opening day, funded through accumulated public safety tax revenue.
“That building’s paid for. We don’t owe a penny for it,” Adams said.
The department now staffs 30 full-time positions, including three new firefighter slots added in 2025.
“Having three added to us gives us the ability to run four full time out of each station on each shift, which allows us to get more equipment on site,” Adams said.
Ten volunteer firefighters supplement the full-time roster.
Through Sept. 30, 2025, the department logged 1,008 fire and other runs and 1,655 EMS calls for a combined 2,663 responses, putting it on pace to surpass its 2024 total of 3,597.
“Some days they may not do a thing, but some days they never shut the vehicle off,” Adams said of the EMS workload.
Firefighters serviced 1,034 hydrants, completed 819 preplans and averaged 420 hours of training per person. The fire marshal inspected 498 buildings.
A new fire engine was delivered in November 2025, along with a new tanker the same month.
Police log more than 9,300 calls in nine months
The Mountain Home Police Department handled 9,339 calls for service from January through September 2025 with a force of 34 full-time officers, eight full-time civilian employees, nine part-time officers and one part-time civilian employee.
Traffic stops accounted for roughly one in three calls at 2,842. Officers responded to 650 accidents, 552 lockouts, 493 welfare checks, 499 reports of suspicious activity, 378 business alarms, 207 thefts and shoplifting reports and 158 domestic incidents. The department also fielded 44 scam calls and responded to one abduction, one explosion and one shooting.
The department logged 7,944 training hours through the reporting period, up from 6,619 for all of 2024, while cutting training costs from $92,131.79 to $46,187.97. Programs ranged from active shooter response and solo officer rapid deployment to CPR, defensive tactics and a Junior Police Academy.
Adams highlighted the department’s Criminal Investigations Division, which conducted a major drug arrest roundup in September in collaboration with the FBI, Arkansas State Police, Harrison Police, the Baxter and Boone county sheriff’s offices and the 14th Judicial District Drug Task Force.
SRO program marks 26 years
The city’s School Resource Officer division, one of Arkansas’ original SRO programs, now places seven officers with a combined 126 years of law enforcement service in every Mountain Home Public Schools campus.
“I think we’ve got a school resource program that’s probably second to none in the state,” Adams said.
Since June 2020, the division has taught 1,740 classes on topics including drug awareness and constitutional rights, conducted 9,148 student and parent counseling sessions, provided 9,792 administrative assists and covered 1,871 athletic and special events. Officers handled 2,740 assists and public service calls during school hours.
Adams told the council the department conducts annual active shooter training at a different school each year, drawing officers from multiple agencies.
“Hopefully they’ll never ever have that situation in Mountain Home,” Adams said. “We’d much rather have them there in June or July than when school’s in.”
He also referenced an incident in which an officer’s crisis negotiation training helped save a person’s life.
“It was a result of the training that that officer had been to that day that that guy’s still here,” Adams said. “I’m not sure that would have ended as well as it did.”
Public Works tackles streets, sewers and a $27 million plant upgrade
The Public Works Department, staffed by 83 employees across five divisions, handled a heavy workload in 2025.
Street crews resurfaced 15,000 linear feet of roadway using the city’s own milling and overlay equipment, poured 2,083.25 yards of concrete, installed 6,385 linear feet of sidewalk and 10,545 linear feet of curb and gutter.
Adams credited the council’s investment in the milling and overlay machines for the pace of the work.
“The guys are getting really good at that,” Adams said. “I’m almost to the point I’d like to buy a hot mix plant and just make it ourselves so we don’t have to wait on them.”
The department installed 3,240 linear feet of culvert pipe and logged 9,433 hours on general maintenance including mowing, pothole repair, snow removal and traffic signal work. The street department spent $4.4 million in 2025, funded by its half of the city’s 1% sales tax and state turnback funds.
On the water and sewer side, crews replaced 5,134 linear feet of aging water mains and service lines on Partipilo Street, Embassy Parkway, Cynthia Square, Robinson Street and at 8th and Elm. The city’s CCTV inspection vehicle surveyed 120,429 feet of wastewater mains, and jet-vac crews cleaned 251,195 feet of sewer lines.
The Southwest sewer line extension, funded by $951,658.97 in ARPA dollars, was completed. The project allowed for the annexation of the ASU-MH Technical Center and eliminated the Big Creek pump station.
At the water treatment plant, the city replaced its high-service generator with a 1,000-kilowatt, 1,600-amp unit with a 3,000-gallon diesel tank at a cost of $500,000.
The largest single investment was the Phase 2 wastewater treatment plant upgrade, a $27 million project that includes new UV disinfection to replace chlorine treatment, electrical upgrades, headworks improvements and equipment replacements.
“That will now allow us to use UV disinfection, will eliminate chlorine out there, making it much safer,” Adams said. “We will have a completely new, upgraded plant.”
The Garver Engineering construction inspection contract was extended earlier in the meeting to cover a revised completion timeline of late May or early June 2026.
Parks expand programming, secure grants
The parks and recreation department, operating with 16 full-time and 18 part-time employees who logged 24,876 hours, expanded its lineup of events and programs in 2025. Activities now range from baseball, softball and soccer to game calling, kayaking, archery, Sit and Be Fit, Golden Grooves and fishing.
The Youth Center recorded 14,257 youth visits and 3,334 adult visits, with 323 youth memberships and 102 adult memberships. The city pool saw 12,859 daily users, hosted 52 pool parties and provided 441 swim lessons.
The department rebuilt the Cooper Park Tennis Complex with three new USTA regulation courts using a $71,200 USDA grant. Two additional grants are in the pipeline for McCabe Park: a $108,607.92 award from the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism for four ADA-accessible fishing piers, and a $500,000 ARDOT grant for a permanent restroom, solar lighting and a trailhead installation connecting to the ASUMH campus.
Kelly Lewis received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Arkansas Recreation and Parks Association for her work at the Youth Center. Rosie Harris was named Maintenance Professional of the Year, and Sayre Whiteley was recognized as Outstanding New Professional.
Community center nears the finish line
Adams closed the presentation with a construction video and update on the Mountain Home Community and Aquatic Center, the project that has been the signature initiative of his administration. The facility is set to open in the second quarter of 2026, with staff moving in by May 1 or sooner.
At the time of the address, carpet installation was complete upstairs, the gym floor was roughly half finished, the walking track was ready for striping, and 42 pieces of cardio equipment had been installed. Tile installation was set to begin the following week. Exterior concrete was nearly complete.
The city recently hired an aquatics director who won the Russian national 400-meter freestyle championship in 2013.
“They know how to swim,” Adams said with a laugh. “We got to learn to talk Russian a little bit better than we can, but we’ll get there.”
Corporate membership signups have been strong, Adams said, with staff visiting businesses across town.
“Our corporate memberships have really taken off on us,” he said. “The numbers are going to go up real high here in the next two weeks as they start working through some of the big places around town.”
Nighttime tours of the facility were scheduled to begin the week after the meeting. Adams said the building was already drawing inquiries about its meeting rooms.
“We’re getting really, really close,” Adams said.
Adams joked before starting the presentation that he and staff had timed it to run “two minutes longer than the State of the Union.”
When Morgan praised the scope of activity, Adams deflected.
“I appreciate that very much, but I hadn’t done anything,” the mayor said. “We’re very blessed here, or I am in particular, to have the team I got. We’ve put together a good group, and I wouldn’t trade any of them. I might trade one of them off. I’m not going to tell you which one that is.”
