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Arkansas State Leases Land for Emergency Response Training

2 min read

Arkansas State University signed long-term lease agreements with the cities of Imboden and Walnut Ridge on Monday for land where the university will build facilities for its disaster preparedness training program.

The facilities will allow students and local emergency personnel to practice simulations of emergency situations.

The university’s board of trustees approved the lease agreements Friday. A-State will lease 100 acres of undeveloped land at the Walnut Ridge Regional Airport from the city for $12,500 annually and 183 acres from Imboden for $10,000 annually. The term for both agreements is 50 years.

The city of Walnut Ridge will pay the first two years of rent on the property there. Rent will not be charged on the Imboden site for the first five years.

A-State offers a bachelor’s degree and an associate degree in disaster preparedness and emergency management. 

Deborah Persell, a professor of disaster management and emergency preparedness, has spearheaded the project. She told Arkansas Business that an estimated cost had not been determined and the project does not have a budget yet. But she said she expects a multimillion-dollar, multi-phase endeavor.

Persell said it was difficult to predict how many students might take advantage of the facilities, though national training sites can see 100 or more a week.

A-State held an event Monday to sign leases tied to the project.

“We hope that the preparation and training that takes place here saves lives and relieves suffering,” 

A-State Chancellor Kelly Damphousse said.
Walnut Ridge Mayor Charles Snapp called the project a “perfect example of working together as a region.” Imboden Mayor Chris Jones said his community was looking forward to what the future will bring.

Now that the leases are signed, the next step for the project is recruiting and fundraising.

Plans for the Walnut Ridge site include a hazardous materials zone, a tornado zone, a community/urban area, an earthquake zone, a flood zone, an agriculture emergency zone and an education/research center. Students will learn is how to respond to grain bin accidents and natural disasters that may strike a downtown area, Persell said.

The plan for the Imboden site includes water rescue, tactical, wilderness search and rescue, utility emergencies and an education/research center.

Plans are contingent upon the amount of funding available for the project, Persell said.

Persell said that, at the Imboden site, instructors might collaborate with railroad companies about training future first responders to railroad accidents.

The program began working with the cities two years ago. A two-day training course, funded by an Agricultural Safety Healthy America grant, took place at Black River Technical College’s site in Walnut Ridge.

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