“We’re still listening and trying to mitigate concerns and take suggestions,” Campbell told The Sun Tuesday.

The land is owned by the Sloan family and their B & G Land Co.

City officials are considering an offer from the family in which the city would buy 33 acres for $500,000. The company would donate another 33 acres, and John and Lee Ann Sloan would provide another 76 acres to the city in the form of a no-cost lease.

The land at 3255 Strawfloor Drive is primarily scenic woods, but also includes a large disc golf course that hosts a national professional tournament. The crowds attracted by the tournament has been one source of complaint among many of the neighboring residents.

The city held a public meeting on March 10 to discuss the proposal and was met with opposition and even threats of lawsuits from residents of the RidgePointe and Sloan Lake Estates. But there were also expressions of support from other residents of the area.

The Sun recently requested documentation of the evolution of the land proposal, which apparently dates back to the term of former Mayor Doug Formon, who served from 2005 through 2008. The request also included any correspondence involving the proposal.

No documentation of previous offers were found, but Danny Kapales, the city’s parks director, said in a memo to Campbell following The Sun‘s information request, said the Sloans’ offers over the years has had a number of verbal renditions.

Harold Perrin, who succeeded Formon in 2009 and served as mayor through 2020, told The Sun, he decided not to pursue the project because of budget constraints in maintaining parks and recreation properties the city already owned.

The Sloans’ latest offer came shortly after current Mayor Harold Copenhaver took office in 2021.

“After hearing the latest offer from Mr. Sloan I feel a responsibility to allow council to consider his donation offer,” Copenhaver wrote to Kapales on Feb. 18. “I do have a few considerations that I think are important and need to be clear in any agreement moving forward to make sure nearby residents’ concerns are addressed as best we can.”

There’s been no indication of when a formal proposal would be submitted to the city council.

Following the March 10 public meeting, city officials continued to receive emails regarding the proposal, both for and against.

On March 13, Kitty Sloan, writing on her own behalf and not on behalf of the family, criticized city officials for not providing residents with more information in advance of the meeting.

“Nowhere does the city’s announcement indicate that the property in question involves two disc golf courses operated since 2013 by a private enterprise, Disc Side of Heaven, and that the questions swirling around the proposal are whether and how the city will operate the courses and the popular tournaments that have taken place there. Disc golf was to be ‘the elephant in the room.’”

She said the city should have been prepared to answer questions such as:

What is going to happen April 22-23 during the next Jonesboro Open disc golf tournament?

What is the future of championship disc golf in Jonesboro?

What’s on those 142 acres now and what will continue to be?

Development of a city “plan.”

Sloan said what is planned for the Jonesboro Open “will go a long way toward mitigating or aggravating some of the neighborhood concerns and could determine the future of disc golf at that location.

A few days later, organizers of the Jonesboro Open announced plans to offer shuttle service for players and spectators from Walnut Street Baptist Church to the tournament site in order to reduce traffic issues.

Organizers said they were expecting nearly 450 players and another 200 to 300 spectators for the Disc Golf Pro Tour stop.