Voters approve merger of two Arkansas cities

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark.-Voters have approved the merger of Walnut Ridge and College City into a single municipality.
The consolidation effort was overwhelmingly supported by voters in both communities. College City residents voted 38-12 and Walnut Ridge voted 264-32, the Jonesboro Sun reported.
The merger increases the population of Walnut Ridge to more than 5,000 people and resident Butch Horton said he believes that could attract more business to the area.
"I think it'll give us more money coming in because of revenue we can get," Horton said.
College City alderman and Williams Baptist College vice president Jeremy Dutschke said it makes sense for the communities to merge.
"We identify really with Walnut Ridge," Dutschke said. "As a college, when we're asked 'Where's your college?' we don't say 'College City,' we say 'Walnut Ridge.' This is really kind of the beacon of our community."
Dutschke noted that there will likely be less government oversight from the duplication of public services.
"There are a lot of things as a city council that we're just not able to provide the residents of College City that Walnut Ridge is already providing for us, so putting these two communities together makes a whole lot of sense," Dutschke said. "It probably should have been done a long time ago, but now we're here, and we're able to give the residents a vote and make their choice heard."
Walnut Ridge already provides College City with fire protection, mosquito control, law enforcement and water and sewer services.