West Memphis council grants mayor permission to sign option agreements tied to water-park parcels

The West Memphis City Council granted permission for Mayor McClendon to sign two option agreements for parcels tied to a proposed water-park project after members discussed amendments to the documents. Council members debated changing notice language and replacing "without buyer's consent" wording with language providing the buyer first rights of refusal, and asked that attorneys ensure the two documents match except for legal descriptions.

Council member (speaker 6) explained that the documents were already in substantially identical form except for the legal descriptions and that investors needed clarity on land commitment to proceed. Several members said they preferred to have the corrected language circulated to the council; the speaker sponsoring the motion indicated the amended document would be emailed to members before final execution.

A motion to approve the permission request (with the corrections that had been discussed) was moved and seconded and passed on roll call. The clerk recorded the vote and the mayor thanked the body for granting permission.

The council instructed staff and legal counsel to finalize the agreed wording and to return the corrected documents to the file for mayoral signature. The meeting transcript does not record a detailed purchase price for the parcels in the permission request; council discussion emphasized written amendments and that the underlying development package relied largely on private investment.