City Departments

The Newport Fire Department proudly serves and protects the lives and property of the citizens and visitors of Newport. Residents enjoy a lower cost of living and doing business in part because of our ISO fire class rating of 3. Our department of 16 full-time and 18 volunteer firefighters provides coverage from three fire stations with four pumpers, one service truck, one snorkel, and two ambulances. All stations are staffed 365 days a year by three shifts that work on a rotating basis. We provide protection for approximately 17 square miles within the city and an industrial area just outside the city. Services include fire suppression, fire prevention education, fire and life safety inspections, rescue, pre-emergency incident planning, and emergency medical treatment and transport services with both advanced and basic life support.

The Public Works Department is in charge of residential and commercial sanitation, streets, a maintenance shop facility and recycling. An average of 26 full time employees work in this department that operates on an average annual budget of $1,200,000. Sanitation: Twice weekly residential garbage pick up; bag of 50 trash bags distributed twice a year to residents; once weekly residential brush and trash pickup at curb; commercial brush and trash pickup available at request. Street: Street development within city limits; street, ditch and storm drain maintenance; maintenance of city owned lots; operation and maintenance of flood pumps; sweeping of city streets weekly.

The City of Newport operates a modern and up-to-date wastewater treatment facility. Two treatment facilities serve the needs of industry, business and residential customers. The City of Newport completed renovations to the Airbase Industrial Park treatment facility in 2004 and a 2.3 million dollar renovation project on the main sewer treatment facility in 2010. The City of Newport now has a three million gallon capacity per day system. All of this work was accomplished without an increase in sewer rates, which remain among the lowest in the state.

Grants are continually received by the Arkansas Dept. of Parks and Tourism for addition and improvement to city park facilities. Neighborhood Parks include: Lockwood Park (corner of Malcolm Avenue and Lakeshore Drive, on the Newport Lake — playground equipment, fishing pier, picnic pavilions); Normandy Acres Park (corner of Park & Eastern Avenues); Branch Park (corner of Calhoun & Jones Streets); Airbase Park (corner of Airbase & Johnson); Crossroads Park (corner of State & Patterson Streets); Hines Park (corner of Hines & Warner Streets). George Kell Park, located on Fairground Road just off Highway 367, is a state-of-the-art ballpark complex with 6 ball fields for t-ball, softball, Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion players. Curtner Field features brick dugouts, covered grand stands with chair-style seating for over 100, and a big league style scoreboard.

State District Judge at Third Judicial District. Newport District Court handles traffic violations, misdemeanors, small claims, and civil cases. Court sessions are held at City Hall.

Newport Regional Airport is a full service general aviation airport with two 5,000 ft. long by 150 ft. wide concrete runways, taxiways and ramps. Runway 18/36 offers WAAS LPV GPS instrument approaches with MIRL, REIL and PAPI lighting systems. The AWOS weather station is located on site and incorporates the latest FAA technology. The 5,000 sq. ft. terminal building was constructed in 2012 and offers flight planning, rest and refreshment areas for flight crews with comfortable waiting and conference areas for passengers. The facility is open after-hours with credit card access to Shell 100LL avgas and Jet-A fuel. The airport offers a full service aircraft maintenance facility. Individual airport owned hangers presently accommodate 19 based aircraft. The large airport ramp area has room for large corporate aircraft and tie-down spaces for over 50 aircraft. The City of Newport maintains a 24/7 manned fire station on site for airport operational safety.

The Inspection/Building Code Enforcement Officer is responsible for: Issuing building permits for construction within the city limits of Newport; Working with Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustment to ensure a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the City; Providing zoning code information; Assisting in the enforcement of laws necessary to preserve sanitary and healthy conditions; Working with department heads to guarantee safety regulations are adhered to by all city employees in the workplace.

The City of Newport has operated its own extensive mosquito control program since the summer of 2002. During the summer of 2003, an airplane equipped for spraying was added to a fleet of 8 trucks to fight the mosquito battle. The use of the most up-to-date equipment and techniques has made our program very successful, and the envy of many Delta cities. The trucks spray the entire city 6 nights a week and the city is sprayed by plane as needed. Special spraying for outdoor activities is available upon request.

The Newport Water Commission operates a state-of-the-art water treatment facility. Water is delivered to Newport industries, businesses and residents from a number of wells located throughout the community. Water rates in Newport are among the lowest in the state and are significantly lower than the national average. The 4,000,000 gallon system currently has a surplus capacity of almost 2,000,000 gallons.

Companies are required to have a business license to conduct business within the city limits of Newport. Licenses can be purchased at the City of Newport Municipal Building, 615 Third Street, Newport, AR 72112.

Animal Control handles stray animals, pet licensing, complaints about dangerous or nuisance animals, and enforces local animal ordinances.