Agenda Highlights 10/15/24
At the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session meeting scheduled for 10-15-24, the Board will do their annual review of the Departmental Services Objectives and Key Performance Indicators. Some highlights from the reports include-
City Administration has plans for 2025 for adding a new City Department to oversee customer service, sustainability, and facilities and fleet maintenance. Other top priorities for 2025 include supporting the growth and improvements associated with the Foreign Military Sales project, planning for the financial needs of the water utility, and exploring solutions for addressing housing affordability and availability and addressing blight including potentially rehabilitating abandoned buildings.
District Court plans to incorporate recording devices into the courtroom sound system. Their caseload was down slightly in 2024 from 2023. 86% of their cases filed have been adjudicated. RISE Court has been in operation for a year. 24 individuals have entered the program. A mental health related program will be implemented for RISE Court in late 2024.
Specialty Courts has seen only 2 of their graduates receive subsequent arrest. The Specialty Courts have seen 75 participants with a 42% graduation rate, 22% removed for non-compliance, and 36% are actively still participating in the program. The program is at 87% capacity.
The City Clerk plans for the implementation of the Cityview system to allow for online purchase of graves and columbarium niches at Oak Cemetery. They also plan for further implementation of the agenda packets for select Boards and Commission meetings to be made available on the City website soon alongside the Board of Directors meeting ones.
Building Services issued 1677 permits and conducted 5823 building safety inspections. Neighborhood Services conducted 14,919 environmental code inspections, 3427 property maintenance inspections, and inspected 363 parking violations. Planning and Building Services look forward to implementation of Cityview to allow for the processes for planning and licensing and permits to be conducted online.
The Police Department made progress toward establishing a second prectint and consolidated 911 answering station with the County. Their new CAD/RMS system will go live late in 2024 or in early 2025. They have goals for 2025 of decreasing downtown nuisance calls by 5% and reducing animal cruelty cases by 30%. Animal Services saw a 63% increase in animal bite cases from 72 cases in 2022 to 114 cases in 2023. Animal Services issued 182 citations in 2023 (up 219% over 2022). Significant pay raises enabled the Police Department to achieve full staffing. The Criminal Investigations Division saw 3,803 cases with an 89.32% clearance rate. The Crimes Against Persons Division had a clearance rate of 92%. The Crimes Against Properties Division had a clearance rate of 80%. The Special Investigations Unit had a clearance rate of 93%. Response time for priority calls in 2023 averaged 5.40 minutes and was faster than 2022, but the Department is still not satisfied with that time and seeks to meet a goal time of 5 minutes or less. 2023 saw a 14.71% decrease in thefts.
The Fire Department maintained the highest possible ISO rating and scored in the 90th percentile for fast turnout time. Their average response time was 3 minutes 28 seconds. They saved 95.02% of property at which they responded to fires.
The Parks Department completed Phase I of their improvements at Tilles Park and looks forward to Phase II that will include new shade structures and playground equipment. There is a new playground on the way for Carol Ann Cross Park and the Greenway and Boardwalk at Carol Ann Cross is set to be completed later this year. They are finishing improvements at Woodlawn Park including new playground equipment. The train tracks at Creekmore were re-laid and a miniature tressle and tunnel were added and improvements will continue at Creekmore. Wooden pedestrian bridges are coming for Riley Farm Park. Phase 1A of the Maybranch Trail is to be completed in late 2024 and Phase 2 planning should be finished by the end of this year.
The Solid Waste Department collected 25,000 tons of residential waste. They collected and recycled 2,500 tons and collected 2,500 tons of yard waste. They estimate that they will collect 30,000 tons of residential waste in 2025.
Transit ridership is up, already at 121,662 rides for 2024 so far and predicted to hit 280,000 for 2024. Ridership is above nationwide trends in relation to pre-covid era ridership statistics. The total cost per passenger in 2024 is $13.62 (up from $11.58 in 2023). The goal for 2025 is to reduce that cost to $11.92 in 2025. Response time for the Demand Response service was 97% on time.
These Departmental Services Objectives were originally set to be discussed at the 9-6-24 meeting, but were tabled.
The Board will discuss the Streets and Drainage 5 year Capital Improvements Plan. The plan for 2025 includes 15.4 miles of streets overlays, drainage improvements on Meandering Way over Little Massard Creek and at South 66th between Fresno and Phoenix, replacing signals at Jenny Lind & Dallas and Jenny Lind & Fresno, 16000 feet of river bank stabilization, work on the Maybranch outfall culverts, the design phase for the floodwater detention ponds on the former ACME Brick property, streets and drainage work and planning related to Ebbing Air National Guard Base and the airport, extending Spradling to John Bell Jr. Park, streets and drainage for the Fort Smith Housing Authority development at the former Bailey Hill reservoir site, and improvements at 6th and Wheeler near the Bakery District.
The Board will discuss the Parks Department 5 year Capital Improvements Plan. The plans for 2025 include a new playground at Carol Ann Cross Park, work on Phase II of the Maybranch Greenway from Martin Luther King Park to Creekmore (A Reconnecting Communities federal grant is being sought to provide 50% funding for Phase II.), a new inclusive playground at Tilles Park that will include an uncommon piece of equipment especially designed to be able to also accommodate older children, interior remodel of the Tilles restrooms, the completion of the new Creekmore pool bathhouse, repaving the parking lot next to the Creekmore community building, drainage and interior sidewalk improvements at Creekmore, replacing the lights at Kelley Ball Fields with LED lights, and installing a new slide system at Parrot Island Waterpark.
The Board will discuss the Fire Department’s 5 year Capital Improvement Plans. The plans for 2025 include replacement of a ladder truck and a zodiac boat, refurbishment of a pumper truck,and purchase of a forklift and a generator.
The Board will discuss the streets and traffic Capital Improvement Plans. The plans for 2025 include replacement of a dump truck with snow plow, a road grader, a skid steer, a concrete truck, and a tractor with mower, and purchase of a mower and trailer for mowing the interchanges previously mowed by Keep Fort Smith Beautiful.
The Board will discuss the 2025 plan for sidewalks that includes 3.1 miles of new sidewalks and .66 miles of sidewalk repairs.
The Board will discuss the Transit Department’s Transit Asset Management Plan, a report required by the Federal Transit Administration to be eligible for federal funding that includes an inventory and assessment of the condition of all of the department’s assets and plans to replace them to keep everything in the required state of good repair. The plan for 2025 includes replacement of 4 demand response buses.
